Page 68 of Lie For Me

Heather’s voice was warm and assured as she filled the words with meaning and emotion. Lucy felt her palm sweating but sat frozen, barely breathing. She couldn’t seem to unfurl her fingers from Jack’s.

The wild rose-briar is sweet in spring,

Its summer blossoms scent the air;

Yet wait till winter comes again

And who will call the wild-briar fair?

Then scorn the silly rose-wreath now

And deck thee with the holly’s sheen,

That when December blights thy brow

He still may leave thy garland green.’

Lucy couldn’t bear it any longer, her hand in Jack’s, the reading. She felt as if everyone could read her confused thoughts. She eased her hand from Jack’s, and he didn’t protest or try to take it back. She thought it must have been an awkward moment for them both, and she fidgeted in her spot on the pew.

The vicar invited the guests to join in singing Jerusalem as he led Ollie and Sophie to sign the register. The organist struck the opening chords, and the congregation rose obediently. Lucy, an enthusiastic singer of power ballads and Disney anthems in the shower, nonetheless knew her singing had no place in public. She mumbled the words quietly to herself, while giving all appearances of belting out about satanic mills and green hills. Jack, meanwhile, was contributing a fine baritone, and Lucy twisted her neck to look at him. He stared straight forward, holding up his order of service with the words, and didn’t look at her. The hymn ended, and Valerie, in the row in front of them, turned around and nodded approvingly at Jack.

Sophie and Ollie reappeared with the vicar, who invited everyone to celebrate Ollie and Sophie as a newly married couple. There was cheering, and a wolf whistle, and the congregation broke out in applause and laughter. Ollie and Sophie raised their arms over their heads like triumphant athletes and laughed and kissed one another. Then Sophie was wiping the lipstick from Ollie’s face, and people were dabbing their eyes, and it was all over.

The strains of Natalie Cole’s, This will be (An Everlasting Love) played through the church as the happy couple made their way down the aisle, greeting and hugging people as they went. The congregation fell in behind them, people taking orders of service with them as souvenirs and as fans for the heat. Lucy turned to look at Jack before she stepped out into the aisle to follow. He was still in their seat. His brow was furrowed, and his mouth was a pinched line. She turned and went back to him as people bustled past them, eager to get back to the reception and the drinks.

‘Oh Jack, I’m so sorry,’ she said, mortified that she’d ever asked him to do this. ‘I wish I’d known. You could have said no. I’d have been fine—’

Jack shook his head and sniffed, hiding his face from her. She tentatively slid her fingers over his, and he grasped at them, turning her hand over in his, as if he was looking for clues.

‘No, it wasn’t upsetting like that,’ he said. ‘It was so…hopeful. They really,’ he sniffed and shrugged, ‘do seem to belong together.’ He held Lucy’s gaze now, his eyes dark and unfathomable. ‘It makes you wonder what’s possible, doesn’t it?’

Lucy swallowed, at a loss for words. Jack reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, and she quivered at the simple intimacy of his touch.

‘Excuse me.’ It was the Vicar. ‘Would you care to join the rest of the wedding party outside? We have to set up for another wedding this afternoon.’

‘Oh yes,’ Lucy found her voice, ‘of course.’ She got to her feet, holding onto the pew to steady herself. ‘Thank you.’

As she sidled back into the aisle, she felt Jack close behind her, and then his hand was on her back against her bare skin, gently guiding her out of the church. Like any good fake boyfriend would, she told herself.

The sun hit her eyes like a flashbulb, and she stumbled slightly as they made their way into the churchyard. Jack took her hand and pulled her to him, and she leaned into him to steady herself.

‘Lucy, Jack,’ it was her mother, beckoning them urgently, ‘over here.’

The photographer wanted some shots before the bridal party left the church, and Valerie pulled them in.

‘Where have you been?’ she muttered as she prodded Lucy into a spot beside Heather on the groom’s side of the shot.

Jack was walking off to the side, but Valerie grabbed him.

‘No darling, you’re in the shot too. I don’t want the photos to look uneven,’ she said.

Valerie threw a grim glance to the bride’s side of the group, where Sophie’s three brothers and their wives laughed and jostled for space.

Valerie guided Jack into a spot behind Lucy. Sweating in the sun, the photographer instructed them all to stand angled sideways, facing into the bride and groom. It was uncomfortable being squashed so close to others in such heat, and Lucy was acutely aware of Jack pressed in behind her. She swayed forward, leaning her weight onto her toes, putting a few centimetres more between them, but she could still feel his breath on her neck.

‘Big smiles, darlings,’ Valerie murmured, through a fixed grin. ‘Do stand up straight, Lucy.’

After just a few more clicks, the bride and groom had clearly had enough and before Valerie could stop him, Ollie shouted, ‘Right, everyone back to the reception for drinks!’

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