Page 5 of Christmas at Sturcombe Bay
So, the wedding was off. She would never wear the beautiful vintage ivory lace dress she had left hanging up in the spareroom of the flat she had shared with Glenn, above his motorbike shop. Her little cousins would be upset that they weren’t going to be bridesmaids — she felt bad about that.
There were all the guests to be told, the church and the vicar, the hotel where the reception was to have been held, the photographer, the florist, the caterers . . . Oh lord, the list seemed endless!
In her initial surge of anger she had told Glenn that he would have to deal with it, but that wasn’t really fair on all those people. When it came to tasks like that, he couldn’t find his backside with both hands. Besides, he’d give his version of the reason — which probably wouldn’t be true.
She’d have to do it herself. Dammit. Impatiently, she brushed a tear from her eyes and rose to her feet to continue unpacking her bags. She wasnotgoing to cry any more. Even though it hurt like hell.
Chapter Two
Jess slept badly and woke late. She lay for a long time, staring up at the sloping ceiling, her mind churning with the memory of how she had woken just twenty-four hours ago. If she hadn’t picked up the phone and seen those messages . . .
But then she wouldn’t have known about Glenn’s latest sleazy behaviour, and would have ended up married to him — which was a far worse proposition than not being married to him.
At last she dragged herself out of bed and slipped across to the bathroom, then pulled on some clothes and wandered downstairs.
She found her sister in the small office next to the sitting room in the main part of the house. This was where she managed all the administration for the family’s veterinary practices.
Julia looked up and smiled. “Good morning, honey. How did you sleep?”
“Pretty well.” Jess’s mouth quirked into a wry smile. “No, actually I didn’t. But I’ll be okay.”
Julia came round the desk to hug her. “You can’t expect it to be fine all at once. It’s been a big shock and upheaval. It’ll take time to get over it.”
“Yes.” No tears now — they’d probably all been used up. Anyway, she had things to do, there was no time for wallowing. “Can I link my laptop into your Wi-Fi? I’ve got a load of messages to send out, cancelling everything.”
“Of course. I’ll give you the password. Have you had breakfast?”
Jess shook her head. “I don’t really want anything. Maybe just a coffee.”
“I’ll make it. I could do with one myself. And some toast. You really ought to eat something. Don’t give Sleazy Glenn the Dick Pic Dick the satisfaction of seeing you waste away.”
Jess managed a laugh. “Okay, just one slice. And a couple of Aspirin if you have them.”
“Right. If you want to set up your laptop in here, just clear that stuff off the table there. It can go on the bookshelf.”
“Fine.” She drew in a long, calming breath. “Thanks.”
It wasn’t a very pleasant way to spend a morning. Messages came pinging back from the guests who had been invited to the wedding — sympathetic, discreetly curious. She had planned a script for responding which gave a brief explanation, but not the whole story.
Her mother, predictably, was the hardest. She couldn’t do that one by email — it had to be a phone call. She put it off till last, but it had to be faced. If her mother heard the news from another source, she’d never hear the end of it. She dialled the number, and gritted her teeth through the lengthy diatribe that came down the line to her.
Julia glanced over with a sympathetic smile as she finally put the phone down and rubbed her ear. “What did she say? No, let me guess.I told you so. They’re all the same. Just like your father. You’re better off without him?”
“Something like that.”
“How about the rest?”
“Not good.” Jess smiled crookedly. “Cancelling so late means that we’re going to lose our deposits. That’s a few thousand quid down the drain.”
“Better that than being married to that scumbag, though.”
“Too right.”
“Has he been in touch?”
Jess rolled her eyes. “There’s a string of emails from him. I haven’t opened any of them.”
Julia laid a hand on her shoulder. “Do you want me to look at them?”
