A Surprise Christmas Wedding - Phillipa Ashley Page 0,96
her outburst.
‘I don’t want to talk about it. I have enough to worry about as it is. For now, we need to work together to make sure this wedding goes ahead,’ she said desperately. ‘For Keegan’s sake and for Firholme.’
He nodded, cursing the way he’d handled the situation. He didn’t know what to think about Connor any more but one thing was for sure: Lottie was angry and upset with him. The only thing he could do properly was his job. ‘I’ve got a few ideas that might work for transporting everyone,’ he said.
‘Good. I need to speak to Shayla to try and salvage this mess,’ Lottie replied curtly. ‘If it is going to happen, we have to make them think it’s all under control. It’s the only way we’ll get through today.’
Moments later, Connor walked into the sitting room. ‘I’m ready …’ he said gloomily as if he was off to the guillotine. Jay didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry for him, but he was determined to get him back home to face the music.
A few minutes later, leaving Lottie to make some calls, he pulled the truck up outside the Bothy. Trevor jumped out and ran to sniff at a bush. Jay went to the door to beckon to Connor to nip out of the house. Even while walking to the truck, Connor’s designer jeans and smart boots were soaked.
He slunk down low in his seat so he couldn’t be seen.
Jay’s insides churned. He didn’t know what to believe any more.
Trevor pulled his nose out of a bush and leapt into the truck over Jay’s lap and onto Connor, before settling in the footwell.
‘Jesus. Does he have to come?’ he moaned. ‘There’s hardly any room for my feet!’
‘Yes. Otherwise, he’ll be stuck inside the cottage for the whole day because we’re so busy with your wedding.’
‘I’m allergic to dogs.’
Jay gripped the wheel. ‘Open the window, then. He can’t sit outside.’
Trevor rested his jowls on Connor’s jeans and gazed up at him.
Connor swore. ‘He’s drooling all over my leg!’
‘Don’t worry. It’s because he’s decided he likes you,’ Jay said, firing up the engine. ‘Then again, he’s never been the best judge of character.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
The wedding morning
Lottie stepped out of the Bothy into a winter wonderland. Every inch of the landscape that wasn’t water was covered in snow, from the top of the mountains to the lake shore. It wasn’t so much a blanket as a twenty-tog goose-down duvet of snow, with wispy flakes swirling in the air like feathers. It was the most idyllic backdrop for a Christmas wedding as could be imagined – shame it wasn’t going to happen.
She trudged over to Shayla’s apartment in the Old Coach House.
Wearing a grim expression, Shayla put a strong cup of coffee in front of her. ‘So, you and Connor were close but you decided not to tell me?’ she said.
‘Yes. He asked me not to although it was my decision to agree. I can understand if you want me to resign,’ she said. ‘After the wedding is over.’
Shayla shook her head and pressed her lips together. Lottie’s stomach turned over. She’d seen that look before on her boss’s face. She was angry. Very angry.
‘I’ve messed up, big time,’ Lottie said.
‘No. You didn’t. You made a judgement call in a situation you couldn’t win and it was Connor who put you in that situation. You had every right to expect your private life before you came here to remain exactly that: private, but these things have a way of coming out. I’m only disappointed you didn’t feel you could trust me enough to tell me.’
Lottie’s hopes plummeted. Shayla’s disappointment was harder to bear than if she’d been angry. ‘It was sheer bad luck that Connor’s mum told Keegan we’d been close. I wish she hadn’t,’ she said. ‘That doesn’t make any difference to the fact I didn’t share the situation with you from the start. I thought I – we – could keep a lid on it and no one would need to know.’
‘I understand that … but now it’s all out.’ Shayla pursed her lips but then sighed. ‘No use wondering “what if”. We’re into damage limitation. What have you heard? Is he back? What has the bride said?’
‘He texted me to say she won’t let him in … She doesn’t know he spent the night here.’
‘That’s something, I suppose, but I have to be honest, Lottie, I can’t see this wedding going ahead, unless something dramatic happens to turn