Page 10 of A Cornish Wedding Retreat
‘Yeah, I pretty much tell it like it is, sweetheart.’ His eyes sparkled, drawing her in as he’d done from the moment they met. ‘Many of my clients hire me for that very reason, although occasionally I have to restrain myself.’
‘I bet that’s a challenge,’ Maggie teased and an appealing flush highlighted his sharp cheekbones.
‘No comment.’
‘A very lawyerly answer.’
‘Sure is.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on, we’re wasting cake eating time.’
‘A sacrilege if ever I heard one.’ Recklessly she placed her hand in his, not caring who saw.
Chad led her across the room and Maggie felt more than a few pairs of eyes following their progress.
‘Here’s our other reject come to join the fun,’ he announced with a wide grin around at the disparate group who’d all stopped eating to stare at them.
Chapter Seven
‘Sit by me,’ Audrey ordered, gesturing at the seat next to her. ‘You look worn out, Margaret. I want an explanation for why we’re eating cake out of jam jars. Last week Fiona described every detail of the cake she’d ordered andthisisn’t it.’ She prodded the mixture as if it contained arsenic.
Creative culinary experiments were plainly out of the old lady’s realm. Chad caught Maggie’s eye and she gave a resigned shrug. They both knew Audrey would demand the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
‘Do something useful, young man, and fetch this poor girl a drink.’ Audrey swivelled around to face him.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Chad swiftly agreed and hurried off to collar one of the waitresses, persuading her to fetch him a bottle of champagne. He returned to the table brandishing the bottle and caught snippets of Maggie’s muttered conversation with the older lady. By the sharp glances Audrey kept throwing his way Chad guessed his part in the kitchen proceedings wasn’t a secret any more. He poured a fresh glass out for Maggie and topped up everyone else’s. ‘There you go.’ Chad raised his glass. ‘I think we should all drink a toast to our wonderful cake magician.’
Tonya’s cool stare was distinctly less friendly now. He hadn’t missed her watching when he and Maggie walked to the table together. Holding her hand might not have been wise but he didn’t regret giving in to his impulse.
‘Sit there.’ Audrey gestured to the chair on her other side and Chad did as he was told. ‘Is your sister behaving herself?’
‘Emily’s fine, thank you.’ Maggie glanced at her watch. ‘I must get back to the kitchen soon. There’s lots to do.’
Audrey’s shrewd dark eyes narrowed. ‘Very convenient, my dear. I expect you to come and have tea with me one day next week so we can have a proper conversation.’ She gave a sharpnod in Chad’s direction. ‘Bring him along. He’ll enjoy seeing my house and we might teach him how to drink tea the proper way.’
The helpless glance he received said Maggie didn’t have a clue how to reply.
‘We’d be delighted.’ Chad oozed Southern charm as if he’d been born on a Mississippi plantation and spent his days drinking mint juleps on the front porch. ‘It sure is kind of you to invite me to your home. All I ask is that you let down the drawbridge and order the guards to hold back on the boiling oil.’ Maggie stifled a giggle and he squeezed her hand under the table.
‘You are a very cheeky man, Mr Robertson.’ Her haughty manner was completely at odds with the smile tugging at the edges of her narrow lips. ‘Monday at three. And don’t be late. I abhor unpunctuality even more than being answered back to.’
‘Monday it is. Should we synchronise our watches now?’ Chad teased.
Maggie jumped up to standing. ‘Some of us have work to do. I’ll leave you two to trade insults to your heart’s content.’ She leaned down and kissed the old lady’s cheek. ‘I’ll see you on Monday.’ Straightening up she nodded at him. ‘Behave yourself.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’ Judging by Maggie’s mischievous smile she’d love to say more but didn’t dare. ‘Off you go. I’ll catch up with you later.’
* * *
‘I’m sure you will,’ she muttered, hurrying away before Chad could say anymore. She’d noticed him stifle a smile when Audrey called her Margaret. No one else called her that these days although her parents had always insisted on doing so. She blinked back tears. How they’d love to be here today and see she and Emily working together.It’s not by choice. Admit it.
When Emily first broached the idea Maggie’s heart had sunk. She’d been making wedding cakes for several years in addition to her regular job with a local estate agent and on the verge of saving enough to start her own business. Emily had flitted her way through more jobs than anyone could remember without settling to anything and when she turned on the guilt screw Maggie had succumbed.
Please, Maggie. You know I’m not smart like you with money. I can cook but you’re good at bossing people around and organising things. Mum and Dad would be so pleased. They always wanted us to be closer.
Their father had never appeared to see past Emily’s helpless princess act, but a couple of times Maggie suspected that her mother did. From the time she was old enough to understand it’d been made clear to Maggie that she was responsible for Emily, not the other way around. Dad had explained it very gently.
Some people are born tough and others aren’t, Margaret. She can’t help being sensitive and emotional. You’ll have to help her navigate the world because other people won’t always understand.
Maggie hadn’t really understood either, but even at eight-years-old knew not to say so out loud. Life wasn’t ever easy. She sighed to herself and slipped back into the kitchen — walking straight into another nightmare.
