Читать книгу She - HC Warner - Страница 14

Jo twirled in front of Peter. ‘Will I do?’

Peter gazed down at her, his eyes swimming with love. ‘You’ll do very nicely. You look stunning.’

Jo smiled and smoothed down her taupe, fitted dress as she stepped into her high-heeled, nude Louboutins. She had left it until the last possible moment to put them on, as she would be wearing them all day and knew that her feet would be protesting loudly by the time she took them off again tonight.

‘I wish it wasn’t …’ Peter began, before stopping for a second, thinking. ‘It’s not how I imagined Ben’s wedding would be.’

Jo looked up at Peter, handsome in his bespoke dark grey suit. He had been uncharacteristically quiet all morning. Actually, the truth was that he had been quieter in general ever since Ben first brought Bella home. ‘I know you’re not keen on her, but it’s not up to us. She’s Ben’s chosen partner, so we have to just accept her. And he seems happy, doesn’t he?’

‘Does he?’ Peter shot back far too quickly, before checking himself. ‘Yes, I suppose you’re right. He does seem happy enough.’

Jo sighed heavily. ‘Look, Peter … Whatever either of us thinks of her, she’s pregnant, with his child … and they’re getting married. Whatever doubts any of us might have, we need to put them to one side and support them, for Ben’s sake.’

‘Hmmm.’ Again Peter hesitated, his eyes clouding with worry. ‘I know you’re right. I suppose I just wish …’

Jo tilted her head to look at him properly. ‘Wish what?’

‘That it wasn’t her. There, I’ve said it.’ He shrugged apologetically.

Jo wrapped her arms around Peter’s waist and reached up to kiss him. ‘I know. But it is her. I’m sure it’ll all be fine, don’t worry. Now, come on or we’ll be late.’

Downstairs, Ben was sitting in the kitchen with Matt, drinking coffee. Jo gave Matt a hug. ‘Hello, darling, lovely to see you.’

Matt grinned back. Although he was now a fully grown, 30-year-old man, Jo could still see in his face the cheeky little 7-year-old boy she had first met all those years ago, when he and Ben had become friends at primary school. ‘You look lovely, Jo.’

Jo flushed with pride. Matt had spent so much time at their house over the years that he had become like a second son and Jo adored him. ‘Thank you, Matt. And so do you. How is Freya?’

Matt beamed. ‘She’s really well. She’s going to meet us at the registry office.’

Jo had no idea what to expect from today at all. She had always known that when Ben got married, it would be his bride who decided everything. But she felt sure that Charlotte would have at least involved her and Peter in the planning and preparations. Aside from telling them where and when, Bella and Ben had excluded them from any discussions, insisting they wanted to do everything themselves.

‘OK, well, I guess we’d better get going then.’ Jo walked over to Ben and adjusted his tie fractionally. She looked up at him, marvelling at how the years had galloped by – her baby boy, who had struggled to take his first breath, was now this tall, handsome young man about to get married.

The tears pricked at the back of her eyes and she smiled in an exaggerated way to try to quell them. Sometimes she felt as if Ben was at the end of a string connected directly to her heart. He pulled at her in a way that, although she and Emma were incredibly close, Emma had never done. ‘You look so handsome, sweetheart,’ she told him now. ‘Bella is a very lucky girl.’

Ben flashed her a smile that was a mirror image of his father’s but she could see from his dark brown eyes that he was nervous. ‘Thanks, Mum.’

Peter drove the four of them in his Range Rover into the centre of town, where he parked in the car park of the rather ugly Seventies building that housed the registry office.

As she walked into the foyer, Jo spotted Emma, engrossed in an intense conversation with Freya. ‘Hello, girls!’ she called, just slightly too loudly as she approached, in the hope that they wouldn’t think she had been ear-wigging.

Emma and Freya both jumped and looked up at her guiltily. It wasn’t difficult to guess what they had been talking about. Emma stood up and kissed her mother on both cheeks. ‘Hi, Mum, you look fantastic. Love that dress.’

Jo smiled appreciatively. ‘So do you, darling.’ It was true. Emma was a yoga obsessive who rarely ate anything containing sugar, caffeine or wheat. As a result, she had perfect, glowing skin, a toned, flat stomach and blonde hair that gleamed like a sheet of gold to her narrow shoulders. She was wearing a grey fitted dress that showed off her slim figure and long, shapely legs. People often commented that Emma was a Mini-Me of Jo but Jo would always reply that she had never looked anywhere near as good as her pretty daughter.

‘And you look as fabulous as ever, Freya.’ Jo turned towards Matt’s wife and gave her a hug. The thought flitted through her mind that she wished Freya was going to be her new daughter-in-law rather than Bella, but she mentally swatted it away and inwardly chided herself.

‘Where are the boys?’ Emma looked over Jo’s shoulder expectantly.

‘Parking the car.’ As she spoke, Peter, Ben and Matt walked through the door and were immediately enveloped in hugs and kisses by the two girls.

‘Nervous?’ Emma smiled up at her brother.

Ben shook his head firmly. ‘Nope. Just looking forward to it.’

Jo caught Matt and Freya exchanging a look she couldn’t quite read. ‘Well, I think maybe we should go in then?’

Inside the room where the ceremony was taking place, there were already around twenty people, all of them seemingly on Ben’s side of the aisle, seated on the silver chairs that were laid out in rows. There was a small spray of white roses at the end of each row, with a more elaborate floral display at the front and a string quartet playing in one corner. Despite the adornments, Jo couldn’t help feeling a sag of disappointment at the unexciting surroundings. As Peter had said earlier, it wasn’t what she had envisioned for Ben’s wedding.

