Cock & Bull - Laura Barnard Page 0,63

to understand me. ‘Do you think we can leave Ella this long?’

He’s right. She might be drunk by now.

‘Why don’t you go back to the pub and you can collect me after?’ That way he won’t be nearby when I make a fool of myself. Although I could have done with a getaway car.

He looks to the church and back. ‘Nah, I was invited too. I think I’ll come with you.’

Yay. Just what I need, another witness to my madness.

‘Okay.’ I force out through gritted teeth

‘The more the merrier,’ Geraldine says into my ear.

‘How exactly am I going to do this?’ I whisper hiss to her as he gets out of the car.

‘You’ll just have to wait until she’s in the church.’

Oh my god. The whole town is going to see me being a nutcase. I’ll never recover from this. Everyone will be sure to avoid the pub after this.

We walk in, getting disapproving looks from an usher who looks over our everyday attire in disgust. It’s beautiful in here. What I’m guessing is original brickwork is painted white with a dark wood cladded roof. Big round windows make it surprisingly light and airy.

We sit near the back, and I’m hoping I can grab her quickly before she walks down the aisle.

‘You’re acting really weird,’ Clooney says, side eyeing me.

‘No, I’m not.’ I fidget, checking the time every few minutes

Before we know it, the wedding march music starts playing and she’s at the end of the aisle in a gorgeous lace ivory princess dress.

‘Wow.’ Geraldine says into my ear. ‘She looks so beautiful.’

It makes me tear up. You can hear the raw emotion in her voice. I always cry at weddings, apparently when I don’t even know them. To think she didn’t make it here in the flesh to celebrate it with her is beyond heart breaking. I’m going to ring my mum as soon as I get home.

‘Look at you,’ Clooney teases, bumping his shoulder with mine. ‘I didn’t know you could be so soppy.’

I stick my tongue out. I feel like I’ve done nothing but cry the last few days. I’ve probably cried more than my whole life.

I try to catch her eye, waving every time she glances towards our aisle but she can’t see me. Damn. This is going to be harder than I thought.

She starts descending the aisle, holding onto her emotional father. I can see why he didn’t want to give her the letter. He’s already a mess.

‘Nora!’ I whisper towards her. ‘Nora!’

Clooney grabs hold of my shoulder. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ he hisses into my ear, eyes wide open in shock.

I shrug him off. ‘I have something to tell her.’

‘Unless it’s that her dress is tucked into her knickers, now is definitely not the time,’ he growls, looking round as if to check no one has seen him with the crazy bird.

By the time I look back at her it’s too late and she’s already meeting her future husband in front of the priest. Damn. Missed my chance.

‘Please,’ Geraldine sniffs into my ear. ‘It’s breaking my heart that she thinks I didn’t care enough to write anything for her big day.’

My heart breaks for her. It’s hard enough her missing out on the day. Really this is the least I can do.

I stand up and walk round the side.

‘Phoebe!’ Clooney calls after me, his voice still barely above a whisper. His face is murderous. ‘Get back here.’

I tiptoe towards the front, bent over so I’m hidden from most of the crowd.

‘Nora!’ I whisper hiss again. ‘Nora!’

Josephine spots me from her pew, her eyes widening and her mouth contorting with rage. Uh-oh. She gets up and heads for me, furious. She’s clearly going to batter me to death with her bouquet.

‘Nora!’ I say a bit louder. The whole crowd is starting to turn and stare at me now. Everyone but Nora, the one person I need to look my way.

‘Not today, nutcase,’ Josephine murmurs at me, taking my arm and dragging me backwards. ‘No, I have to tell her something. NORA!’

The entire church, including the bride, groom and priest turn to stare at me.

‘Hello,’ the priest says, adjusting his spectacles. ‘Is there something you’d like to say? Would you like to protest this marriage?’

Shocked gasps fill the church. Everyone looks at me as if I’m a monster. Josephine looks like she’s about to breathe fire.

‘No, I just need to speak to Nora privately before she gets married.’

She looks to her groom, eyes hard.