We all stared at Tansy in astonishment.
‘I’m sorry, you’ve got what?’
She waved her phone and a folded piece of paper in front of me.
‘A helicopter,’ she said. ‘Well, it wasn’t really me who did it, it was Michael.’
Jamie and I exchanged a look.
‘Michael?’ he said. ‘Your fiancé, Michael, has got us a helicopter?’
Tansy sighed in frustration – we obviously weren’t catching on as quickly as she wanted us to. She plonked herself on the sofa arm and unfolded the piece of paper.
‘I felt really bad about everything,’ she said. ‘And I just felt awful for you, Esme, thinking about getting married without your dad there to walk you down the aisle.’
‘Right,’ Jamie said, slightly impatiently. I took his hand.
‘And when you mentioned your dad was in the army, I started thinking.’
She smoothed out the paper.
‘So I called Michael yesterday, to see if there was anything he could do,’ she said.
‘I don’t understand what he’s got to do with any of this,’ I said.
‘He’s in the navy,’ Tansy said, as though that was perfectly obvious.
‘I thought he was a doctor.’
She sighed again.
‘He is a doctor,’ she said. ‘The navy paid for him to go to medical school – lots of kids pay their way through college by signing up.’
‘I didn’t know that,’ I said, thinking about the time I’d been talking about Dad and Tansy had offered an opinion – and I’d cut her off. ‘Sorry.’
Tansy waved her hand at me, as though to say that didn’t matter now.
‘There’s a US Naval base round here, right?’
Jamie nodded.
‘Port Cormack. On the west coast.’
‘So Michael called his lieutenant and asked if he knew anyone. And it turned out he did – a guy he served with in Iraq is over here now. Michael got all the numbers and I made the calls this morning. They’ve got a…’ she looked down at her notes. ‘… Sea Dragon helicopter, and it can carry twelve people and we can use it this evening and then again on Sunday afternoon to take everyone back across.’
‘But they don’t even know us,’ I said. ‘Michael’s never even met us.’
Tansy shrugged.
‘They’re nice people,’ she said. ‘They have wives. They have dads. They know how important this is.’
She looked slightly sheepish.
‘And, erm, I might have explained about me turning up on the doorstep just at the wrong time, too.’
‘Incredible,’ Jamie murmured.
Tansy looked at me and bit her lip.
‘But there’s just a couple of conditions,’ she said.
‘Is it ten grand?’ I asked.
Tansy giggled. I’d never heard her giggle before.
‘No,’ she said. ‘I kind of promised that your mum would give the guys some cakes to take back to base with them.’
‘I reckon Mum and Tess will give those guys free cake for as long as they’re in Scotland,’ Harry said. ‘I’ll sort them out with some passes to the spa, too, if that’s their sort of thing.’
I was still staring at Tansy.
‘You said a couple of conditions,’ I said. ‘What’s the other one?’
Tansy blushed.
‘It’s Michael,’ she said. ‘I wondered if he could come to the wedding?’
I looked round wildly, as though Michael was about to walk through the door.
‘Where is he?’ I said. ‘Isn’t he in Boston?’
Tansy looked at her watch.
‘I think he’s somewhere across the Atlantic by now.’
I blinked. This was all making my already pounding head even worse.
‘I rang him after the party last night,’ Tansy said, rolling her eyes.
‘Uh-oh,’ said Harry. ‘Drunk dialling is never good.’
‘I know,’ Tansy said. ‘But actually this time it was. I had a bit of a cry, and told him how much I was missing him. And then I went to sleep. And this morning I had a message from him saying he’d managed to talk himself into a lift on a transport plane that was leaving first thing this morning, his time, and coming to Glasgow. From there he’s getting a train, and he should be at the base in time to hop on to the helicopter that’s going to bring your dad and your friend.’
She stopped talking and looked at us.
‘That’s okay, isn’t it? You’re all very quiet. I’ve not done the wrong thing, have I?’
I squeezed Jamie’s hand and he gave me a massive grin.
‘The wrong thing?’ I said. ‘Tansy, this might be the absolute rightest thing anyone’s ever done for me.’
‘Really?’ Tansy said. ‘You’re pleased?’
I jumped to my feet.
‘Of course I’m pleased,’ I yelled. ‘This is amazing!’
I threw my arms round her and hugged her. She hugged me back, laughing in my ear.
‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ I gushed. ‘You’ve made our wedding day.’
‘They’re not here yet,’ Harry said – the voice of doom in the corner. Louise gave her a shove and she laughed. ‘But it’s brilliant. You’re brilliant, Tansy. I can’t believe you organised all that in such a short time.’
Sensing the lightened mood, Parker was running around like a wild thing. Jamie picked him up and swung him round.
‘Your mummy is very clever,’ he said. ‘And so is your daddy Michael.’
Parker whooped with joy and covered Jamie’s face with kisses.
‘I know,’ he said.
He put his little hands on either side of Jamie’s face and looked him directly in the eye.
‘When Daddy Michael comes will you still be my Daddy Jamie?’ he asked seriously.
‘Of course,’ Jamie said.
Parker frowned.
‘I’m not sure,’ he said. He wriggled out of Jamie’s arms and went to Tansy instead, wrapping his arms around her legs. She bent down and hugged him tightly.
‘Oh honey,’ she said. ‘I know it’s kind of confusing. But all you need to know is that everyone loves you very much.’
Parker nodded, but I wondered if he was really convinced or just pretending.
‘Everything’s okay,’ he said in a small voice.
Tansy squeezed him close.
‘Everything’s better than okay,’ she said. ‘Daddy Michael’s going to be so pleased to see you. He says he’s missed you very much.’
Parker gave her a blinding smile.
‘I’ve missed him too,’ he said. ‘I need to tell him about Grandma’s bones.’
‘He’ll love that,’ Tansy said. She looked at Jamie proudly over the top of Parker’s head, as if to say “chip off the old block”. I tried not to mind their connection, given that Tansy had basically just saved my wedding.
‘So we need to tell your dad,’ Jamie said. ‘And Chloe. And Frankie. So I guess they have to get themselves to the west coast?’
‘If they can,’ Tansy said. ‘It’s not far, right?’
Jamie shook his head.
‘Not far at all. I’ll double check all the roads are open, but it’s much lower than we are – the snow hasn’t been so bad down there.’
‘Great,’ Tansy beamed. ‘So the helicopter will be waiting for them – I’ve got all the details, so Esme you can give it all to your dad and he can be in charge.’
‘He’ll love that,’ I said. ‘I’m sure he used to have friends at Port Cormack actually, so he’ll probably end up going on a guided tour. I’d better get them to leave extra time for Dad to have a nose round.’
‘And you need to tell Leona that we will need Chloe’s dress after all,’ Harry pointed out.
‘Oh yes,’ I said, thrilled to bits that I’d have both my bridesmaids by my side. ‘And we’re going to have to find somewhere for everyone to stay after the wedding. I need to speak to Millicent…’
I paused, and grabbed both of Tansy’s hands.
‘I know I wasn’t very nice to you when you first arrived,’ I said.
Tansy made a face.
‘It wasn’t very nice of me to show up the way I did,’ she admitted. ‘I guess I’d have reacted in the same way. Worse, probably.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘And thank you a million times for arranging this. We owe you one.’
Parker ducked under our arms so he was standing in between us. He smiled up at us.
‘Nah,’ Tansy said. ‘You don’t owe me anything.’