The Bridesmaid's Baby (4 page)

A chill ran down Will’s spine. For crying out loud, what was the matter with him today? Anyone would think he was the one getting married, or that they were criminals being led to the dock.

‘All the best, mate,’ he whispered gruffly to Jake.

‘Thanks.’

The two friends shook hands, then headed through the little doorway that led into the church, where an incredible transformation had occurred.

Not only was the place packed to the rafters with people dressed in their best finery, but there were flowers and white ribbons everywhere—dangling from the ends of pews, wound around columns, adorning windowsills and filling vases, large and small.

And there was organ music, billowing and rippling like the background music in a sentimental movie. Will tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Why was it that weddings were designed to zero straight in on unsuspecting emotions?

He glanced at Jake and saw his Adam’s apple jerk.

‘You OK?’ he whispered out of the side of his mouth.

‘I’ll be fine once Mattie gets here.’

‘She won’t be late,’ Will reassured him and again he nervously patted the rings in his pocket.

There was a flurry in the little porch at the back of the church and, as if everyone had been choreographed, the congregation turned. Will felt fine hairs lift on the back of his neck. His stomach tightened.

The girls appeared in a misty mirage of white and pink. Will blinked. Lucy, Gina and Mattie looked incredibly out-of-this-world beautiful in long feminine dresses and glamorous hairstyles, and with their arms filled with flowers.

He heard Jake catch his breath, felt goosebumps lift on his arms.

The organist struck a dramatic chord.

Lucy and Gina, apparently satisfied with their arrangement of Mattie’s dress and veil, took their places in front of her, Lucy first.

Will couldn’t be sure that he wasn’t trembling.

Lucy stood, shoulders back, looking straight ahead, with her blonde head high, her blue eyes smiling. To Will she looked vulnerable and yet resolute and his heart began to thunder loudly.

It was so weird.

He’d seen countless weddings and endless processions of bridesmaids, but none of them had made him feel the way he felt now as the organist began to play and Lucy began to walk down the aisle with her smile carefully in place.

She’d always tried to pretend she was a tomboy, keeping her hair short and wispy and preferring to live in T-shirts and jeans, but today nothing could hide her femininity.

Her pastel off-the-shoulders dress and the soft pink lilies in her arms highlighted the paleness of her hair, the honey-gold tints in her skin, the pink lushness of her lips. She had never looked lovelier.

Except perhaps…that one night on a shadowy veranda, when she’d turned to him with tears in her eyes…

He willed her to look at him. Just one glance would do. For old friendship’s sake. He wanted eye contact, needed to send her one smile, longed for one tiny link with her.

Come on, look this way, Lucy.

She smiled at the people in the congregation, at her particular friends, at Jake, but her gaze didn’t flicker any further to the right. It was clear she did not want to see Will.

Or, perhaps, she simply felt no need.

L
UCY’S
eyes were distinctly misty as she watched Mattie and Jake dance the bridal waltz. They looked so happy together and so deeply in love. She was sure everyone watching them felt misty-eyed too.

It had been an utterly perfect wedding.

The beautiful ceremony had been followed by a happy procession across Willowbank’s main street to the marquee where the reception was held. Champagne flowed, a string quartet played glorious music and the guests were served delectable food.

Jake’s speech had been heartfelt and touching and Will’s toast was appropriately witty, although he went embarrassingly over the top with his praise for the bridesmaids. Lucy had felt her face flame when curious eyes had swung in her direction and the cutting of the cake had been a welcome distraction.

Everyone had broken into spontaneous cheering for Mattie and Jake, and Lucy was thrilled. The wedding couldn’t have been happier.

She was relieved that she’d survived without making a fool of herself. Which mostly meant avoiding Will—a tall order given that her eyes had developed a habit of sneaking
in his direction whenever she thought he wasn’t looking. She’d tried so hard to ignore him, but she’d always thought he was the best-looking guy ever.

She could still remember the day she’d first met him as a schoolboy down by Willow Creek, crouched at the edge of the water.

Even viewing him from behind, he’d been beautiful.

He’d taken his shirt off and he’d been squatting, reaching down, panning for gold in the water. Sunlight breaking through overhead trees had lent an extra sheen to his dark brown hair and to the smooth golden-brown skin on his back.

Lucy hadn’t been able to help staring. His shoulders were wide, his hips narrow, his limbs long—the build of a swimmer.

Now, so many years later, he was even more irresistible in his dark formal attire. Lucy kept finding things she needed to check out—the manly jut of his jaw above the crisp collar, the neat line of his dark hair across the back of his neck, the stunning breadth of his shoulders in the stylish suit jacket…

Sigh…

Despite the wedding’s perfection, the evening had been a huge strain and she was worn out.

She’d kicked off her high heeled shoes and they were now stowed under the table. She was thinking rather fondly about the end of the night when she could head for home. It would be so nice to greet her dogs, then curl up in bed with a glass of water and a headache tablet.

Tom leaned towards her. ‘Lucy, it’s our turn to dance.’

She winced. ‘Is it really?’