Jo made her way to the front, looking nervously towards Bella’s side of the room, which was empty, except for one woman, who Jo could see instantly was Bella’s mother. She had suggested to Bella that maybe they should have a pre-wedding dinner, so that they could meet each other before the big day but Bella had curtly rebuffed the idea, saying they were not sociable people and would be quite happy to meet on the day. Now that she knew that only Bella’s mother would be attending, Jo could understand why Bella had been so reticent.

Bella’s mother looked up as Jo approached. She looked a little careworn and nervous but she still had enough of her beauty to confirm where Bella had inherited it from. She had shoulder-length, very dark brown hair, smattered with grey, and large brown, slightly hooded eyes. She shot Jo an uneasy smile and stood up. ‘Hello. You must be Ben’s mother …?’

‘Jo,’ Jo replied, reaching back to take Peter’s arm. ‘And this is my husband, Peter.’

Bella’s mother nodded knowingly. ‘Of course. I can see the resemblance! I’m Lynda.’

Peter shook her hand, before they shuffled into their seats beside Ben and Matt.

‘Who’s giving her away?’ Peter hissed as they sat down.

‘No one, apparently. Bella insisted that she didn’t belong to anyone and therefore she was perfectly capable of giving herself away.’

Peter raised an eyebrow. ‘That bodes well. Still, I suppose if the father’s not on the scene, then it makes some sort of sense.’ Bella had always shut down any conversation relating to her father and Ben had told them simply that he hadn’t been around since she was small.

Jo glanced again over to Bella’s side of the room and she felt a stab of guilt. Ben’s side was almost full. ‘Should we ask some of ours to move over?’ she whispered.

But before Peter could reply, the string quartet struck up with the wedding march and it was too late.

All eyes turned expectantly towards the back of the room, as Bella appeared, walking serenely and confidently down the centre of the aisle, clutching a simple bouquet of velvety white roses with both hands. Jo’s breath caught. She had never seen anyone look quite so exquisitely perfect, as Bella made her way up the aisle towards Ben. Her dress was a cleverly cut style, that clung to her slim figure, yet concealed any sign of a bump. Her long, dark hair shone in loose waves over her shoulders and her subtle make-up only emphasized the dramatic loveliness of her features.

Jo glanced at Ben, who was gazing at Bella adoringly. Their eyes were locked onto each other with such intensity that it felt almost intrusive to be watching. As she drew level with Ben, Bella reached out and took Ben’s hand, still holding his gaze.

Jo nodded to herself. Whatever she felt about Bella, there was no doubting the connection between her and Ben. They all needed to accept now that they were together and support them, instead of dwelling on ‘what ifs’ and unanswered questions.

After the short wedding service, they drove to the smart country restaurant where they were having the reception. It was an embarrassingly one-sided affair, with Bella’s mother the only representative of her family. Jo made a bee-line for Lynda and tried to engage her in conversation, to see if she could find out anything more about her new daughter-in-law, but Lynda was just as evasive on the subject of her background as Bella. ‘Is Bella’s father still alive?’ she ventured, hoping that she would learn something a bit more illuminating than the ‘he’s not on the scene’ that she got from Ben.

Lynda’s face remained impassive. ‘I believe so. We haven’t seen him since Bella was very young.’

Intrigued, Jo nodded encouragingly. ‘Oh, so you’re divorced?’

Lynda’s eyes slid away and she pointed to Ben and Bella, who were mingling with the guests as they waited for dinner to be served. ‘Don’t they make a lovely couple? Ben is a wonderful man.’

Jo acknowledged the pointed change of subject, before following Lynda’s gaze, feeling suffused with pride at hearing her son described in such glowing terms. ‘Thank you. And yes, they do make a lovely couple. Bella is certainly the most beautiful bride I think I’ve ever seen.’

Lynda smiled but Jo noticed that the smile didn’t reach her eyes. She had the same invisible barrier that Bella had, when discussing anything personal, and she sensed that they weren’t at all close.

After chatting for a while longer and getting nothing more than vague platitudes out of Lynda, Jo excused herself and headed over to Emma. ‘Hi, darling, I’ve just been speaking to Bella’s mum. I wanted to see if I could get any more out of her about Bella’s background but she’s even more of a closed book than Bella.’

Emma nodded. ‘I know. I tried to speak to her, too, but I got the impression Bella’s got her well-trained and she didn’t dare give anything away.’

Jo felt a niggle of discomfort and foreboding. Again, she wished that Ben had gone for someone who was a bit more open and a lot more friendly. Like Charlotte, she thought, before mentally scolding herself for such a treacherous wish.

‘It’s all a bit odd, isn’t it?’ Emma was saying, her eyes scanning the room. ‘I mean, she doesn’t seem to have any friends. Don’t you think that’s a bit … well, strange? For your mum to be the only guest from your side at your wedding? And even they don’t seem that close. Bella’s hardly spoken to her.’

Jo pursed her lips, watching as Bella and Ben mingled with all the guests from Ben’s side of the family, laughing and chatting easily, Bella clearly charming everyone she met. ‘You know, you could argue that there might be advantages to her not being close to her own family.’

Emma raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Really? How?’

Jo shrugged. ‘You know the old expression: “A son is a son ’til he marries a wife … a daughter’s a daughter for life”?’

Emma nodded.

‘Well,’ Jo continued, ‘that’s because the son usually gravitates towards his wife’s side of the family. As Bella doesn’t seem to have much of a family, she won’t be interested in taking him away from us, and we get the best of both worlds. So,’ she concluded, feeling more optimistic than she had all day, ‘there’s every possibility that we may have struck gold with Bella.’