Page 47 of One Bridegroom Required!

‘I don’t want another glass of champagne, thank you,’ answered Holly moodily, slapping her hand over the crystal flute before her mother could tip any more wine into it.

‘It might put you in a better mood,’ said her mother carefully. She’d never known her compliant Holly be so grumpy!

‘It might also give me a splitting headache,’ objected Holly. ‘And I’ve got to drive back to Woodhampton.’

‘Darling, nor tonight—it’s New Year’s Eve,’ protested her mother, although not, Holly noticed, terribly convincingly.

But who could blame her?

Since Holly had arrived to spend Christmas with her mother and husband number four at one of London’s most luxurious hotels, she was aware that she had been like a bear with a sore head. Oh, she had gone through all the motions of seasonal celebration, but she knew that she hadn’t put up a very convincing performance.

Her mother lit a cigarette. ‘Are you going to a New Year party, then, darling?’

Holly shook her head, and flapped her hand to dispel some of the fog. ‘Nope. But I promised that the draw for the wedding dress would take place on the stroke of midnight!’

‘Huh!’ scoffed her mother. ‘Who’s going to be there to see it? Who will know if you draw it tomorrow morning instead? That way you can stay on and party here, with us!’

‘I’ll know,’ said Holly firmly. ‘And besides, I don’t want to spoil your fun, Mum,’ she added truthfully.

Holly’s mother looked guilty as she refilled her glass. ‘Darling, I know I haven’t been a good mother—’

Holly sighed. It was getting to that melancholy stage of the lunch. ‘You did your best, Mum,’ she said placatingly. ‘That’s all anyone can do. You’re you, and I’m me.’ She sniffed miserably. ‘And I just happened to make the mistake of falling in love with the biggest rat this side of the Atlantic!’

‘This is this Luke, is it? The man you won’t tell me anything about other than his name and the fact that he might be a member of the rodent family?’

‘That’s right,’ said Holly, staring gloomily into her empty glass.

‘It is rather irritating, darling,’ objected her mother prettily. ‘You’ve never shown interest in a single man in your life, and now you have done and you won’t tell me anything about him!’

‘That’s because there’s nothing to tell, other than he’s left and probably gone back to Africa! He’s past tense!’ she snarled. ‘History!’

Her mother lifted her shoulders expressively. ‘Men,’ she colluded darkly. ‘They’re all the same!’ She batted her eyelashes as she saw the squat, toad-like shape of husband number four approaching across the restaurant, and hissed, ‘But they keep you in comfort as you get older, dear! Just remember that!’

Holly shuddered as she rose to her feet. She would rather stay single, thank you very much, than rely on some odious creep to support her!

Half an hour later, she was driving fast out of London towards Woodhampton in her Beetle. The garage that Luke had recommended had telephoned to renew their offer, and it seemed like an indecent amount of money for the gaudy car. ‘Beetles are big right now!’ the salesman had informed her.

But while the sensible side of her urged her to take the money and run...well, there was another side which couldn’t bear to part with the car. God knew, she hadn’t got Luke—was she going to lose everything else that was dear to her?

All the way back, her thoughts threatened to drive her crazy. However brutish Luke had been, the unchangeable fact was that she missed him more each day, and the longer he was out of her life, the greater the temptation to justify his behaviour.

All right, he hadn’t told her about Caroline—but his behaviour had been exemplary while she’d been staying with him. Yes, they had been close—but their closeness had been no more sinister than warmth and affection. He hadn’t laid a finger on her in the whole two weeks, and that must have taken some self-control since she had spent the entire time giving him the

green light.

And afterwards, in her flat after the party—he hadn’t exactly been guilty of a capital crime there either, had he? What had he done? Touched her ankle and kissed her. Big deal! It had been a party, for heaven’s sake, and, like her mother said, people always kissed people they shouldn’t at parties. Why, it was how her mother had found most of her boyfriends and all of her husbands!

Woodhampton High Street was deserted, but loud disco music was blaring from the fairy-lit interior of the Bell Inn, and Holly remembered that they were having a New Year party. She thought she’d probably pass on that...

She parked outside Lovelace Brides and couldn’t resist turning her head to look up at Apson House, hope flickering in her heart despite all her best attempts to stem it. But the house was in complete darkness, with not a flicker of light anywhere to be seen.

So he wasn’t back and he obviously had no intention of coming back. He had missed Africa and had probably managed to change Caroline’s mind, and no doubt they were busy planning a romantic, open-air wedding out there right now.

She fished around in her bag for her keys, her eyes automatically flickering to the window, where the prize dress was spotlit, then back to her handbag again.

She stilled.

Narrowing her eyes, she turned and looked back towards the window. Everything looked exactly the same as when she had left it, and yet it was not the same.

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