Abby felt good. She had emailed Mallory, asking if they could make their break a little longer. She felt she was holding herself together well, she was using her book and she was feeling optimistic about going to Melissa’s wedding. If she needed Mallory afterwards she would be there and that alone gave Abby the reassurance she needed. She was actually proud of the way she had coped in Mallory’s absence and she was beginning to believe that simply talking about her issues was never actually going to solve them: she wanted to be living, not procrastinating. She knew Mallory had pretty much told her that when they last met but she had to come to her own realisation in order to fully heed her good advice.
The summer holidays were underway. Abby loved that holiday feeling: no more working (at least not until she started her planning anyway), no more school runs to do, packed lunches to make, uniforms to iron or clubs to get to. The weeks stretched out before her, blissfully long and, with the exception of Melissa’s wedding, blissfully empty. It was time to relax. She smiled to herself, thinking how nice it was to look forward to a lack of routine – a while ago that would have terrified her. Now it felt like an opportunity; for what, she didn’t know but even that felt a bit exciting.
Abby looked at her open suitcase on the bed and back to the mirror. She mentally went through the list of things she had determined to achieve before Melissa’s wedding: losing weight (Abby ran her hand around her waist: check), a new hairdo (she fluffed up her new layers: check), a whole new wardrobe (she glanced at her open wardrobe: hmm, well some new clothes and a perfect outfit for the wedding, check), saucy underwear (oh yes, check!). She smiled, not bad! And just to boost her self-esteem a little more she gave her expertly shaped eyebrows a run over with her perfectly painted fingernail. With Lucy brimming with excitement about her cousin’s wedding she had insisted on giving Abby personal service so that she could talk at her about the coming celebrations. It didn’t make for quite the relaxing trip to the salon Abby had hoped for; she was really trying not to overthink the wedding, but there was no denying that she was very happy with the results of the appointment.
Abby put on a t-shirt and the navy floral tube skirt she had bought with Melissa, smiling when she realised that it fitted her even better now she had lost a few more pounds. She knew she ought to donate some of her bigger clothes to charity but she didn’t quite feel as if she owned her new size enough to let them go just yet. Perhaps she should get one of those plastic storage boxes and stash them under the bed, just in case they were ever needed again. Thinking how Melissa would scorn the idea, she dismissed the thought straight away; they will most certainly not be needed again!
“You look pretty Mummy.” Jessica ran from the door and leapt onto Abby’s bed, instantly fiddling with things in her suitcase.
“Thank you sweetie, so do you!” Abby beamed. A compliment from her gorgeous girly she could take.
“Can I paint my nails?”
“Not right now.”
“Can I have red hair too… like Merida?”
Abby giggled. “Yikes, do I look like Merida?”
“No, your hair’s too…” Jessica screwed up her nose, “flat.”
Thank goodness for that.
“Can Daddy paint my hair red?”
“I don’t think Daddy will be up for that this weekend but I’m sure you’ll do lots of other nice things.”
“Can we come to the wedding? I could wear these?” Jessica cheekily took Abby’s pair of red glitter courts, with the slim three-inch heel, out of her case.
In a moment of madness Abby had bought them to surprise Melissa and had been attempting to get used to walking in them around the house ever since. She had backup wedges ready, as a precaution.
“How about I go to the wedding and wear these,” Abby took the shoes from Jessica, “and when I come back we go and buy you some new sandals?”
Jessica grinned. “OK! And paint my hair?”
“Just sandals, and maybe we’ll paint your nails… deal?”
Abby held her little finger out to Jessica, who linked hers around it, sealing the deal with a pinky promise. “Deal!”
“Me too, me too!” Grace bounced in from the door.
Jessica rolled her eyes.
“Yes sweetie, you too!” Abby scooped Grace up, giving Jessica a ‘humour your sister’ look.
Suddenly feeling a bit of pang in her chest at the thought of being totally alone at the wedding and how much she would miss the girls, she grabbed Jessica too and gave them an extra squeeze, causing them both to laugh. Obviously feeling thoroughly jealous, Bramble decided to get in on the action and rubbed himself in between and through their legs, dipping his head and barking in half-playful gestures, making them all laugh. Silly old dog!
By the time Abby was all packed, had said her goodbyes and managed to convince Simon to actually let her get out the door she felt a bit deflated at the thought of the journey ahead. She had declined a lift from Brad, feeling that it wouldn’t have gone down terribly well. Now she was driving herself. It wasn’t what she deemed a relaxing start to the weekend but she had decided to wait until seven pm to give the Friday night traffic time to ease and it was a nice clear evening; hopefully the M27 and A34 would be kind to her. She had a bottle of Diet Coke, some fruit pastilles, a few of her favourite CDs and her trusty satnav, nicknamed Sally by the girls, for company.
About to start the ignition she remembered to text her mum, fulfilling half of a promise to let her know when she was leaving and when she arrived safely. As she wouldn’t be seeing her until the actual wedding ceremony she also decided to text Melissa to let her know she was thinking of her.
Hope you’ve had a really great time and you’re feeling more relaxed now. Really looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. So excited… Dum-dum-de-dum… xxx
Excited was perhaps a bit of an overstatement. As optimistic as she was, in truth, Abby was still a little scared that watching the happy couple exchange vows might just tip her over the edge. Taking a deep breath she reminded herself yet again that she just had to get through the service and focus on enjoying the less formal parts of the day.
