Page 63 of The Last Saturday In July
‘There’s extra guests coming?’ Carmel looked puzzled.
Nooo, this wasn’t happening. Jess willed her mother to drop the subject.
‘It’s fine, Mam, all sorted.’
‘Just two.’ Úna turned to Carmel. ‘The Feely-Martins, terribly nice people, very good friends of ours.’
Carmel gave Úna a steady look. ‘So, does that bring the numbers up to a hundred and two?’
You could get nothing past her mother. Desperately, Jess tried to send her meaningful looks, but Carmel was on a roll.
‘Has the hotel softened a bit on numbers, Jess? Because if that’s the case, your cousins could bring their partners.’
Faye started to say something, but Jess quickly asked her to pass her another present from the pile beside the sofa.
‘Ooh, open this one!’ Faye passed her a prettily wrapped gift, which looked like a book.
‘That’s something we all put together.’ Faye and Sarah’s mother, Susan, gave a proud smile.
Jess opened an ornate, spiral notebook. On the first page was a handwritten inscription,Favourite Family Recipes.
‘I talked to your Mam and your aunts, to gather all our best recipes,’ Susan said. ‘Sarah typed them all and we divided them up seasonally.’ She watched eagerly as Jess carefully turned the pages.
‘I love it. It’s so thoughtful.’ Jess could feel her eyes stinging and she took a deep breath. She knew why she was teary, and it was all her own fault. ‘Wow, Gran’s Christmas pudding is in here. It was always my favourite.’ She realised her faux pas and shot Moira a look of apology. ‘No offence, Nana.’
Moira chuckled. ‘None taken. I hated making Christmas pudding.’
‘Carmel, didn’t you tell me that the hotel is very strict about numbers and that’s why you couldn’t invite a lot of your own friends?’ Mrs McCarthy’s voice rang clearly through the room.
Jess felt a bit sick. She knew it had been tricky for her parents, not being able to invite their close neighbours to the wedding.
Carmel looked a bit flustered. ‘That’s right, Mrs McCarthy, they were very firm about that.’
‘But didn’t you just say that there’s extra coming now?’
It was getting worse.
Faye handed Jess another gift. ‘That’s from me and Sarah.’
Jess smiled her thanks, but her fingers fumbled as Úna explained the guest situation to Mrs McCarthy.
‘I think Jess organised that a couple of her friends would come along in the evening.’
Susan leaned across from the other sofa, to catch Úna’s attention. ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but that would have been quite tricky for Jess.’
‘I can’t imagine why,’ Úna said.
Carmel looked confused. ‘There’s evening guests too?’
‘No, no.’ Jess could feel her neck and face heat under Susan’s scrutiny. ‘There was no need, it all worked out.’Why couldn’t everyone just leave it alone?
‘Well, I talked to that banqueting manager, to make sure the Feely-Martins would be at the right table.’ Úna sipped her tea. ‘She told me you’d put them in instead of two friends of yours. I can’t remember their names.’
There was a brief, uncomfortable silence in the room. Out of the corner of her eye, Jess saw her mother mouth something to Zoe, but she didn’t dare look at anyone else. Palms sweating, she tore the wrapping off her cousins’ gift, to reveal an enlarged framed photo of herself, Zoe, Faye and Sarah as teenagers.
‘That was the summer you all went down to the caravan in Wexford without us, remember?’ Susan laughed. ‘You three promised you’d mind Zoe.’
Carmel came over to admire it. ‘Look at that!’ She exchanged a smile with Susan. ‘We only let them go because the rest of the family were already down there, and they were dying to see Sarah and Faye. Poor Zoe was only there a day when she fell and broke her arm.’