Tom was already on his feet. ‘Come on. Gina and Will are already up. You know the wedding party is expected to take a twirl on the dance floor.’

Bother.
She’d forgotten about that. She suppressed a sigh as she fished beneath the table for her shoes.
Ouch.
They pinched as she squeezed back into them.

She looked over at the dance floor and saw that Tom was right. Gina was already dancing with Will and, for no reason that made sense, her silly heart began to trip and stumble.

‘Lead the way,’ she told Tom resolutely, slipping her arm through his. Thank heavens he was a reliable old friend. At least she could dance with Tom till the cows came home without being attacked by dangerous palpitations.

Unfortunately, Tom didn’t seem to be quite so enamoured with her as his dancing partner. At the end of the bracket, other couples joined them on the dance floor and Tom leaned close to her ear. ‘Would you mind if I asked Gina for a dance?’

‘Of course I don’t mind.’ She took a step back to prove it. ‘Please, go ahead. You must dance with your wife.’

Tom happily tapped Will on the back and Lucy retreated to the edge of the timber dance floor. Over her shoulder, she watched the men’s brief smiling exchange. She saw Will’s nod and her heart began to race as she guessed what might happen next.

It was logical—a common courtesy for Will to ask
her
to dance—but there were times when logic and courtesy flew out of the window. Times like now, when her out of date, unhelpful feelings for Will made simple things complicated.

On the surface, one quick dance with an old friend should have been a piece of cake. But on a super-romantic night like tonight, Lucy was trembling at the very thought of dancing publicly in Will Carruthers’s arms.

She couldn’t help thinking about that kiss all those years ago, when she’d made a fool of herself at Will’s
farewell party. She turned, planning to hurry back to her place at the table.

‘Lucy!’

Will’s voice sounded close behind her and she froze.

‘I won’t let you escape that easily.’ His tone held a thread of humour, but there was also a note of command that was hard to ignore.

His hand brushed her wrist and the touch was like a firebrand. Lucy was helpless as his fingers enclosed around her, as he pulled her gently but decisively towards him. ‘Come on,’ he urged. ‘We’ve got to have one dance.’

He made it sound easy, but when she looked into his cool grey eyes she was surprised to see a cautious edge to his smile, as if he wasn’t quite as confident as he sounded. Which didn’t help her to relax.

A number of wedding guests were watching them, however, and the last thing she wanted was a scene.

‘One dance?’ Lucy forced lightness into her voice. ‘Why not?’ She managed a smile. No way did she want to give the impression she was trying to dodge Will. One dance was no problem at all. She would dance with him till her feet fell off.

Will led her back onto the dance floor.

Gulp.

As soon as he placed one hand at her back and took her other hand in his, she knew this wasn’t going to be any version of easy. She drew a jagged breath.

‘Smile,’ Will murmured as he pulled her closer. ‘This is a wedding, not a funeral.’

He took the lead and Lucy obediently pinned on a smile.

She’d only danced with Will a handful of times, long ago. Even so, she could remember every single detail—his habit of enfolding her fingers inside his, the way he smelled
of midnight, and the way her head was exactly level with his jaw.

Tonight, every familiar memory felt like a pulled thread, unravelling her poorly stitched self control. Being this close to Will played havoc with her heartbeats, with her sense of rhythm. She kept stumbling and bumping into him and then apologising profusely.

After the third apology, he steered her to the edge of the floor and he leaned back a little, and he smiled as he looked into her face.

Will said something, but Lucy couldn’t hear him above the music and she shook her head, lifted her shoulders to show she had no idea.

Leaning closer, she felt her skin vibrate as he spoke into her ear. ‘Are you OK? Would you like a break?’

That would be sensible, wouldn’t it?

She nodded. ‘Yes, please.’

A reprieve.

Maybe not. Will stayed close beside her as she returned to the table and, before she could resume her seat, he said, ‘There are chairs outside. Why don’t we go out there where it’s cooler and quieter, away from the music?’

Lucy’s heart stumbled again. Going outside where it was quieter suggested that Will wanted to talk.

Part of her yearned to talk with him, but she wasn’t sure it was wise. What could they talk about now? They’d covered the basics last night after the rehearsal, and Will had been away for so long that they’d lost their old sense of camaraderie.

Besides, further conversation would surely lead to uncomfortable topics like her relationship with Josh. Wouldn’t it be wiser to simply keep their distance now?

But the look in Will’s eyes as he watched her sent a fine shiver rushing over her skin and she knew that wisdom would lose this particular battle and curiosity would win. She secretly longed to hear what Will wanted to talk about.

‘I’m sure a little fresh air is a good idea,’ she said and she went with him through a doorway in the side of the marquee into the moon silvered night.

They found two chairs abandoned by smokers and, as soon as Lucy sat down, she slipped off her shoes and rubbed at her aching feet.

Will chuckled softly.

‘I’m not used to wearing such high heels,’ she said defensively. ‘You should try them. They’re sheer torture.’

‘I don’t doubt that for a moment, but they look sensational.’ He released a button on his jacket, letting it fall open. His shirt gleamed whitely in the moonlight and he stretched his long legs in front of him.

