Millicent’s lounge was full of people, chattering and drinking tea. They all looked like they were having a lovely time but as soon as we walked in, they fell silent and looked up at us – fear on all their faces.
‘Parker’s okay,’ I said. ‘He’s fine. He’s gone home with his mum.’
There was a collective sigh of relief, then everyone started chatting again. Harry appeared next to us. She kissed Jamie on the cheek and gave me a hug, proving just how worried she’d been.
‘What’s happening,’ Harry asked. ‘With the wedding?’
‘We’re going ahead,’ I said. ‘If everyone’s still up for it? Is Kirsty here?’
She appeared at my elbow, looking somewhere in between her funeral persona and her on-stage character. She was wearing a fifties-style pencil dress that hugged her curves and fell to below her knee, making her walk like a Hollywood starlet. Her hair was pulled back into a roll and she had bright red lips. She looked amazing and also completely different to how she’d looked all the times I’d met her before.
‘I’m ready,’ she said, squeezing my arm. ‘Do you want to go now?’
I looked down at my jeans, mucky from sitting on the cave floor with Parker, and from falling in the snow, and my battered North Face jacket and grinned at her.
‘I’m going to get changed first,’ I said.
Harry took charge, as I’d hoped she would. She found Dad, who was regaling a group of guests with stories about his cricket team at home, and roped him into driving us back home. Kirsty rang her dad and asked him to bring his car up again, in a little while. Jamie and Louise rounded up the guests and began shepherding them back across to the cafe, and I rang Mum – who’d been waiting at home in case Parker arrived – to tell her to get dressed.
‘Tansy and Parker just got here,’ she told me. ‘Poor wee mite was freezing but he’s in the bath now. He’ll be grand.’
‘We’re all coming back to get changed,’ I said. ‘But we don’t have much time.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Mum said – and I could almost hear the glint in her eye. ‘Suky and I can sort that out,’
Chloe, Harry, Louise and I all piled into Dad’s car and we drove up the hill to home. Mum and Suky were waiting, excited as children.
Mum bustled Dad into the living room and gave him the remote control.
‘Watch sport,’ she said. ‘We’ll shout for you when we’re ready.’
Dad happily complied.
The rest of us raced up to my room and stood looking at ourselves in the mirror in dismay. It wasn’t pretty.
Lou’s short hair still looked fine, but Harry, Chloe and me were less than perfect. Harry’s make-up was all smudged where she’d been crying, and blowing her nose, Chloe’s wild hair had been whipped by the wind and was escaping from its neat roll, and I was a disaster. As far as I could tell, I had barely a trace of make-up left on my face and my hair was a tangled mess, because I’d rammed a beanie hat on top of it when I’d gone to find Parker.
‘Oh dear,’ I said, giggling. ‘I don’t really look like a bride.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Suky said, winking at Mum. ‘We’ve got it.’
She and Mum joined hands and together they muttered some words I couldn’t quite hear but I thought might have been “as it was”. At once the room filled with sparkly light that swirled around each of us.
As the swirls passed, our hair smoothed itself out and rolled itself up once more, our make-up stopped being smudged and looked immaculate again. Even Chloe’s curls meekly tucked themselves into her bun.
‘Amazing,’ Chloe said, gazing at our transformed reflections. ‘Think how much time that would save in the morning.’
I shook my head.
‘Dangerous,’ I said. ‘The magic has a very different idea of how we should look, than what we think. This was okay because we had a template.’
Chloe rolled her eyes.
‘So many rules,’ she said, giving me a nudge. ‘Not sure how you keep up.’
‘Dresses,’ Harry said. ‘Come on, we don’t have much time.’
Chloe and Harry put on their blue gowns, while I wriggled into mine. It was perfect. The bodice hugged my waist perfectly – Leona really was very clever – while the skirt swirled around my knees. I pulled on my gloves, which came above my elbows and hid my bandaged wrist, and really did make me feel like Audrey Hepburn – just as Leona had promised. Louise, who wasn’t a bridesmaid, went to her room and came back wearing the most beautiful silk shift in a shimmery taupe that sat just above her knees and showed off her toned legs.
‘Beautiful,’ she said, looking at us.
‘You too,’ Harry said, giving her a kiss. ‘We all scrub up quite well, don’t we?’
Mum and Suky appeared at the door, both in their wedding garb. Mum was wearing a black dress with white trim and a little boxy jacket – it was very Jackie Kennedy. And Suky was wearing a floaty pink maxi with a matching shawl. They both looked fabulous.
I sat down suddenly on the bed.
‘Oh my god,’ I said. ‘This is it. I’m bloody well getting married.’
‘Finally,’ said Chloe, with a cheeky smile.
‘I feel sick,’ I said.
‘No you don’t,’ Chloe said, sitting next to me and putting her arm round my shoulders. ‘It’s just excitement. And to be honest, you haven’t really got time to be nervous, because we really need to go.’
I looked up at Harry, Mum and Suky and smiled. A bit shakily, I had to admit.
‘Mum,’ I said, reaching for her hand. ‘Thank you for being – well, for being you. Sorry I was such a cow when I was younger.’
Mum laughed and squeezed my fingers.
‘Suky, Harry,’ I said. ‘Thank you…’
‘Oh Ez,’ Harry said. ‘We don’t need a long gushy thing now, just because it’s your wedding day.’ She gave me one of her dazzling smiles that made you feel like the sun had just turned its face to you, and blew me a kiss. ‘We know, Ez. We know.’
Chloe and I stood up and Mum gathered us all into her arms for an enormous hug.
‘It’s like a team talk,’ I said with a giggle, as we all stood, clasping hands.
‘It is a team talk,’ Mum said sternly.
‘Esme, you and Jamie have been through a lot to get here today and there will be more ups and downs on your road together. But we will all be here to help you through.’
‘Good,’ I said. ‘Judging by everything that’s happened so far, I’m going to need you.’
We all clattered downstairs in our unfamiliar heels and I woke up Dad who’d dozed off in front of the football scores.
He sat up, rubbing his eyes and looked at me with a smile.
‘You look beautiful, Esme,’ he said. He sounded quite emotional, which was very unlike him. ‘I’m proud of you, sweetheart,’
‘I’m proud of you, too,’ I said, kissing him on the cheek. ‘You’re brilliant,’
‘The cars are here,’ Mum said, poking her head round the door.
‘We did okay, didn’t we?’ she said to Dad, but nodding her head at me.
‘You did most of the work,’ he said.
‘Ah but you were always there, backing me up.’
‘I’m here, you know,’ I said. ‘When you’ve finished the self-congratulations.’
Mum and Dad laughed. It was strange seeing them together. I’d never known them as a couple, just as two separate, very different people – but at that moment I could almost picture the people they once were.
‘Come on then,’ I said. ‘Let’s go to this wedding.’