Page 8 of Wedding Games
At six fifty-eight p.m., his stomach in knots, Rory stood by the front door, awaiting Zoe who was bringing her parents.
At six fifty-nine p.m., his mother glided down the main staircase, Brad on her arm. They made a blindingly beautiful couple. Barbara was bedecked in jewels and wearing the same gown she wore to celebrate her first engagement nearly thirty-five years ago. Brad was in full Highland dress with a sporran big enough to hold a family-sized haggis.
At seven p.m., there was a knock at the door.
Rory opened it. ‘Mary—’
‘Welcome to Kinloch castle,’ his mother interrupted, pushing him out of the way. ‘On behalf of my husband and I, allow me to formally welcome you to the nuptial celebrations of the Earl of Kinloch.’
Barbara ignored Mary, extending her hand to Arnold. He took it, mouth open, seemingly flummoxed by the welcome.
‘How delightful,’ said Mary, loudly. ‘And which incredible woman is the extremely lucky earl marrying?’
‘This one!’ whooped Brad, grabbing Zoe and lifting her off the ground. ‘Congrats, babe!’ He set her down and grasped Mary’s shoulders. ‘I can sure see where Zoe gets her beauty from.’ He kissed her cheeks. ‘I’m Brad,’ he announced, before turning to Arnold and pumping his hand. ‘You must be Arnold. Great to meet you, man.’
Arnold and Mary stared at him, finally face-to-face with the Hollywood legend.
Rory caught Zoe’s eye. She looked as nervous as he felt.
‘You’re so handsome,’ stated Arnold.
Brad attempted to look coy as he soaked up the adoration.
‘And your teeth are so white,’ Arnold continued. ‘How? Do you have a special toothpaste?’
‘Dad!’ Zoe hissed.
Brad leaned closer. ‘Veneers, man.’
Arnold looked confused. ‘What, like wood?’
Brad laughed and clapped him on the back. ‘I like you.’
‘Shall we move to the library?’ Rory asked, not waiting for a reply as he gripped his mother’s arm and frogmarched her along the corridor.
‘For the love of god, will you behave?’ he spat through gritted teeth.
‘I’m trying,’ she hissed.
‘You certainly are,’ he replied, his voice laden with sarcasm. ‘Look, I don’t care if you never speak to them again after the wedding, but please, be civil for the next few days.’
His mum nodded her head and the knot in his stomach loosened slightly. Now he had to hope Mary didn’t rise to any more of his mother’s baiting.
They entered the library and took their seats.
‘Mary, Arnold,’ Rory began, keen to steer the conversation. ‘It’s lovely to see you again. How was the drive up?’
‘Not bad,’ Arnold replied. ‘Just so much longer than expected. We set off yesterday and it took almost an hour to get to the M25. Can you believe it? Every car on the road was a lorry. We settled on the M1 up to Rugby, averaging sixty miles per hour due to the roadworks, and stopped at Toddington services to stretch our legs and avail ourselves of the facilities.’
As Arnold talked, Clive moved around the table serving drinks.
‘You know,’ Arnold continued, ‘I still can’t get over how many choices of coffee there are at these places. There was a Costa at Toddington. I had an Americano and Mary had a Latte. They did a lovely pattern in the foam on the top for her. Terribly clever stuff. At Rugby, we joined the M6, then took the M42 around Birmingham, and splashed out by taking the M6 toll to save a bit of time. But once we were back on the M6 proper, it was just more roadworks.’
‘Sounds tough,’ said Brad. ‘Why didn’t you fly?’
There was an awkward pause. Zoe’s parents didn’t have much money, and even though he and Zoe wanted to pay for their tickets as they’d done for Mary a month ago, this time Zoe’s parents refused.
‘We had so much luggage,’ replied Mary. ‘It made sense to take the car. And it gave us a chance to break our journey in the Lake District.’
