Page 93 of The Last Saturday In July
‘Breathe.’
As her mother rubbed circles on her back, Jess’s anger dissolved, and she felt the first tears on her cheeks.
The shop owner produced a clean towel, and draped it across the top of the dress, tucking it in at the back. ‘Cry away,’ she said. ‘It’s good to release tension.’ She hesitated. ‘I’ll be outside if you need me but take your time. There’s nobody booked in for another half hour.’
She left, and Carmel pulled another chair close to Jess, sitting down so she could put an arm around her. For a long while, Jess sat, sniffling and hiccupping until her tears subsided. Carmel handed her a packet of tissues, and Jess wiped her face and blew her nose.
Zoe stood in the doorway, pulling at some skin around her thumb. ‘What can I do?’
Jess felt exhausted. ‘Nothing.’ Her whole face felt swollen, and most of her make-up seemed to be on the balled-up, soggy tissues in her hand.
‘That girl certainly picks her moments.’ Carmel sounded grim.
‘It’s complicated, Mam.’ Far more complicated than she’d ever know.
But Zoe did. And Jess knew she could trust her not to say a word.
‘How is it complicated?’ Carmel said. ‘Am I right in thinking she doesn’t want to come to the wedding?’ She pursed her lips. ‘It doesn’t make sense. Unless she’s jealous.’
Why would she be jealous? Maybe she was afraid that Jess and Simon would move on with their lives without her. Or that if Simon became a dad, he’d forget about Luke. Then there was David, the first guy Kate had let into her life in ages. On the one hand, Jess was pushing them together, on the other, Simon was warning Kate away.
That had to be it. All this time, Jess had been so caught up in her own problems, so focused on her own secrets, that she hadn’t appreciated just how worried Kate was. If she was Kate, she’d probably have lashed out too. When she calmed down, they’d talk properly. Everything would work out.
Chapter 36
ADAM was waiting in Jess’s office when she arrived in on Monday morning. She took one look at his expression and knew there was something wrong. Whatever it was, Jess thought a bit grimly, it might distract her from what had happened over the weekend, and from her own wedding which was now hurtling towards her like an asteroid.
He got straight to the point. ‘I wanted to let you know that you’ll be on your own after today. I’m flying back to Switzerland.’
Jess blinked. ‘Before the wedding? I thought ...’
‘I won’t be needed.’ Adam’s face was unreadable. ‘You and Ian have this: there’s no need for me to hang around. And I’ve spent long enough in Dublin.’
Something was off. She’d known Adam wouldn’t be staying, but this was too sudden. And even though she’d been betting on it, now that it was happening it felt like a punishment.
He opened the door, then, almost as an afterthought, turned back. ‘Congratulations, by the way. Seems I was the last to know.’
Jess felt the colour drain from her face. She knew instinctively what he meant. She’d somehow known the second she’d walked into her office.
A muscle in Adam’s jaw visibly tightened. ‘I bumped into Kate on Saturday afternoon when I was running in the Phoenix Park. We had a coffee together and she told me the happy news.’
Oh God, Kate must have gone straight there after she’d left the bridal shop. She’d finally broken her promise to Jess, not to tell Adam anything personal about her, by revealing the most damming thing of all.
‘I’m sorry, I know I should have told you, Adam.’ She swallowed, trying to think. In the beginning, she’d pretended she didn’t care about his opinion of her. Then, when she’d finally accepted how much she liked him, his opinion had meant everything to her. It was so messed up – and now he’d hate her anyway.
His eyes bored into her. ‘Save the apology for the poor bastard you’re about to marry. For the record, we wouldn’t have slept together that night if I’d known you were in a relationship. Especially if I’d known you were about to get married. No matter how much we’d had to drink.’
‘It wasn’t like …’
A movement in the corridor behind him caught her attention and, as Kate stepped into view, Jess saw the horror on her face.
Kate stumbled as she turned, briefly catching the edge of the door to steady herself. Before Jess could react, she had left.Shit, how had everything got so bad, so quickly? She braced herself.
‘Adam, I know you’ve every right to be angry ...’
‘Forget about it.’
Jess wished he’d have a good rant, demand a few answers. At least that way, she might have a chance to explain. But the truth was, she couldn’t explain herself: she’d had no excuse for what she’d done.
