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AT KISMET COTTAGE, two days before Megan and Jack’s wedding, Nick was barbecuing up a storm as the excitement built.
“Oh, Sylvie!” Claudia waved and called sweetly from the kitchen. “Could you give me a hand with, er, this, please?”
“Be right there,” said Sylvie, winking at Des as she made her way inside. Apart from Des, only Nick, Louisa, and Alec were party to the secret plan.
“Come on,” hissed Claudia, ushering Sylvie up the stairs. “We’ll have to be quick.”
“Will you stop pushing me!” grumbled her sister.
“Well, if you walked a bit faster, I wouldn’t have to, would I?” whispered Claudia. “Right, you keep lookout and I’ll go and get the dress.”
“What are we going to tell Megan if she realises before Saturday that it’s missing?”
“It’s only going to be gone for two days, so hopefully she won’t, but we’ll just have to deal with it if she does,” said Claudia, as they reached the top of the staircase. “Right, you stay here and I’ll be back in two ticks.”
“Wait! What should I do if someone comes?” asked Sylvie, sitting down to take the weight off her feet.
Claudia shrugged. “You’ll have to give me a signal, won’t you?”
Sylvie nodded. “Okay, I’ll whistle.”
“Perfect,” said Claudia.
“Sweet Caroline. It’s one of my favourites.”
Claudia raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’ll look a little odd if Jack or Megan do come in and find you sitting on the top step whistling Sweet Caroline in the middle of a family barbecue? They’d think you’d finally lost your marbles. Just a couple of notes will do, Sylvie, I don’t need a concert.”
“Oh, just go and get the flippin’ dress, Claud, and then we can get out of here!”
ºººººº
“Mum! Wake up!”
Megan half-opened an eye to see Lizzie’s, Evie’s and Petal’s noses inches from her face.
“Finally!” said Evie, opening the curtains to let in the light. “We’ve been crashing around for ages trying to wake you up, but your snoring drowned out the noise. I was ready to throw a bucket of water over you but Nan wouldn’t let me.”
“Leamealone...” mumbled Megan, reaching for her phone. “What time is it?”
“Six-thirty,” said Petal, shaking Megan’s shoulder.
Megan scowled, yawned, and closed her eyes before they sprung open again. “Ohmigosh!” she screamed, going from mostly-asleep to fully awake and alert at warp speed. “I’m getting married today! Gaaaaahhhh!” She jumped out of bed and the four of them hugged and squealed with excitement.
“Your pyjama bottoms await,” said Lizzie, clutching her sister’s hand and handing her the bottoms to her crumpled shirt. “Just so you’re decent and don’t flash the postman when he arrives.”
“And coffee,” said Petal, handing Megan a mug of the steaming brew.
“And Tabastion,” said Evie, as the silver tabby cat slunk in around the open door and sat at Megan’s feet, purring until she stroked him.
Megan took a sip of her coffee and bent to fuss over the cat. “I can’t believe this day is finally here.” She looked out of the window and let out a sigh of relief. “And it looks perfect out there. Bright and breezy and not too hot or too cold. Uncle Des will be over the moon that the chocolate icing isn’t going to melt and slide off the cake.” She took a breath and closed her eyes. “I need to get my list and start checking stuff off so nothing gets missed.”
“I promise you, nothing’s going to get missed,” said Petal. “We’ve all seen that flippin’ list of yours so many times, we could recite it backwards.” She began checking off on her fingers. “Lionel and Blossom are bringing the flowers at ten; Lizzie’s doing your makeup ready for when the hairdresser arrives at eleven; and the photographer’s coming at twelve. We’ve got it all covered, Miss Worry Pants, so stop fretting because nothing’s going to get missed.”
Evie nodded and pulled Megan to her feet. “She’s right. Come on, this is going to be a long day, so you need a good breakfast and a bit of time to get your head together before everything starts to get manic.”
“I have done this before, you know,” said Megan, with a grin, following the aromas of more coffee and bacon wafting up the stairs. “Morning, Mum, morning, Aunty Sylv.”
