Page 60 of Merrily Ever After
I was wearing only a towel, or two towels if you counted the one wrapped turban-style around my wet hair. It was taking me a lot longer to get ready than usual. Mind you, I was making more of an effort. I’d exfoliated, used a faceandhair mask and I’d fake-tanned. Not a lot, but after trying on all my outfits and declaring them not quite right, I’d ordered a dress online at the last minute and now didn’t have the right tights to match, so bare legs it was.
‘I was thinking about that wedding rhyme,’ I said. ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Does my wedding ring count as new?’
Cole pondered that. ‘Maybe. I’ll google it, we don’t want to get it wrong.’
‘I don’t think axes will fall on our heads from above if we get part of an old rhyme wrong.’ I shook my head fondly, secretly loving how seriously he took everything.
He gave me a sheepish smile. ‘You know me. I like to get the details right.’
‘My dress is old. So that’s OK.’
Cole did a double take. ‘Why are you wearing anold dressto get married in?’
I snorted. ‘Ha! The look on your face. Don’t worry, darling. It’s vintage and absolutely beautiful. Trust me.’
‘Of course I trust you.’ His gaze met mine. ‘You’ll walk up that aisle looking like a million dollars, even if you were still wearing that towel.’
‘Thanks. At least I know if I run out of time to get dressed, you’ll still marry me,’ I teased. ‘Astrid has bought me a lovely little white beaded bag, so that’s borrowed sorted. I’ll have a chat with the girls tonight and get some blue ideas.’
‘On a hen party?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘That shouldn’t be difficult.’
‘Hmm. Nell is under strict instructions not to lower the tone.’
Cole grinned. ‘If Nell can manage half an hour without making an innuendo about nuts, I’ll foot your drinks bill.’
‘I think we both know your money is safe.’
Five minutes later, he’d painted two coats of Midnight Red on my toes and was carefully putting everything away.
‘There you are, Cinderella, your feet shall go to the ball.’ He unwound the tissue from between my toes.
‘Thank you,’ I said, inspecting his handiwork. ‘I don’t need to get my boots on for another half-hour, so they’ll have plenty of time to dry.’
‘Boots?’ He looked bemused. ‘You mean after all that no one is going to see them anyway?’
‘It’s December, I was hardly going to go out in sandals.’ I held my hands out to show him my fingernails. ‘But theymatch my nails, so I feel put together. And, you never know, I might end up taking my boots off and dancing on the table.’
‘Your night sounds a lot more fun than my stag do will be,’ Cole said wistfully. ‘Indoor crazy golf with Dad, Harley and Paul, followed by sushi, because, despite my aversion to wasabi, it’s Harley’s favourite.’
I snorted involuntarily, remembering the day we first met when I’d been helping Nell out on her stall last year. We’d been handing out free samples of wasabi peas that day and Cole had decided to eat a large handful and had given his sinuses a clear-out he’d never forgotten. ‘It’s very sweet of you to do what Harley likes, I know he’ll appreciate it.’
He pulled a face. ‘I’m hoping a bit of time with the men in the family will do him good. Lydia is finding him hard work: moody and sullen. Not the ray of sunshine he used to be.’
‘I’ve noticed that too,’ I said. ‘Is he OK, do you think?’
I knew the answer to this, but of course I couldn’t tell Cole that because of my promise to Harley.
‘He’s thirteen,’ said Cole wryly. ‘I’d be more suspicious if he wasn’t grumpy. It’s just a phase, don’t worry, and if anything is seriously bothering him, we’ll winkle it out of him on the stag night.’
I couldn’t push the subject any harder without raising suspicion, and anyway, it was clear that Lydia and Cole were in touch about the well-being of their kids.
‘I hope so.’ I stretched my arms above my head languorously. If I didn’t move soon, I’d be too comfortable to go out at all. ‘If I’d known you’d turn out to be such a willing beautician, I’d have done this ages ago. We should make every Friday night pamper night.’
‘Oh yeah …’ He gave me a dubious look. ‘And what’s in it for me?’
‘This.’ I tugged him towards me and fell back on the sofa, bringing him with me.
‘OK.’ He pretended to think about it. ‘I’ve definitely had worse Friday nights.’
