Nick to get dressed, and meet up in Snowfall Lodge at lunchtime. Dan and Rosie, go and talk this through on your own. You don’t need an audience.”
Rosie’s eyes were glistening. “Dan, please—”
“Hello? Anyone around?” Catherine’s voice sang out from the living room. “The sun is shining, the mountains look like something from a Christmas card, I have freshly baked pastries and a plan for a perfect romantic day for the two of you. Oh—” She stopped as she saw the crowd gathered in the doorway of the bedroom. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”
“Come in,” Nick said dryly. “It’s a free-for-all.”
Catherine looked bemused. “What’s going on?” She saw the tears on Rosie’s face and immediately went to her. “Oh honey, what’s wrong?”
She was kind, Katie thought, her brain and body numb. And she seemed to genuinely care about Rosie.
“Is it something to do with the wedding? Because all you have to do is tell me, and we’ll fix it right away.”
“There’s nothing to fix.” Dan pushed past his mother, snatching his coat on the way. “There isn’t going to be a wedding.”
Maggie
Maggie lay on the bed, stunned, the covers pulled up to her chin. “I can’t believe that happened.”
“Neither can I.” Nick plumped the pillows and made himself more comfortable. “Ironic, really. The girls live at home with us for a couple of decades and never walk in on us having sex, and here we are thousands of miles from home and suddenly we have the entire family, plus a bunch of almost strangers, in our bedroom. It’s the only time I’ve been grateful you always insist on having sex under the covers.”
“That’s what you’re dwelling on? The fact that the girls walked in on us having sex?” She sat up, still clutching those covers. “Nick, this is serious. Rosie looked devastated.”
“Katie looked worse.”
Maggie had been so horrified at being caught naked in bed by her children, that she hadn’t paid too much attention to the finer nuances of body language. “After what she heard yesterday, it must seem very confusing for her. I can see why she was reluctant to believe us, but did she really think we’d go as far as faking sex?”
“Well, to be fair we’ve been faking everything else, Mags, so we can’t really blame her for not trusting us.”
“I know.” She covered her face with her hands and then let them drop. “I have messed this up. I was so busy thinking about us, and keeping up a convincing act, that I didn’t focus on the girls. Rosie was having doubts. Our baby was having doubts and I didn’t even notice? And I’ve been worried about Katie for a while. I should have pushed harder. Spent more time with her. Parenting is so hard, and it never gets easier. I wanted so badly to be a better mother than my own.”
“Oh believe me, sweetheart, you aced that one.” He leaned closer and kissed her. “You can’t force someone to talk to you, Mags. And as you say, we were rather focused on our own relationship. Which made a change if I’m honest.”
She felt a stab of guilt.
“You’re right, and we do need to focus on ourselves, but how do we do that when our girls are both going through such a bad time?” She flopped back down on the bed, trying to relax the tight knot in her stomach. “How are we going to fix this? The wedding is in two days.”
“From what Dan said, there isn’t going to be a wedding.”
“You think he meant that?” A few weeks ago that might have come as a relief to Maggie, but not now.
She felt responsible. Admittedly it had been a somewhat tortuous chain of events, but still she knew the blame lay with her. “Why would Katie tell us that Rosie was having doubts about Dan, while Dan was standing there?” Maggie tried to shake off her own embarrassment and examine the facts. “What was she thinking? Unless Rosie and Dan had already discussed it.”
“He looked as shocked as we were. And I’m not sure Katie was thinking. Which isn’t like her. Katie always thinks everything through.”
“She gets that from me. You and Rosie are the impulsive ones.” She glanced at him. “Sorry. That sounded like a criticism and I didn’t mean it to. I’m—panicking, I suppose. This whole situation has turned into a nightmare.” Grabbing her robe she contorted herself to put it on under the covers and then slid out of