“Darling, you’re awake!” Claudia clapped her hands like an excited child on Christmas morning. “You’ve just missed your dad, Uncle Des, and Shaun—they had an early breakfast and went for a walk. I think they’ll probably stop off at your place to see if Jack and Alec want to join them.”
“That’ll be nice, but what about Louisa?” said Megan. “Poor thing, all on her own. I’ll call and ask if she wants to come over.”
“Oh, she’ll be coming over shortly, don’t you worry about that,” said Claudia, sending Sylvie a sly wink. She crossed the kitchen to catch Megan in a long hug before handing her a glass of Buck’s Fizz. “Here, take this, although fair warning, Sylvie’s been a little heavy handed with the Champagne,” she said, with a hiccup, “but take a sip and I’ll top it up with orange juice.”
“Mum, it’s only twenty-to seven.” Megan chuckled and took another sip of coffee followed by one of Buck’s Fizz that made her eyes water.
“Yes, but it’s not as though we’re going to be boozing non-stop all day, is it?” said Claudia, refilling the glass to the top with juice. “It’s just nice to kick off the proceedings with a little bit of fizz, don’t you think? We are celebrating, after all.”
Megan sat at the kitchen table and looked around the room, bringing her feet up onto the chair and hugging her knees. “Do you remember when Laurence and I got married? Apart from Evie, it was us five here in the kitchen then, wasn’t it? I’m so happy we’re all here together again. And even happier that Evie’s here with us.”
Claudia put down her glass as her bottom lip began to quiver.
“Oh, good grief, here we go,” said Sylvie, raising her eyes. “Just as well I came well prepared this time.” She pushed an industrial sized box of tissues towards Claudia and gave Megan a wink.
“I’m fine.” Claudia pulled out a string of tissues and blew her nose. “It’s just seeing you so happy that’s making me happy. These are happy tears, you know.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” said Megan, taking Claudia’s hand in hers. “This is a happy day, everyone. After the last few months, I think we could all do with a day of interrupted happiness.”
Sylvie raised her glass for the first toast of many. “Amen to that.”
ººººººº
The morning passed, filling Kismet Cottage with music, laughter, and enough happy tears to fill a bathtub.
“I’ll get it!” called Evie, rushing to answer the doorbell with her hair in rollers. “Hi, Lionel, hi, Blossom.” She gasped. “Oh my goodness! Those flowers are absolutely beautiful. Can you bring them into the conservatory? The doors are open so the breeze will keep them cool. I’ll call Mum. Mum! Mum! Come and see!”
Megan raced down the stairs and promptly burst into tears when she saw the flowers. The bouquets; a mixture of early summer roses, peonies, and sweet-scented stocks, in shades of the palest ballet-slipper pink to the duskiest rose, were even more beautiful than she’d imagined. “Oh, Blossom. They’re stunning! I know how hard you’ve worked on these and, honestly, I couldn’t have wished for more amazing flowers,” said Megan, pulling the young woman into a hug.
“Blimey, don’t start me off,” said Blossom, laughing as tears of relief plopped onto her cheeks. “I’m so glad you like them—I’ve been stressing like crazy.”
“I can vouch for that,” said Petal, sidling up to stand beside her daughter, her jade-green eyes brimming with pride. “She’s been a complete pain in the backside this past month.” She squeezed Blossom’s hand and smiled up at her. “Brilliant job, love. I’m so proud of you.”
Blossom nodded and sniffed and gave Petal a watery grin. “Dad’s gone out to wait in the van, so I’d better be going. I’ll see you later. Have the best day, Megan!”
ººººººº
“Do you think Luca and Flora will come to the reception, Nan?” asked Evie, as she helped Claudia clear away the remnants of Bucks Fizz and breakfast dishes during a rare lull in the proceedings. “I can’t wait to meet him, but I didn’t want to ask Mum in case she got teary. She’s been really emotional about it, hasn’t she?”