After a small pause, he said, ‘I meant what I said in my speech. You look lovely tonight, Lucy.’

Her cheeks grew warm again. ‘Thanks. Mattie chose our dresses. She has very feminine tastes.’

He let her self-effacing comment pass.

‘It’s been a perfect wedding,’ she said to make amends, but then she was ambushed by an involuntary yawn. ‘But it seems to have worn me out.’

‘You’ve probably been working too hard.’

She shook her head. ‘My work doesn’t very often make me tired. Weddings, on the other hand…’

‘Can be very draining.’

‘Yes.’

He was watching her with a lopsided smile. ‘It’s not always easy to watch your friends tie the knot.’

‘I…’ Her mouth was suddenly dry and her tongue stuck to its roof. She shot Will a sharp glance, uncertain where this conversation was heading. She tried again. ‘I’m really happy for Mattie, aren’t you?’

‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Marriage couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl.’

Lucy nodded. A small silence limped by. ‘I suppose weddings are tiring because they involve lots of people.’ Hunting for a way to disguise the fact that Will’s presence at this wedding was her major problem, she made a sweeping gesture towards the crowded marquee. ‘I’m more used to animals these days. They’re so much quieter than humans.’

‘And I’m used to rocks.’

Lucy laughed. ‘I dare say they’re quieter too.’

‘Silence is one of their better attributes.’ Will chuckled again. ‘Sounds like we’ve turned into a pair of old loners.’

‘Maybe,’ she said softly, but she knew it was hazardous for her to talk of such things with this man.

Quietly, he said, ‘It’s happening all around us, Goose.’

Goose…
her old nickname.

Only her father and Will had ever called her Goose, or Lucy Goose…and hearing the name now made her dangerously nostalgic.

She tried to shake that feeling aside. ‘What’s happening all around us?’

‘Friends getting married. Starting families.’

Lucy stiffened. Why did he have to bring up
that
subject? ‘It’s hardly surprising, given our friends’ ages.’

‘Yes, and we’re older than all of them.’

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock…

Lucy closed her eyes as the familiar breathless panic
gripped her.
No.
She wasn’t going to think about
that
worry tonight. She’d declared a moratorium on all thoughts that involved babies, having babies, wanting babies, losing babies. She couldn’t imagine why Will had raised such a sensitive topic.

Or perhaps he didn’t know about her miscarriage. After his brother’s death, she’d barely spoken to Will at the funeral and then he’d moved as far away from Willowbank as was humanly possible. Since then, if they’d run into each other, it had been by accident, or because their friends had invited them to the same Christmas party.

Will had always been polite but he’d kept his distance and Lucy had always been busily proving to him that she was managing damn fine splendid on her own.

So why this?

Why now?

Lucy knew her sudden breathless fear would not be helped by a continued discussion of marriage and babies with Will Carruthers.

‘Is there a point to this conversation, Will?’ She thrust her feet back into her shoes and grimaced as they pinched. ‘Because I don’t enjoy being reminded of how old I’m getting.’

She jumped to her feet, only to discover she was shaking violently. Her knees had no strength whatsoever and she had no choice but to sink down again.

She was too embarrassed to look at Will.

In a heartbeat, he was bending over her solicitously. ‘I’m sorry. I thought I was stating the obvious. Marriages, births, christenings all around us. Are you all right? Can I get you a drink?’

‘I’m fine,’ she lied, dragging in oxygen. ‘But I…I should go back inside. Mattie might need me.’

‘Are you sure you’re OK?’

She gulped another deep breath. ‘I’m certain.’

Will’s hand was at her elbow, supporting her as she got to her feet again, and she hoped he couldn’t feel the way her body trembled.

With her first step she swayed against him. He put his arm around her and it felt amazingly fabulous to have his solid shoulder to lean on. ‘I swear I haven’t had too much to drink,’ she said.

‘I know that. You’re just tired.’

She supposed he was right. What else could it be?

‘As soon as this reception is over, I’ll drive you home,’ Will said.

‘There’s no need.’

‘No arguments, Lucy. You don’t have your car here, do you?’

‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I left it at Mattie’s place.’

‘My vehicle’s here. If you’re tired, you need a lift.’

By now they’d reached the doorway to the marquee and Lucy could see Gina handing around a platter of wedding cake in pink and silver parcels.

‘Oh, heavens,’ she cried, slipping from Will’s hold. ‘I should be helping with the cake.’

‘Are you sure you’re up to it?’

‘Of course.’

And, as she hurried to help, she knew that it was true. She was perfectly fine when she was safely away from Will.

That went well,
Will thought wryly as he watched Lucy hand around platters of wedding cake.

Already she was smiling and chatting and looking a hundred times happier than she had a few minutes ago when he’d crassly reminded her that life was passing them by.

Watching her with a thoughtful frown, he recalled the countless conversations they’d enjoyed when they were friends. They’d shared a mutual interest in science, and so they’d been totally in tune about many things. It was only later, when they’d talked about life after university, that their friendship had run into trouble.