Before Abby reached the end of the road Melissa text back. Pulling in, Abby read: Who, me? What makes you think I needed to relax? Haha, sorry I’ve been a bit of a Bridezilla lately. Thanks so much for the text. See you tomorrow. I’ll be the one in white ;-) xxx
Abby smiled. The pre-wedding spa organised by Melissa’s bridesmaids as a hen do was clearly having the desired effect on the bride-to-be. She had been so tense with nerves over the recent weeks Abby thought she might actually explode before she reached the aisle. Whisking her away as school broke up was an inspired plan – clearly her friends from college knew her well! Abby was pleased that Melissa was at last sounding like she might relax and enjoy her day. Smiling, and with the sound of Take That in the background, she set off. Only just over one hundred miles to go!
After one hundred and sixteen miles, one toilet stop, half her bottle of Diet Coke, the entire packet of fruit pastilles, three CD changes and a slight delay at Newbury, Sally was announcing Abby’s arrival at her destination on the left. All Abby could see was a long stone wall and dense trees beyond. Typical, she thought, wishing she had printed out the exact directions from Google Maps. Tapping her thumbs on the steering wheel she sat up taller in her seat as if that was going to make the place appear before her. She pondered pulling over and ringing somebody for help… but who? She couldn’t trouble Melissa, Patty wasn’t staying over until after the wedding and she didn’t really want to confess to Brad that she was lost, having turned down his offer of a lift. She looked at her phone, deciding that there must be others from school that would help. No signal, typical! Attempting to remain calm she continued down the road; if need be she could ask for directions in the next village. The road seemed to go on for ages, testing Abby’s patience and causing her jaw to ache as she realised she was clenching her teeth.
It wasn’t until she turned the next bend that she breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in her seat at the sight of the large open gates of the Elysium Park Hotel. As she turned into the long, sweeping driveway her eyes goggled. Bloody hell! Melissa had said it was beautiful but this was quite breathtaking. The building, standing proud and elegantly lit in the evening light, looked like it belonged in a BBC Jane Austen adaptation; Abby was sure it must have once been a grand stately home. Winding her way along the gravel driveway she wished she had cleaned her car, or that she was driving a much posher car; or better still that she was riding a horse! That would have been oh so much more fitting to the stunning setting. Not that she could actually ride a horse (but that was an irrelevant detail in the scheme of Abby’s fantasy). She couldn’t see it all clearly in the evening light but the hotel seemed to be set in acres of idyllic countryside. It was quite perfect. The wall and dense trees she had followed along the road must have been hiding the grounds. Sorry Sally, it seems you were right after all.
As Abby got out of her car and stretched, she half-expected Mr Darcy to come striding through the undergrowth, wet from his cooling dip in water she couldn’t actually see anywhere, white shirt clinging in all the right places. Oh yes, this was the type of place where such fantasies happened; Abby’s imagination could go quite crazy in this stunning setting. She took a picture with her phone, which annoyingly didn’t really do the place justice, and sent it to her mum and Kennedy with the message:
Arrived safely, just awaiting Mr Darcy and the weekend can begin! xx
Her hand hovered while she wondered if she should send it to Simon. But after his several ‘don’t forget I love you’ statements as she attempted to leave, which she was pretty sure roughly translated as ‘please don’t get off with Bradley Hunter’, she thought he wouldn’t appreciate the humour. But she knew her mum and Kennedy would love it. Like her, they couldn’t resist a costume drama. Who can resist a bit of Mr Darcy from time to time?
“You OK there?”
Abby swung round, taken aback by the deep voice from behind.
“Bloody hell Brad, you made me jump. I thought you were…” Abby bit her lip and thanked everything that was holy that she managed to keep the next stupid words from leaving her mouth.
Brad tilted his head quizzically and unleashed a very lovely grin.
As her heart pounded with what she thought must be the shock of being made jump Abby fought for something sensible to say. “Amazing isn’t it… been here long?”
“Since six, it’s a bit quiet.” Brad did a frosty style shake.
Not that she would have believed it a few months back but peace and quiet and staying in that beautiful building sounded perfect to Abby. The weekend was looking better by the minute. She hoped she would have a room high enough for a good view.
“Dare I be a gentleman and offer to take your bag?” Brad motioned with a way-too-cheeky grin.
Abby blushed. “It’s alright, honestly, it’s not even heavy.” No stupid comments today, well done me!
They walked towards the natural stone building, its grandeur and the heady scent of the roses around the door becoming more apparent with every step. As Abby needed to check-in they headed for the reception.
The receptionist on the phone motioned for another member of staff, who approached the large, swooping oak-topped desk with a broad, overly lipsticked smile. “Good evening.”
Abby smiled. “Room for Turner, please?”
The young woman flicked her eyes down to the computer, clicking the mouse before lifting her head with a puzzled expression. “Are we expecting Mr and Mrs Turner?”
“No, no, no, just me…” Abby clarified, her cheeks glowing as she realised Brad had walked her all the way to the desk.
Brad coughed, a poor attempt at masking his giggle.