Page 26 of Wedding Games
Duncan turned to Rory. ‘Is he always like this?’
Rory rolled his eyes. ‘This is him being modest and reserved.’
Duncan shook his head. ‘Jesus wept.’
As the day lengthened, they stood at the loch edge with their rods. Charlie took it in his stride that Duncan was better at catching fish than he was, although he claimed that the fish were discriminating against him as an Englishman.
They lit a fire, the crackling flames and the spitting of the salmon filling the silence. This was exactly what Rory had wanted. A chance to spend time with his friends away from the insanity of everyday life and the wedding preparations. His belly and heart were full. For a stag party, it was perfect.
Charlie’s phone rang.
‘Mate, really?’ Rory asked as Charlie took it out of his pocket.
‘It’s Valentina,’ he replied, then answered the call. ‘Hey sweetheart, everything okay?’
There was a short silence, then Charlie glanced up and made eye contact with each of them.
‘Okay,’ he said into the phone. ‘We’re on our way.’
5
Thursday – Two days before the wedding – The hen do
Zoe’s hen do had started sedately in a local spa. Mary and Morag had ducked out of all activities, claiming that the ‘young folk’ wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. Zoe knew the real reason was that they were both nursing hangovers from hell.
Zoe was happy to let them sleep it off and hang out with Fiona, Sam, and Valentina. She needed a break from her mother and Morag and knew what to expect from her friends, even though they had yet to tell her exactly what they would be doing for the rest of the day.
‘But I need to know what we’re doing so I can get my head around it,’ she complained, as polish was applied to their toenails.
‘Surprises are more fun,’ Sam replied.
‘For who?’
‘Us of course,’ she giggled.
‘Are we seriously going to a nipple tassel workshop?’
Fiona snorted into her glass of Prosecco. ‘That may not have been entirely true.’
‘Please tell me,’ Zoe whined. ‘Valentina? Take pity.’
‘Okay, okay,’ said Sam, rolling her eyes. ‘After this, we’re having a massage and lunch, then we’ll go back to the castle to change. Then a taxi into Inverness for dinner and a cocktail making workshop—’
‘Ooh!’ Zoe interrupted. ‘Yum!’
‘Yummy indeed,’ Sam continued. ‘And that’s just the barman. Did you know that he also moonlights as a—’
‘You promised no strippers!’
‘Yes, I did,’ Sam replied. ‘But you didn’t make the others promise, did you?’
Zoe looked to her right. Valentina shook her head; however, Fiona had a twinkle in her eye that she didn’t trust one bit.
‘Fi?’
‘At some point this evening, a professional stripper will make an appearance and dance for you.’
‘No!’ shrieked Zoe.
