Page 70 of The Wedding Cake Wish
Amelia’s cheeks catch fire. ‘Oh, was it? January? Right. Oh,my God, you were twins so you had the same birthday! I’m absolutely rubbishwith dates.’ She turns to Kat. ‘Aren’t I? Rubbish with remembering people’sbirthdays.’
Kat frowns, looking a little bewildered for a moment. ‘Thenshe nods. ‘Yes. Yes, you are. Rubbish.’ She laughs. ‘I don’t know how manytimes you’ve forgottenmybirthday!’
‘Ha ha, yes. Indeed. Yes.’
I stare at Amelia thoughtfully. She’s normally so cool andlaid-back but I swear you could iron a shirt on those cheeks of hers right now...
Kat rushes off to get her nails done and Amelia glides overto the Ladies, leaving me in the café with Hudson and a group of women over inthe corner, who are apparently having a heated discussion about their otherhalves’ toe-nail clippings.
‘Don’t you think it’s odd that Amelia didn’t know whenMyles’s birthday was?’ I ask Hudson when he wanders over to the counter. Seeingthe shutters come down instantly, I hastily backtrack. ‘I’m not being horrible.Really I’m not. I just think it’s a little bit weird, that’s all. I mean, whenyou fall for someone, you want to know everything about them, don’t you? Birthdayand star sign included?’
‘It’s never been top ofmylist when I meet someone,’says Hudson coldly.
‘Okay,’ I say, flustered. ‘But maybe you’re different. I’dsay it would be of interest to a lot of people – all right, maybe mostly women– when their new love’s birthday is.’ I shrug. ‘Just saying.’
‘Yes, well, I wish you’d stop trying to trip Amelia up,’ hesays brusquely. ‘You can’t imagine what a hard time she’s having, trying tocome to terms with Myles’s death.’
‘I know, I know.’
‘I actually don’t think you do know. Because if you did, youwouldn’t keep picking fault with her and trying to make out she’s somehowphoney.’ He studies me with a puzzled expression. ‘Sometimes I think you’rejealous.’
‘Jealous? Me?Of course I’m not. How ridiculous.’
He makes a noise in his throat that says he disagrees.‘She’s a beautiful woman with a great career. No one would blame you for beingenvious of all that.’
‘As if! I wouldnotwant to be Amelia. She’s sobloody fake, she makesBarbieseem real!’ I blurt out, unable to stopmyself. ‘And by the way, I’d hardly class attacking stubborn stains as a “greatcareer”.’
Hudson’s eyes harden. I’ve gone too far this time.
He shakes his head. Then, with a glance at the group ofwomen in the corner, he speaks softly but angrily, ‘These hateful little jibesof yours are really getting to me, Ruby, because I know for a fact that you’rebetter than that. You’re a caring person, for God’s sake. Can’t you have somesympathyfor Amelia? Don’t you think I can recognise a grieving person when I see one,having been through the same gut-wrenching pain myself?’ His eyes flash with emotion,and I hate myself for reminding him of his own grief.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean – ’
But he cuts me off. ‘I’m quite franklydisgustedbyyour appalling attitude towards that poor girl. Why don’t you just stopattacking her and start trying to understand what she’s going through instead?If that isn’t way beyond your limited capabilities, of course, which I’mstarting to think could well be the case.’
Amelia herself appears at that moment and he presses hislips together and takes a step back from me. The girl in question, sensing anatmosphere, glances curiously from me to Hudson and back again. ‘Trouble inparadise?’ she enquires gaily.
‘Not at all.’ Hudson turns his back on me and shrugs intohis jacket. ‘But I need to get back to work now.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ says Amelia at once, and without asingle word to me, they walk out of the café together.
Fen
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR
Driving back to Brambleberry Manor on this Septembermorning, my heart lifts at the sight of the sun glinting on the hay bales inthe fields, blackberries clustered in the hedgerows and the trees lining myroute burnished with coppers, golds and russets, the glorious colours ofautumn. My favourite of all the seasons.
Of course, there could be something else that’s swelling myheart to bursting point.
Or rather, someoneelse...
After Rob surprised me with another romantic proposalandthe gorgeous bangle, plus the keys to our new house, we went inside toinspect the rooms. I’d like to say we then unpacked our picnic and ate itsitting on the window seat in the cosy living room. I mean, wediddothat, but only much later, after we’d discovered the one piece of furnitureleft behind by the previous owners...a sofa bed, covered in abusy, swirly purple and orange pattern, that Rob said reminded him of thepsychedelic Sixties.
We sat on it and we talked, and we came to the conclusionthat postponing the wedding was the right thing to do, what with everythingthat had happened. It filled me with sadness but I knew I could cope with itbecause Rob and I were back together, even closer than we were before.
Rob told me how sorry he was that Rory disappearing had gotin the way of what should have been a really happy time for us. And I reassuredhim that now I knew what the problem had been – that Rob had been trying to copewith the Rory situation all on his own – I felt fine. But I also said that I’dbe much happier if he’d share things like that with me in the future.
Rob agreed. Then he smiled at me with a wicked intent thatmade my insides flip over and said that in an otherwise empty house, thepsychedelic swirly purple and orange sofa was king, and we really ought to putit to good use before we sent it to the charity shop.
