Page 37 of Wedding Games
Zoe’s heart sank.
‘Valentina’s been doing her best,’ he continued. ‘But it’s like trying to charm spitting cobras.’ He blanched. ‘Shit, sorry, that came out wrong.’
Zoe sighed and rubbed her pounding forehead. ‘It’s fine, I’ll deal with them. Where are they?’
‘Drawing room. It’s mainly soft furnishings and Valentina’s removed the pokers from the fireplace.’
Zoe strode quicklydown the main corridor. She couldn’t hear any raised voices, but when she entered the room, the atmosphere could have been cut with a knife. Her mother and Barbara stood on either side of the room, glaring at each other. Valentina was between them, and as soon as Zoe arrived, she fled.
Barbara was the ultimate ice queen, but Zoe could see the strain around her eyes. She’d only known Brad a few months, and now they were married. Barbara didn’t have enough experience to know if he would be okay, whereas her mother knew from decades of marriage that her husband would likely be fine. Zoe went to her future mother-in-law first and took her hands.
‘How are you doing?’ she asked.
Barbara’s lower lip wobbled.
‘I—’
‘What about me?’ her mother interrupted. ‘That’s your father out there! Been led astray by—’
‘Your husband is the one at fault here!’ snapped Barbara, dropping Zoe’s hand and pointing at Mary. ‘It’s not enough that you tried to steal Stuart from me—’
‘Woah—’ Zoe began.
‘And now your husband could have killed Bradley!’
‘Are you mad?’ Mary shouted.
‘Enough!’ Zoe roared. ‘Both of you.’ She pulled two armchairs so they faced each other. ‘Sit!’
The women complied.
‘Now, listen to me very carefully,’ Zoe said. ‘I am not spending the next thirty years negotiating this weird, and quite frankly, crazy feud. It ends now.’ She turned to her mother, her tone softening. ‘Tell me, Mum, honestly, how did you feel when you heard dad was missing.’
There was a long pause as Mary’s eyes welled up.
‘It was like I was in my twenties again,’ she said. ‘Seeing Uncle Willie carry him into my mother’s house. At the time I thought he was dead. He was so dirty and looked so broken.’ She swallowed, and tears fell onto her clasped hands. ‘I panicked worrying the same thing would happen again, but this time I would lose him forever, and I would be trapped in some kind of strange past where my mother was still alive and I never escaped Kinloch.’
Zoe let out a breath and turned to Barbara.
‘And how did you feel when you realised Brad was missing?’
The fingers of Barbara’s right hand were fiddling with the engagement and wedding rings on her left. It was a minute before she spoke.
‘It felt like my only true chance at happiness had been snatched from me,’ she replied quietly.
Zoe held her breath. Barbara opening up like this occurred at about the same frequency as Haley’s comet.
‘I loved my first husband and thought a life with him would take me away from my parents and make me happy.’ Barbara cleared her throat. ‘I was right about only one of those things.’
Zoe waited as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes.
‘Meeting Bradley was the most unexpected thing that has ever happened to me,’ Barbara continued, her voice so low she was almost whispering. ‘I didn’t believe I could feel such joy. I don’t feel I deserve—’
‘Everyone deserves to be happy,’ said Mary to Barbara. ‘And Brad loves you completely.’
Barbara looked up and held Mary’s gaze. ‘I’m sorry for my behaviour all those years ago. I was a teenage girl and you were a beautiful woman who Stuart wanted. I didn’t know what to do to make him notice me.’
Mary opened her mouth to speak but Barbara continued.
