Page 14 of A Cornish Wedding Retreat
He turned away and began to make a pot of tea, with the same quiet concentration she’d observed earlier during the cake disaster episode. At first she’d been surprised to hear he was a lawyer but now with his smooth talking charm, quick brain and attention to detail it made complete sense. For the first time in hours Maggie let herself relax.
‘Hey, tired girl, do you want tea or a nap?’
Her eyes flew open and it took a second for her to register Chad’s concerned face inches away from hers. ‘What are you talking about?’ Maggie rubbed at her eyes.
‘If I hadn’t put my hand out to keep you on the chair you’d be flat on the floor by now.’ He said with a wry smile. ‘You’re exhausted.’
‘Tea please.’ Maggie murmured, glancing away so she didn’t have to meet his intense eyes, the flecks of brown and gold shimmering in the light.
‘Yes, ma’am.’ The touch of sarcastic humour made her smile despite everything. ‘Strong, weak, milk, sugar, lemon — specific details please and I’ll fix it for you.’
‘Strong. A little milk. No sugar.’
‘Your wish is my command.’ Chad teased and proceeded to follow her instructions. ‘There you go.’ He set a cup down in front of Maggie and poured another one for himself before joining her. They both started to drink and she waited for him to start bugging her with questions.
‘It’s complicated,’ Maggie blurted out and caught him half-smile. The damn man was too clever. He’d purposely kept quiet and the silence forced her to speak up.
‘People usually are.’ His free hand rested on the table and without thinking she covered it with her own. She rubbed idly over the dusting of dark hair, buoyed by the strength and warmth under her stroking fingers. ‘Don’t tell me any more than you’re comfortable with. I’m happy to listen as much as you want but I don’t want you to regret it in the morning.’
His ambiguous words made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
‘You’ve got a wicked mind.’ He chuckled and shook his head in fake disappointment, but in a flash his smile faded. ‘Sorry. I promised no flirting.’
Would it be awful to tell him she really didn’t mind?
‘Of course, if you . . .’
She leaned over and placed her finger on his mouth, silencing him. ‘Leave it.’ Maggie sat back and took another large swallow of her tea. A shy smile warmed his eyes making her glad he’d stayed. Having no one to talk through things with was tough and for some absurd reason she trusted Chad.
‘Do you wanna start with what Emily was upset about earlier?’
Maggie plunged in before she could change her mind. ‘Her fiancé, Jonathan, sent her a text breaking off their engagement.’
‘What a shit.’ She gasped at his harsh comment. ‘Sorry, excuse my language.’
‘That didn’t shock me, it’s the fact you reduced it to the basic truth. Nothing else really matters because there’s no excuse for his behaviour, is there?’
Chad shook his head. ‘Nope.’
She started to fill in a few details, telling him how Emily and Jonathan met a couple of years ago and how kind and patient he’d been with her sister’s uncertain temperament. At least until recently when his tolerance appeared to be fraying around the edges. Chad raised his eyebrows, but didn’t say a word. Maggie explained that they’d been planning a spring wedding and Emily had bought her wedding dress already. ‘She kept on at him last week to set a date but he didn’t answer her outright. I wonder if he felt cornered?’
‘I guess it could be.’ Chad shrugged and didn’t quite meet her eyes. ‘You don’t suppose there’s . . . well, you know . . .’
‘Another woman?’
He nodded.
‘I suppose it’s possible, but I suspect it’s more a question of him getting tired of trying to handle Emily’s ups and downs.’God knows, I’d understand that. Sometimes I can’t either.
Chad’s eyes darkened and she watched him working out how to phrase his next question.
Chapter Ten
‘Spit it out. You don’t have to creep around me. I don’t do tears and hysterics. There isn’t room for more than one of those in a family.’
Chad decided to take Maggie at her word. Sometimes clients asked him to be honest and meant it, others spoke the words but it was the last thing they really wanted. But everything about Maggie had been straightforward from the moment they met. ‘Has Emily always been very emotional?’ A heavy silence swirled around them. Maggie nodded, her shoulders drooping with tired sadness.
‘My first memory is of Emily throwing a tantrum in a shoe shop. She threw shoes around, kicked the assistant and screamed the place down because my mother wouldn’t let her have the inappropriate pair she wanted. Of course Mum gave in and bought them.’
