Page 32 of The Layover

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‘You were, weren’t you?’ Fran presses – and would you look at that, shedoeshave a backbone after all! Somewhere in there. There is hope for her yet. ‘You wanted to talk to her so you could – could tell her all this rubbish,’ she says, waving a hand at his notebook full of Marcus slander, ‘and stop the wedding!’

I don’t want to be left out, so I say, ‘That’swhy you were so wound up about not making it there until the morning, isn’t it? Because you were worried you’d miss your chance to catch Kayleigh before the ceremony.’

Leon gives me a disgruntled look. ‘Hardly sounds likeyou’rehis biggest fan, either. You can’t talk.’

‘Iwasn’t about to stand up and yell “I object!” and run in wielding my Burn Book.’ I pick up the notebook and wave it around theatrically, if only for a moment to relish the ridiculousness and excellence of that mental image. ‘You’replanning to tell her that her whole family hates the man she’s marrying. Respectfully, Leon, what the fuck?’

‘Me? What abouther?’

I am dealing with toddlers. God, give me strength.

Fran looks down, fidgeting with one of the enamel pins on her jacket.

‘She,’ I say, ‘is doing this because she thinks she’s the main character in a cheesy romance movie. Which I’m normally all for, but that’s beside the point. She’s doing it forlove. You’re doing it to be spiteful.’

But when he shakes his head, his expression clears, his resolve hardening. I see it settling into his features like stone. Clean-cut and sure.

‘You’re wrong. I’m doing this because it’s what we should’ve done a long time ago. There’s never a good time to say, “We don’t like your boyfriend”, especially when he’s alwaysthereand you’re engaged in the blink of an eye. We all kept our mouths shut because we love Kay and want her to be happy, but this relationshipcan’tbe making her happy. It’s changed her. She’s not the same person. And if it comes from me …’

He takes a deep, shuddering breath, and it’s oddly vulnerable for someone who looks so set on their course. My heart bleeds for him a little.

‘If it comes from me, then the worst that happens is she cuts me out of her life. But she’ll still have Mum and Dad, and Myleene. It’s not like she makes time to talk to me much these days, so I’m sure it won’t be difficult for her to stop altogether. And they can blame me, too, say they didn’t know and it was all my idea, so they don’t have to lose Kay. But at least someone tried.’

‘Oh,’ Fran gasps, and she gets as far as reaching for Leon’s elbow to lay a hand on his arm in comfort before she thinks better of it. Her fingers barely graze his sleeve before she retracts her hand, but her eyes are misty.

She’s not the only one. The emotion is shining in Leon’s eyes, too, and while I wouldn’t be surprised to see him cry, Iamsurprised it’s over this.

I’m surprised that it got this far. That I never stopped and considered how it must feel on the other side of their relationship with Kayleigh, beyond the whinging and fed-up comments I constantly hear from her whenever the topic comes up. I guess …

I guess I sort of assumed the familial distancing was mutual.

Like it is for me, with my family.

And I knew they had this idea of who Kayleigh is – ever since we were in school, she’d always act differently around her parents, which I assumed was so normal I never thought twice about it till now – but I never thought they’d beclingingto it. Reaching for her, even as she slaps their hands away.

My heart reallydoesbleed for him now. For all of them. Kayleigh’s family are good people. Average, normal, ordinary,goodpeople. It’s so sad to think they all feel that they’re losing her, that they have to fight for her.

What’s that like? I want to ask. Maybe Kayleigh, maybe Leon.What’s it like having a family who want to fight to be in your life?

How can you throw that away, like it means so little?

There’s a pang in my chest so sharp, so tight, ithurts. I rub absently at the top of my sternum like I can massage it away, but it doesn’t budge.

Quietly, Fran says, ‘I’m sorry, Leon. That’s … That must be really hard on all of you. That must’ve been a really hard thing to decide to do. It’s … I think it’s very brave of you.’

He laughs, but it’s a hollow, barking sound. ‘It was an impulsive, stupid thing, but … It’s the only thing Icando. She wants me to stand up there and give a speech saying how happy we are about the wedding, how thrilled we are to have Marcus join the family, and … Surely there’s part of her thatknows?I mean, Dad – my dad doesn’t do crowds, he’d probably pass out if he tried to give a speech. But he didn’t even want totry– notafter she told him he couldn’t walk her down the aisle. His eldest daughter’s getting married, and he doesn’t even want totryto stand up there and say so much as, “Congratulations, both.” Do you have any idea how sad that is to see?’

I don’t.

I can’t imagine. I really can’t.

He looks at Fran for a long moment, and her pretty features bow with sorrow for him. Leon doesn’t bother to glance my way. He knows as well as I do that I won’t understand.

We were never a close-knit family, anyway, even before we fell apart.

‘It’s a more honourable bloody reason to call off a wedding than an affair,’ he mutters then, and I give him another kick under the table. This one might be a little harder than the last. I’m not sorry about it.

I mean, poor Fran. However dodgy her motives are, she’s not mean-spirited about it. I mean, she actuallysaid– honestlybelieved– it was for Kayleigh’s sake, too, because it’d be sad to be married to a man who had feelings for someone else. I’m not saying it’s honourable, but he doesn’t need to be a prat about it.