However, this time she had truly excelled herself. Instead of the full-skirted ballgown style that was popular at the moment, Zara’s dress was an elegant, figure-hugging column of pleated ivory silk with an attractive halter-neck. It was actually similar in style to the dress Lexie had chosen for her own wedding in the Lake District, a thought that caused a sharp stab of pain to shoot through her chest. She parked that agonising thought for later dissection; there was no room in her brain for ‘what ifs’ at the moment – there was enough trauma to deal with, with the tomato sauce incident!
‘So what excuse is it this time? You know, it is customary for the chief bridesmaid to support the bride during her final dress fitting,’ snapped Nadia, her face thunderous as she pushed her thick black-rimmed glasses up to the bridge of her nose. Lexie had to quash a sudden urge to giggle as an image of Roz, the bookkeeper from Monsters, Inc., floated across her vision. Nadia was the spitting double!
‘Traditions are for oldies!’
Rachel, who showed no effects whatsoever of having spent the last hour indulging in a few generous measures of illicit gin and tonic, had obviously met Nadia several times before because her terse response shocked Zara’s mother-in-law-to-be into temporary silence. Lexie saw Audrey’s lips twist with barely restrained amusement as Rachel stepped forward to deposit a kiss on Zara’s cheek.
‘Sorry I’m late – you look stunning, darling!’
‘She does, doesn’t she?’ sighed Audrey, placing her palm on her chest, a tear sparkling at the corner of her eye.
‘It’s a shame we won’t get to see the girls together though, isn’t it?’ added Nadia, a malicious tone in her voice.
Rachel glanced at Lexie and then at Freya, her eyebrows wrinkling in question.
‘Sorry, Rachel, I left your dress at the boutique…’
‘Absolutely no problem! This morning is all about Zara, in any case!’
Freya shot Rachel a quick glance of gratitude that a difficult conversation had been so deftly averted and continued with her alterations to Zara’s dress, her bottom swinging high in the air as she pinned the hem at the back. When she had finished, Zara twisted round and stared at herself in the full-length mirror.
‘I wanted to wait until you had your dress on before I gave you this,’ said Rachel, rummaging in her over-sized handbag and removing an ivory-and-gold leather jewellery box, handing it over to Zara, a smile filled with love stretching her lips.
‘What is it?’
‘Open it.’
Zara stepped off the dais to accept the gift, flashing a look at her mother who had now produced a wisp of cotton from her sleeve and was dabbing at her eyes, the whole occasion clearly getting the better of her as her daughter prized open the lid and gasped.
‘Oh my God, Rachel, they… they’re gorgeous!’
Lexie craned her neck to see the contents, and, just like Audrey, she could feel the emotion raising. Nestled on a bed of dark blue velvet was the most perfect necklace-and-earrings combo, fashioned from delicate silver wire and sporting an array of crystals and pale aquamarine stones that twinkled under the suite’s chandelier like the Caribbean sky.
‘Thank you,’ whispered Zara, pulling her best friend into her arms. ‘You are the most talented jewellery designer in the whole world! I know your business is going to fly. Any news from the Italian magazine editor?’
‘Not yet, but fingers crossed,’ said Rachel, clearly overjoyed at her best friend’s compliments.
‘Well, if we’re doing the full ensemble, I’d better fetch the Campbell-Brown tiara from the hotel safe!’ declared Nadia, getting up and heading towards the door. ‘Back in a moment!’
As soon as the door to the Chandler Suite had swung shut, Zara slumped down on the chaise longue next to her mother and exhaled a long, ragged sigh. Audrey patted her hand and gave her a sympathetic smile.
‘Darling, if you really don’t like the tiara you should have said something earlier.’
‘You know my relationship with Nadia is difficult at the best of times, Mum. How could I refuse to wear her family’s most treasured heirloom when I married Jason? Especially when she told me that every bride has worn it since nineteen thirty-three, or was that eighteen thirty-three, I can’t remember?’
‘Actually, I quite like the design…’ began Rachel as the door opened and Nadia marched back in with a large burgundy, cracked-leather box in her hand and a proud smile on her face, her glasses bouncing on a string at her ample chest.
‘Here it is!’
Nadia flipped open the lid and presented the box to Zara as if it contained the Crown jewels.
‘Thank you, Nadia,’ smiled Zara, gently removing the precious tiara from its resting place and sliding it into her glossy blonde bob before turning to scrutinise her reflection.
‘Oh, that’s my phone!’
Nadia grabbed her top-of-the-range mobile phone and flicked her finger across the screen like a teenage pro. Clearly, if there was one thing Nadia took pride in it was that everything she owned was the latest model.
‘It’s Patrice. I’ll take this outside if you don’t mind.’
Nadia stepped through the French doors and out to the terrace, her voice, filled with feminine charm, floating back through to the suite.
‘Who’s Patrice?’ asked Lexie before she could stop herself. When she saw the look exchanged between the remaining women in the room, she wished she could stuff the words back into her mouth.
‘Nadia’s new squeeze,’ said Zara, her lips twitching at the corners. ‘The third this year and it’s only April! I think this one is the youngest of the lot! I don’t know how she does it!’
‘Maybe I should ask her for a few dating tips. I haven’t had a date since Christmas and the least said about that the better,’ mumbled Rachel, removing the necklace from its box and fastening it around Zara’s neck.
‘You’ve been busy setting up your business,’ said Zara, loyally. ‘Anyway, isn’t the chief bridesmaid supposed to couple up with one of the groomsmen?’
‘Well, that’s one tradition I might be prepared to forgo.’
‘And Jas has invited a few of his rugby pals to the evening reception, so you never know.’
‘Mmm, maybe,’ mused Rachel. ‘Do you think I could take a closer look at Nadia’s tiara, Zar? I only had the photographs to go by when I designed your jewellery. Did Nadia say these were sapphires?’
‘Yes, sapphires, diamonds and aquamarines. Don’t get me wrong – it’s pretty. It’s just not what I would have chosen, that’s all – but it’s a small price to pay to keep the old dragon happy.’
‘Zara! Please don’t let Nadia hear you say that!’
‘Mum, you know she’s been an absolute nightmare ever since Jas and I announced our engagement. Nothing is right for her; the fact that we didn’t want a church ceremony, that we chose to come down to Cornwall instead of staying in Bristol where she could invite all her tennis club friends, her issues with the ‘ridiculous’ Caribbean theme. You should have seen her face when Jason told her it was our wedding and that we just wanted to do our own thing – she’s barely spoken to me since.’