Page 10 of Snow Going Back

She suddenly realised Beth was looking at her with a wobbly emotional smile, and she looked at her questioningly.

‘I know we always used to say we’d be each other’s bridesmaids when we were kids, but when it actually happens, when you hear one of your best friends wants you as their bridesmaid…’ Her voice rose to a squeak, and she flapped her hands wildly at her face as tears filled her eyes. ‘It means the world. Thank you, Kate.’ She sniffed, and a couple of tears fell down over her smile.

‘Aw, Beth!’ Amy pulled her into a hug. ‘It’s so special, isn’t it? You were both mine, now we’re Kate’s and one day we’ll be yours, and we’ll have gone full circle.’

Kate forced a smile as they looked at her, but she didn’t trust herself to make it a group hug right now, in case she broke down. They’d always been her people, Amy and Beth. Her safe place when she felt vulnerable and needed to ugly-cry over things no one else would understand. But this was different. This was something she needed to get her own head around before she pulled in anyone else.

‘Alright then, girls, let’s go!’ Eleanor said. Her eager gaze moved over to Kate. ‘Where shall we start, Katherine? We’re all ears.’

Eleanor stared at her expectantly, and Kate fought hard to keep her true feelings out of her expression as she was thrustunwillingly under the spotlight. ‘Um…’ She racked her brain, trying to come up with a suitable answer.

‘Thinking about venues, there’s Kirtlington Hall,’ Eleanor suggested with a spark of excitement.

Kate’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Kirtlington Hall ishuge,’ she reminded her.

‘Andverygrand,’ Eleanor added, missing Kate’s meaning entirely. ‘It’s ideal.’

‘Toogrand,’ Kate said with a frown. ‘Not ideal atall.’

Her pulse began to quicken at the thought. The fact they were talking about a weddingatallwas enough to send her heartrate clanging through her chest like an old fire alarm, but the sort of royal circus it would be atthatplace was beyond comprehension.

Eleanor frowned. ‘How can somewhere betoogrand for your wedding?’

‘If you’d prefer something more country-style, Caswell House is really nice,’ Beth offered. ‘It’s a big stone barn, really pretty.’

Eleanor gasped and put a hand to her chest. ‘My daughter isnotgetting married in abarn! Ofallthe suggestions! Honestly, Beth, she’s not acow.’

‘No, it’s not like a farmyard barn,’ Beth replied. ‘Seriously, it’s really nice.’

‘Wouldn’t you rather a London wedding?’ Amy jumped in. ‘That’s more you. City sleek. Contemporary sophistication.’

‘Ofcourseshe wouldn’t,’ Eleanor argued, seemingly affronted. ‘She’ll have atraditionalwedding, somewhere around here, where she’sfrom.’

Kate watched them argue and suddenly wished that she could just tap her heels together three times and disappear, like Dorothy inThe Wizard of Oz, back to her flat in London. Or to anywhere, really. Anywhere but here. But as the argument wentround in circles and Eleanor began to bristle, Kate realised she was going to have to step up and take control of the conversation before it escalated any further. There was no escaping it. She took a deep breath.

‘Listen, the thought of a big wedding really just doesn’t appeal to me at all,’ she said carefully. ‘I think maybe something intimate would be better. Just something small, nothing too crazy. OK?’

Her mother drew back from her with a look of shock. ‘What do youmean, Katherine?’ she asked, flustered. ‘Darling, I love you dearly, but if you’re about to suggest some awful elopey-style registry-office dash, then you can think again. I meanreally,Katherine, how could you even ask me to consider it?’

Kate blinked. ‘I wasn’t?—’

‘And I doubt Lance will be OK with that – he has suchvision!’ Eleanor cut her off. ‘And this is his wedding, too, remember. It’s not allaboutyou,Katherine.’ She gave Kate a disappointed stare. ‘Really, you can be quite selfish sometimes, darling.’

Kate’s mouth dropped open. ‘But?—’

‘No.’ Eleanor cut her off firmly. ‘I’m sorry, but you can toss that idea right out of the window.’

‘Mum,’ Kate said, holding her hands out to halt her. ‘No one said anything about a registry office. OK?’ This wasn’t going well at all.

‘Well, whatareyou thinking then?’ Eleanor asked.

'Um…’ Kate looked out of the window, searching for inspiration, but all she found was a bird staring back from a nearby branch. It took off, flying away into the distance.Lucky sod,she thought.

‘Well?’ Eleanor prompted.

Kate exhaled heavily and admitted defeat. ‘I don’t know, Mum.’ She spread her arms with a shrug. ‘It’s all happened so fast, I haven’t had time to think.’

‘Haven’t had time to think about what?’

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