‘Or Harry.’ Layla mimed horror.
‘Or noisy Carol off that TV show,’ said Rosa. ‘Oh, will you look at that?’ She gave a squeak of delight and gazed out of the kitchen window. ‘It’s starting to snow!’
Eight o’clock. Only another two and a half hours to go. Over at Compton House, Benny and Rosa’s party would be in full swing by now. Not that Didi was feeling in a particularly party-ish mood, but sometimes you just had to make the effort, put on a good front and force yourself to have fun.
Anyway, today had been a success and the wedding party was finally preparing to leave. She came out from behind the reception desk and produced her sunniest smile as Phil pushed his new mother-in-law’s wheelchair out of the Bingham Suite and into the hallway.
‘Thank you so much.’ Beth’s face was shiny with joy as she hugged Didi. ‘For everything. You made our day perfect and we’ll never forget it.’
‘You’re welcome, it was our pleasure.’ Didi grinned at the three small bridesmaids, one fast asleep in her pushchair and the other two with their headbands askew. ‘I’m glad you’ve had a good day.’
Beth said, ‘If anyone had told me three years ago that I could be this happy, I wouldn’t have believed them. Life’s amazing, isn’t it? You never know what’s going to happen.’ Her hand came to rest on the middle girl’s head. ‘And now I’ve got everything I could ever want.’
Phil, nodding in agreement, beamed at his new wife. ‘We both have.’
The wedding party dispersed in a convoy of cars and Didi stood outside on the pavement waving them off as they disappeared down the road. The temperature had dropped this afternoon, and early flurries of snow had caused great excitement amongst the hotel guests. Now the flurries had settled into a steady fall of tiny dancing snowflakes, the kind that were in no danger of causing disruption. But the effect was gorgeous, as if Elliscombe had been liberally dusted with icing sugar. The festive feel was enhanced by the shops displaying their Christmas decorations, their higgledy-piggledy white roofs reflecting the glow of the fairy lights strung in the trees along the high street.
Didi couldn’t say she was looking forward to Christmas, but at least there was always the hotel to keep her busy.
She watched as a taxi made its way along the street. Recognising the car, Didi raised a hand in greeting as Will drove past, no doubt finished for the evening and now heading up to the market square, ready to join the party at Compton House.
About to dive back into the warmth of the hotel, she heard the taxi slow to a halt a couple of hundred yards up the road. A car door slammed, then Will set off once more.
Didi paused, some sixth sense prompting her to turn around. And that was when she saw the tall figure silhouetted on the pavement over on the other side of the street. Her heart skipped several beats. The figure was standing outside the florist’s, with its spotlit window display of holly wreaths, winter roses and lollipop bay trees in wrought-iron pots. She held her breath, because his face might be in darkness but she already knew who it was, just from the familiar easy stance.
Of course she did. Every inch of his body was imprinted on her brain; she knew it better than she knew her own.
Shay was back in Elliscombe. Well, it had to happen eventually. And he was on his own, which must mean Caz had work commitments elsewhere.
OK, he was making his way across the road now, heading towards her. All she had to do was act normal and pretend to be pleased to see him as a friend. Not so easy, though, when the snow was falling all around you, the cold air was squeezing your ribcage and your teeth were starting to chatter.
Never mind, she’d done it often enough before. She could do it again.
Chapter 48
A fox darted past in the shadows and Didi almost jumped out of her skin.
When Shay reached her, she said, ‘Hi. You’re back.’
‘I am.’ He was wearing a thin leather jacket over a black shirt and jeans. ‘Well spotted.’
‘We weren’t expecting you.’ She mentally kicked herself; why would he need to give them advance warning? ‘Where’s Caz?’
‘She’s in LA.’
‘Oh, working? What a pain.’
He shook his head. ‘Not working. Just catching up with old friends.’
‘And how is she?’
‘Great. As far as I know.’ Shay looked at her steadily. ‘We’re not together any more.’
Didi did a double-take. ‘What? Why not, what happened?’
‘Amazingly, we broke up. Caz decided we didn’t have a future. She said we were incompatible.’
Didi didn’t know how to react. Stunned, she said, ‘God, I’m sorry. Are you devastated?’
His mouth curved up at the corners. ‘Devastated? I guess I should be. She’s an amazing person, and we had a great time together. But she was right, we would never have lasted. She also thinks I’d be better suited to someone else.’
‘You mean she’s going to fix you up with one of her famous actress friends?’ Didi was speared with envy. Would he go along with that, just because it was another celebrity?
‘You seem to have hold of the wrong end of the stick here.’ The expression in Shay’s silver-blue eyes was enigmatic. ‘Anyway, how’s today been for you? Your wedding day, am I right?’
She couldn’t feel her toes. ‘It didn’t happen.’
‘I know. Caz told me about you and Aaron.’ Another pause. ‘That’s why I’m here.’
Didi felt her breathing quicken. She could see it quickening, the clouds of condensation emerging from her lungs like a steam train. ‘When did she tell you?’
‘Almost three weeks ago. The night we broke up. Coincidentally, also the night she told me who she thought I should be with.’
Almost three weeks ago . . .
Didi swallowed, her mouth dry. ‘So why aren’t you with them?’
‘Hey, it’s cold out here. You’re shivering. Do you want to go inside?’
If they went inside, guests and staff would start pestering her with work-related questions. Didi blinked snow from her lashes and shook her head. ‘No.’
Shay smiled. ‘Never stop being stubborn. It’s what I love about you.’
‘What does that mean?’ She didn’t dare to guess; this was feeling like an out-of-body experience. A freezing-cold one at that.
‘OK, it’s one of the things I love about you. One of the many, many, often completely infuriating things.’ He took off his leather jacket and draped it around her shoulders, and Didi closed her eyes, faint with longing because the jacket was warm from his body heat and it smelled of him. ‘Listen to me. I spent years trying to get over you. And I almost managed to convince myself that I had, until I came home this summer and saw you again. Dad persuaded me to stay and fix up the house because he wanted to see us get back together. Did you know that?’
She stared at him. ‘No . . .’
‘But you were with Aaron, you were happy with Aaron, and the wedding was all arranged.’ Shay shrugged. ‘Which kind of wrecked that plan.’
Didi was light-headed with cold and warmth and confusion and the first tentative shoots of joy. ‘Then I broke up with Aaron, and when I got back here, you’d met Caz.’