Page 73 of The Wedding Cake Wish
‘There. Done!’ She gives me a sad little smile as she getsback in the car. ‘How about I take you out for lunch and we can talk somemore?’
I nod. ‘I’d love that. Where shall we go?’
She flashes me an odd look. ‘How about I surprise you?’
‘Oh. Okay.’ I settle back in my seat with a smile, not usedto this lovely easiness between us. It’s as if a weight has rolled off Mum’sshoulders and her energy feels a million times lighter. I could definitely getused to it!
We drive out of Guildford and along country roads. I’ve noidea where she’s heading, but then I see the signs for the Carlton Estate and Isit up and look out. ‘Are you going back to see Rachel?’
She shakes her head. ‘I think that ship sailed long ago,’she says sadly. ‘Rachel wants nothing to do with me and I have to respectthat.’
‘So where...?’ I look around me and Mumsmiles.
‘You’ll see.’
We travel along more country lanes, passing the CarltonEstate, and then Mum turns in at a gateway with a large sign by the entrancethat says, ‘The Woodland Way’.
‘What’s this?’ I ask in surprise, as we drive along a tarmacroad lined with beautiful old oak and horse chestnut trees on either side. Inthe distance I can see a low building that’s clearly been designed to blend inwith the rural surroundings, which appears to be where we’re heading.
‘Do you remember that night by the river?’ Mum smiles. ‘Wecould hear the sounds of a party of some kind happening on the other side ofthe river?’
‘Yes. I do remember that.’
She nods. ‘It was actually a wedding party.’
‘Really?’ I glance at her, my heart beating a little faster.
‘After Rachel turned me away, I was feeling really bad. Ineeded some air so I walked down to the river again. And I remembered the partyand I thought I’d investigate. And I found this place.’ She smiles. ‘You toldme you loved being down by the river with all your friends. And that stayedwith me. It made me realise that the perfect wedding isn’t all about fancygimmicks and ice sculptures.’ She smiles sheepishly at this. ‘It’s about beingsurrounded by the people you love, in a place where you feel happy andrelaxed.’
The road has taken us to a small car park and Mum turns inand switches off the engine.
Then she turns to me, takes my hand and murmurs, ‘They hostwoodland weddings here. I thought you might like to take a look. But only ifyou want to. What do you think?’
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
I stare at Mum, her words whirling around in my head.
Then I smile. ‘Is this a trick? I thought you just cancelledthe wedding cars?’
She shakes her head, a mischievous light in her eye. ‘I justwanted to check that we could change the route on your Big Day. If we wantedto. And apparently that would be fine. The cars would collect the wedding partyfrom the manor and instead of driving us to the church, as planned, we’d comehere. You could get married in their pretty gazebo in the forest – just a smallwedding, if that’s what you and Rob would prefer. We’d have the weddingreception in the beautiful converted barn here – it really is stunning – and thenwe could all go back for an evening celebration party at the manor.’
I nod slowly, trying to take all this in. ‘You mean we’dcancel the church?’
‘Absolutely.’ She grasps my arm. ‘But it’s your decision,Fen. Yours and Rob’s. I’ve interfered enough already.’
‘Oh, Mum.’ My heart lurches at the guilty look on her face.
‘I only ever wanted you to have the best of everything. Youdo know that?’
‘Of course I do.’
She shakes her head. ‘Oh, Fen, I was so carried away by thenotion that your day had to be perfect, I stupidly overlooked the fact that awedding is principally about...well,love. Thinkingabout Rachel made me see everything in a different light. We were such goodfriends and I’ll always regret that I didn’t make more effort to stay intouch.’ She gives a little sigh. ‘It’s the people that make a wedding dayperfect, not the favours or the colour of the soup.’
‘Or the presence of an ice sculpture?’
Her face relaxes into a hint of a smile. Then she frowns.‘Does that mean you want me to cancel the ice sculpture?’
I laugh. ‘No, absolutely not. I’ve got used to the idea now.It’ll be a real talking point. Although I suggest we install it at BrambleberryManor for the evening party, rather than by the gazebo, where it might melt andflood the guests’ new shoes.’
