Page 44 of Wedding Crasher

‘Excuse me!’

She called out, and added a loud cough for extra security. She didn’t want to risk him not hearing her now that she’d spotted her big chance.

Oh good, he was turning around. Melanie felt the heat flood her cheeks.

‘Could I, er, have a word please?’

Rupert slid his glasses down his nose and glanced over his shoulder as if he expected her to be talking to someone behind him. Finding no one, he shrugged and sauntered back across the road.

Melanie faltered. Close up he really was a rather attractive man, in a clean cut and useless sort of way.

‘I have something … a parcel. It’s to be delivered to the chapel.’

‘Have you mistaken me for the postman?’

His smug smile did nothing to lessen the pompousness of his joke, but Melanie decided to play along with a nervous laugh.

‘Hang on there a sec please …’ She ducked back inside the funeral parlour, and emerged again a few seconds later, dumping the big box awkwardly into Rupert’s arms.

He stared at it with a furrowed brow. He’d obviously been expecting something redirected from the regular mail, not a brightly covered gift box. He looked at Melanie blankly.

‘It’s fireworks. From Gabe.’

His jaw tightened, giving away his annoyance.

‘Fireworks? What the hell for?’

‘It’s July 4th. Americans have fireworks. Independence Day, and all that.’

A look of pure hatred turned Rupert’s handsome face momentarily ugly. Melanie took the limp flowers dangling from his fingertips and laid them on top of the gift box as an idea formed in her head.

‘The card has fallen off. It’s on my desk. I could get it, if you think …’

Melanie held her breath as she waited for him to connect the dots, and breathed out as the light of understanding clicked on.

‘No, no need for that. I’ll see that Marla gets them.’

Melanie nodded and rewarded Rupert with a small smile for taking the bait.

‘’Kay then. Thanks.’

She watched him swagger away towards the chapel, struggling to get his sunnies back in place before he opened the door.

Melanie brushed her clammy hands down her skirt as she went back inside. Rupert had just gone up a notch in her estimation. Perhaps now he would be the ally she’d hoped he would be. She slumped into her chair, exhausted. All this duplicity was turning out to be hard work, but also strangely enjoyable. Hell, she might even let herself eat the Mars bar she’d been saving up for the last three months as a celebration.

‘Rupert, that is so thoughtful!’ Marla flung her arms around Rupert’s neck and hugged him tight. His gift touched her deeply. She hadn’t expected him to even realise the significance of the date, let alone go out of his way to find fireworks in the middle of summer.

‘Will you help me with them tonight?’

She pulled the lid off the box as she spoke and laughed with delight at the sight of the multicoloured rockets.

‘We’ll have to do it here though, your garden is way too small for this kind of thing.’

Rupert eyed the large firework in Marla’s hand. She nodded. He was right. Her garden was tiny with overhanging trees, and Rupert’s communal apartment garden was out of the question. No, the chapel garden out back would be perfect.

She placed the rocket back in the box and turned to Rupert. His skin was warm and smelled of expensive aftershave; she wound her arms around him and nestled into his neck.

‘Thank you.’