Page 50 of The Last Saturday In July
Simon had once told her that he’d been shy and quite lonely in school, until David had joined his class when the boys were nine. Despite David being a natural extrovert, the two had become the best of friends. So it made no sense that Simon would discourage him from dating Kate.
And none of it explained the increasing tensions between her and Simon. Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly, trying not to feel hurt. She was probably overthinking things. Simon was under a lot of strain in work, and he had to be feeling the pressure of the wedding as much as she was. Once they were married, everything, including Kate, would sort itself out.
Chapter 19
JESS woke in a sweaty tangle of sheets and duvet that Wednesday morning. In her dream, she and Simon had been standing at the top of the church about to exchange vows, when Adam had burst into the church to tell Simon that she was a cheater and a liar, and he should dump her.
She reached over to Simon’s side of the bed, but the sheets were already cold. He was probably finished at the gym and on his way to work. Last night had been awful, and no matter how many times she went over it, she couldn’t figure out exactly what she’d done wrong. Simon had seemed uptight all evening and, after she’d gone to bed, she’d lain awake for hours. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was really wrong. Or that the reasons ran deeper than her hen weekend. All she knew was that they seemed to be pulling away from each other.
Jess forced herself to get up, heading straight for the shower. As she stepped under the hot spray, she wished things could return to the way they’d been before their engagement, and the stress of an impending wedding. What she needed was a quick win: maybe if she solved the problem of the extra wedding guests, it would help smooth things over between them.
She turned off the water, grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it around her. She’d been so excited to move in with Simon, especially as she was the first girlfriend he’d ever lived with. But even though she knew having her move in had been a culture shock for him, nothing had prepared Jess. Certainly not her years spent at home, or the couple of years where she and some college friends had rented together. At least, she reasoned, they were going into marriage with their eyes open.
She rang Burlington House as she walked to the bus stop, and waited as she was connected with the banqueting manager.
‘Hi, is that Laura? This is Jess Bradley. My fiancé and I are having our wedding reception there on Saturday, July twenty-eighth.’
‘Of course, how can I help today?’
‘We were hoping to invite a couple more people.’
‘Let me just check your details.’
There was a pause and Jess could hear the distant clicks of a keyboard.
When Laura spoke again, she sounded apologetic. ‘The problem is you’re already at maximum numbers. We simply can’t seat any more than a hundred guests.’
‘Could you make a small exception, please? You could just squash them in somewhere, they wouldn’t mind.’
Jess was sure the Feely-Martins would definitely mind being squashed in somewhere, but that was the least of her worries.
‘It’s not that simple, I’m afraid.’ Laura was firmer now. ‘Our insurance won’t cover us for more people in that room.’
Shit.Jess tried to think. ‘Could we extend into another room? It doesn’t matter if some people are sitting separately.’
‘Our banqueting room only connects to a corridor, not another room. I can send you a layout of the hotel, if that helps.’ The other woman hesitated. ‘We’re a boutique hotel – your wedding is quite large by our standards.’ She let this sink in. ‘Why don’t you have a think about it and let me know what you’d like to do? I’ll give you my direct line.’
‘Thanks. Yes, that would be good.’
Jess hung up, feeling sick. There were just over two weeks to their wedding and the hotel had them over a barrel. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything to Laura and simply told Úna that it was sorted. Jess had worked in hotels long enough to know that no manager would ever risk upsetting a wedding party. If two more people simply showed up on the day, they’d have to find some way of accommodating them.
It was tempting, except the Feely-Martins would probably make a fuss, and Úna would blame her.
Jess arrived at the bus stop. What if she asked Laura to swap two of her cousins’ places for the Feely-Martins? Jess knew that Faye and Sarah wouldn’t panic if they couldn’t find their names, and Jess would make sure that she or Kate was on hand to get it sorted. It was such a simple solution, she was surprised she hadn’t thought of it sooner.
The bus arrived and she slid into one of the front seats. Taking out her phone to check her newsfeed, a headline caught her eye.Fire at Linford Castle destroys part of the South Tower.Shit, no. She steadied the phone in her hand and scrolled down, skimming over it before she realised that nothing was going in. She took a deep breath and forced herself to read slowly.
A fire that broke out overnight at Mayo’s historic Linford Castle, where reality TV star Chelsea Deneuve and Casino King Leo Dinardia are due to wed at the end of this month, has damaged part of the South Tower, which includes the newly refurbished bridal suite.
The fire seems to have started around midnight and was discovered by staff after smoke triggered the hotel’s fire alarms. A spokesperson for the hotel said it was brought quickly under control, and nobody was injured. The cause is not yet known.
The celebrity duo is flying in 200 guests for their three-day wedding which begins on Saturday 28th, and all their guests will stay at the castle or in one of the self-catering cottages in the grounds.
Jess didn’t bother to read the rest of the article. The bus pulled in at her stop and she walked the five minutes to the office, grateful for the chance to think.
She had just turned onto the canal when her phone rang, and Ian Finnegan’s name flashed up on the screen.
‘Hi, Ian, I’ve just read about the fire.’