Claudia nodded, then shook her head. “They decided between them—Jack and his ex—that it probably wasn’t a good idea for Luca to meet Megan and everyone else all at once in case it overwhelms him. And I’m not surprised your mum’s been emotional. Nor Jack. They haven’t said much about it to me and your grandad, so we haven’t asked.
“It’s a big adjustment for them to make, especially Jack. Poor love, I can’t imagine how he must have felt when he found out he had a five-year old son. And Louisa and Alec suddenly have a grandson they knew nothing about. All those years wasted when they could have all been getting to know each other.”
“True,” said Evie, “although the other way to look at it is that they have all those years ahead to look forward to. They can make up for lost time, can’t they? I just wish I lived close enough to see it. I’d love to see Mum being a mum again. Still, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to come and visit and get acquainted with my new brother-from-another-mother. And father. Whatever. I’m sure I’ll love him to bits.”
Claudia filled the dishwasher’s cutlery basket and turned to give her granddaughter a long hug. “I love how you always see the positive in everything. Don’t ever change that, will you?” she said, sniffing and patting Evie’s shoulder.
The tenderness of the moment was shattered by two things.
The doorbell ringing again, and Megan shouting from upstairs. “Has anyone seen my dress?”
“Oh Lord, I was hoping this could be avoided,” said Claudia. “Do me a favour, will you, Evie? Get the door and send Louisa upstairs—I’m sure it’ll be her—and Aunty Sylv and I will go and see to your mother.” She tapped her nose and grinned. “All will become clear very soon.” She rushed from the kitchen and reached the staircase at the same time as her sister.
“I knew this would happen,” said Sylvie.
“Well, we’re just going to have to calm the situation down, aren’t we?”
Sylvie crossed her fingers as they opened the door and walked into Megan’s room, with Evie and Louisa bringing up the rear.
“Mum, Lizzie went to get my dress from the rail in your bedroom, but it’s not there.” Megan sat on the bed and put in her earrings. “I know I put it there on Thursday afternoon before the barbecue because I didn’t want smoke coming in my bedroom window and making it smell like sausages.” She looked over Claudia’s shoulder to see Louisa behind her. “Oh, hi, Louisa. I’m glad you’ve come over—the more, the merrier. Anyway, Mum, did you move it?”
Claudia and Sylvie stood like naughty schoolchildren who’d been caught misbehaving. Sylvie nudged her sister and looked at the floor.
“Well, actually, love, yes, I did move it. Louisa’s just bringing it back, aren’t you?”
Louisa nodded. “Yep. All finished with. You can have it back now,” she said, handing Megan the garment carrier.
“Thanks.” Megan opened the zip and took out the dress. “Dare I ask why you took it in the first place?”
Claudia cleared her throat and shuffled from foot to foot. “We’ve done something, the three of us. We wanted it to be a surprise.”
“It was her idea,” said Sylvie, pointing at Claudia.
“And when they told me about it, I wanted to be a part of it too,” said Louisa.
Megan glanced at the three of them, then looked at Lizzie, Evie and Petal. “Have any of you any idea what they’re talking about?”
“No idea,” said Lizzie.
“Not a clue,” said Evie.
“Nope,” said Petal.
Megan checked the time. “Well, I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want to leave it until the last minute to get ready, so perhaps the surprise could wait until after the wedding?”
“No, love. It can’t wait,” said Claudia. She turned to Louisa. “Have you got it?”
“It’s hanging over the banister. Give me a sec and I’ll fetch it.”
Louisa left the room, returning a few seconds later with another garment carrier which she handed to Megan.
“What’s this?”
“We had to take your dress on Thursday and sneak it into Louisa and Alec’s car so she had something to work from for your measurements,” said Claudia.
“My measurements for what?”
Claudia nodded to the garment carrier. “Go on. Open it.”
