Page 110 of Just Say Yes
‘Hi. You OK? Have you found Peyton?’ Lorcan’s deep, concerned voice came through the speaker on the car.
‘Yes. She’s here in the car with me now. Are you still at home?’
‘Yep.’
‘Does your mum have space for another one for breakfast?’
‘Yep,’ he said, without missing a beat.
‘OK, we’ll see you shortly.’
Peyton had been making hand-waving gestures the entire time I’d been on the phone.
‘I can’t go to Lorcan’s. What will he think of me? He’s Patrick’s best friend. Please, Maddie, I can’t. He’ll hate me if he knows I’ve been having second thoughts.’
‘No, Peyton. I promise you. He won’t. He wants the best for both of you. If you were having second thoughts, or are, he wouldn’t want you to go ahead and marry his friend, making both of you miserable, would he?’
‘No, I don’t suppose so. I never thought about it like that.’
‘We just need somewhere that’s not full of wedding guests and that’s a little hard to find in the village at the moment. Maria’s place is as neutral as we can get right now.’
‘Is that Lorcan’s mom?’
‘Yes. She’s lovely. Here we are.’
‘What a beautiful house,’ Peyton said, looking out of the window at the large farmhouse.
‘It is, isn’t it? Come on. Let’s get you inside and warm. You’re frozen.’
38
‘Oh, my dears!’ Maria said, bustling up behind Lorcan, who opened the door to us and stepped out into the cold towards Peyton, wrapping her in a huge hug before walking them both back inside. I could have kissed him. If I was honest, it wasn’t the first time that face had inspired such a thought but his action at that moment had been exactly what the bride-to-be – something I hoped she still was – needed.
‘Here you go, sit here and warm yourselves up and I’ll get some breakfast on.’ Maria busied herself as we sat around the table.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Peyton said, looking from me to Lorcan and back to me. I’d filled him in briefly while she nipped to the loo and freshened up her face so he was now up to speed and it was time to decide what our next move was. Or more accurately, Peyton had to decide.
‘There’s nothing to apologise for, Peyton,’ Lorcan began softly. ‘It’s a big step you’re taking and you need to be sure you’re doing the right thing, and for the right reasons.’
She sniffed through her smile. ‘Maddie said you’d say that.’
He turned his head briefly, locking gazes with me for a long moment. ‘Our Maddie knows me pretty well, then, I’d say.’
‘I guess she does.’
‘So, how are you feeling now?’
‘Better, I think.’
‘About the wedding?’
She paused and he reached out across the table, wrapping her fidgeting hands within his own. ‘Forget about the castle, and the flowers and the guests and everything. Just think about you and Patrick. None of the other stuff matters. Maddie mentioned something about Vance?’
Both of us saw her tense.
‘It’s OK,’ Lorcan soothed. ‘I’m just asking. Do you feel the same way he does?’
She shook her head. ‘No. No, I don’t. I think he just got me all confused and wondering if I was doing the right thing. I wish I’d never agreed to let him do the photography. We stayed friends after we broke up and he was always so keen to be around my family and talking about his business plans. Our parties were pretty well attended by influential people and he was always trying to hand his card over and stuff. It got kind of embarrassing sometimes. And I guess when he asked about the wedding and how much it would mean to him to be able to do this for me, I was flattered. But I don’t think it’s really about me at all. For a start, he’s charging more than some of the professionals we spoke to.’
