‘I don’t understand; it’s not a secret that Zara was married before.’
‘True, true, but what you might not know is that she’s not divorced.’
‘What?’ gasped Lexie before she could prevent herself.
Oh my God, in all the troubleshooting she’d handled before, nothing had equipped her for dealing with this scenario. What on earth was she supposed to do with this piece of information? She took a step towards the window and gave a wave before tuning back into the resumed argument taking place in front of her.
‘Look, maybe we should—’
‘Perhaps, Nadia, you should take a look at the monsters lurking in your own backyard before you go all Inspector Morse on Zara!’
‘My own backyard? What are you talking about?’
Oh God, no, not this, groaned Lexie. One thing at a time!
‘Well, unlike you, I was going to keep this delicious little nugget of information to myself until after the wedding, but now is the perfect opportunity to tell you that Patrice—’
Fortunately, Rachel was interrupted by Theo bursting into the room.
‘Hey, I can hear you shouting from all the way down the corridor. Now, if you don’t want to scare the living daylights out of the other guests, why don’t we settle down and talk about what’s going on here in a calm, civilised manner?’ he suggested, gently guiding a red-faced Rachel towards the bed, sitting her down, and waiting until she had gained her breath. ‘Okay?’
Rachel nodded, swallowing down on her anger and then fixing her eyes again on Nadia who had been staring at Rachel as though she was some kind of madwoman. Lexie flashed a smile of gratitude at Theo before turning to Nadia.
‘Now, Nadia, why don’t you explain what’s going on?’
‘I don’t think we should listen to any more of her unfounded accusations,’ said Rachel, calmly. ‘It’s my turn to speak and then we all need to focus on the two people who are probably wondering where their bridesmaid and their mother are right now when they should be at their sides, supporting them. Agreed?’
‘Agreed,’ muttered Nadia.
‘Okay, so it’s true that Zara was married before, it’s hardly a crime, nor is it unusual. Not that it’s anyone’s business, but there was a delay in obtaining her decree nisi because her ex is currently working at a hospital in Zimbabwe and the postal system out there is not what it should be. Anyway, this delayed the decree absolute which meant that it wouldn’t be through before the wedding.’
‘So my lawyer was right! There has to be six weeks between the decree nisi and the decree absolute, so she’s still married and—’
‘So with Jason’s full support, Zara’s lawyer made an application to the court to expedite the pronouncement of the final decree absolute which, I can inform you, was pronounced on Friday. Zara and Jason worked so hard to keep all this from their friends and family because they didn’t want to cause anyone, mainly Audrey, George and Nadia, here, any additional stress. All they want is for those they love the most to witness them exchanging their vows and committing to each other for the rest of their lives, then for them to join in with the celebrations of their happiness. Now, whilst I have a great deal more to say to you, Nadia, can I suggest we put our differences to one side and go and take our places.’
‘Oh, erm, I… I don’t know what to say.’
‘Well, sorry might be a good start, but I love Zara and Jason enough to promise that they will hear none of this from me.’
Nadia stared at Rachel before nodding and watching Rachel storm out of the suite on her way to join Zara.
‘I…’ began Nadia, glancing from Theo to Lexie, her face filled with colour. ‘Well, that’s put me in my place. But I assure you, I only had my son’s best interests at heart.’
‘You could have talked to him and all this unpleasantness would have been avoided.’
But Nadia wasn’t listening to Theo’s advice.
‘What do you think Rachel meant when she said I should look in my own backyard?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Lexie quickly, keen to escape the room which was starting to feel claustrophobic, but there was one thing she needed to ask Nadia before she left. ‘Did you have anything to do with the bridesmaid’s dress?’
‘Bridesmaid’s dress? What are you talking about? Why would I have anything to do with the bridesmaid’s dress? The only thing I’ve had any input with is the Jones family tiara, is that what you mean? I sent Rachel some photographs so she could replicate the design for her own matching hairpiece for the wedding.’
‘Okay, thanks.’
Lexie groaned inwardly. She was relieved that Nadia wasn’t to blame for the bridesmaid’s dress, but she had to admit that had Nadia confessed to that, too, then she could have tied up every loose end neatly into a bow and enjoyed the rest of the day, safe in the knowledge that there wasn’t a phantom tomato sauce sprayer lurking in the rhododendron bushes waiting to strike again.
She still had no one on her suspects list, but that would have to wait because it was time for her to lead Zara down the sweeping staircase to meet her husband-to-be.
Chapter Twenty-One
‘Is there something going on I should know about?’ asked Zara, looking from Rachel to Lexie and back again. ‘You both look really flustered.’
‘Everything’s fine, darling,’ Rachel assured her, tucking an escaped tendril of her friend’s blonde hair behind her ear.
‘Sure?’
‘Sure. Now come on, you don’t want to keep Jason waiting, do you?’
‘Maybe for a minute or so, it is traditional, you know,’ smiled Zara, hooking her arm through her mother’s as they left the wedding suite on their way towards the upstairs gallery landing, Rachel and Lexie scurrying along behind, straightening the short train of her wedding gown.
And what a gown it was. Freya had really excelled herself this time, thought Lexie, a surge of pride rushing through her veins. The dress Zara was wearing wouldn’t have looked out of place at one of Pierre’s catwalk shows, and it had the added benefit of there being no risk of a sudden unexpected drenching from a suspended bucket filled with iced water – or at least she hoped not. Cut on the bias from organic ivory silk, the fitted gown featured sheer beaded straps, a seductive V neck-line, beaded bodice and dropped waist that enhanced Zara’s curves to perfection. She had chosen not to wear a veil, just the Jones family tiara slotted into her loosely curled hair, and the earing-and-necklace combo that Rachel had created especially for her. Fortunately, Zara had seen the funny side of the words that had been painted on the soles of her exceptionally expensive wedding shoes, telling Lexie that it would be a lovely story to tell her grandchildren.
For a milli-second, Lexie allowed an image of her own wedding dress to float across her vision – a much simpler design, after all she was getting married in a farmyard! – but she pushed the rogue thought out of her mind. She’d made herself a promise not to go there, not to constantly compare her own choices with Zara’s choices, otherwise she suspected she’d be looking at her sanity in the rear-view mirror. She had to think of her cancelled wedding as a closed chapter in her life’s story – except it wasn’t, was it?