Megan pulled down the zip and gasped. The dress inside, so similar to the one lost in the explosion, with its ivory lace covered bodice and a chiffon skirt that fell to just below the knee, took her breath away. “Oh! Oh, it’s so beautiful!” She gazed at it for a long time. “But I didn’t—”
“We haven’t bought you a new dress, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Claudia interrupted. “We just wanted to give you another option. You know, in case you suddenly decided you didn’t want to wear the one that had been hanging at the back of your wardrobe since the millennium.” She looked at Lizzie and raised a brow.
“Well, if you didn’t buy it, where did it come from?”
“Louisa made it,” said Sylvie. “She’s a whizz on a sewing machine.”
Louisa nodded. “Once I had the other dress to work from, it only took a few hours on Thursday and last night.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. “You made me a wedding dress? In two nights? While you’re on holiday?”
“You needn’t sound so impressed,” said Louisa. “It was pretty easy with the other dress to use as a guide. And the material was a dream to work with. If you know your way around a sewing machine, like I do, and you’re familiar with patterns and fabrics, it’s really not difficult. And I’m here on holiday for a month.” She raised her shoulders in a small shrug. “What’s a few hours out of a whole month for someone you love?”
“I don’t know what to say,” said Megan, crossing the room to give her soon-to-be-mother-in-law a hug. “But where did you get the material from?” She went back to the dress and held it up in front of her to oohs and aahs, from Lizzie, Petal and Evie. “You didn’t buy it, and bring it with you from the States, did you?”
Louisa shook her head. “I didn’t even know your original dress had been ruined in that explosion until your mum told me.” Louisa chuckled at Megan’s puzzled expression. “The material came from your mum and your aunt Sylvie.”
The crease at Megan’s brow grew deeper.
“We wanted your dress to be special,” said Claudia. “So Sylv and I discussed it, and we spoke to your dad and Des about it, and then we mentioned it to Louisa and she said she wanted to be involved. Well, we didn’t even know she could sew—we were going to ask someone in town—but what a piece of luck! Your dad borrowed Dora’s sewing machine and sewing kit and took them to The Old School House a few days ago. And on Thursday evening, after the barbecue, Louisa got sewing.”
Megan shook her head. “I’m gobsmacked. Really. I don’t know what to say, apart from thank you. Again.” Megan put the dress on the bed and drew Claudia and Sylvie into a hug that went on and on. “I absolutely love it—it’s just beautiful.”
“Er, in case you’d forgotten,” said Lizzie, “there’s the small matter of a wedding to get to, when you’re ready.” She held out the dress to slip over Megan’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s get it on you.”
Megan couldn’t keep the smile from her lips when she looked at her reflection. The dress fitted where it touched, and flowed where it didn’t. It was perfect. “I can’t get over this gorgeous fabric. It’s so soft and swishy. But you still haven’t told me where it came from. Where did you get it, Mum?”
Claudia, who wept every time Megan tried on a wedding dress, flapped a hand and directed the question to Sylvie. “You tell her. I can’t.”
“Megan, love.” Sylvie’s usually steady voice suddenly trembled as her eyes met Megan’s. “That’s not a new dress, as such, but it is unique. And every stitch was made with love from all of us—your mum, Louisa, and me.” She took a breath and smiled at her niece. “That fabric? It’s our wedding dresses—mine and your mum’s.”
A hush fell over the room as Megan ran into Claudia’s arms and the happy tears began to flow again.
ººººººº
“You look beautiful, love,” said Nick, as Megan made her way down the staircase to meet him at the bottom. “Class act, your mum and Sylvie, aren’t they?”
Megan nodded. “They’re the best.” She looked in the mirror one last time and settled her veil, before linking her arm through Nick’s. “Now, please don’t say or do anything that’s likely to make me cry, will you?”
Nick grinned. “Well, I won’t, but...” He opened the front door to set off on the short walk to the church and Megan gasped when she saw the path to St Mildred’s lined with cheering well-wishers from the village, and Evie, Lizzie and Petal scattering rose petals for her to walk on.
As she stepped across the doorstep to rousing applause, she looked at Nick and laughed. “Thank goodness for waterproof mascara!”
