Cal
I know I promised Demi I’d find Ben Trevone but I’m pretty sure he’ll have legged it by now. The way he took off out of that wedding glade, he’s bound to have got the hell away from Kilhallon and I don’t blame him. I don’t like the guy myself – he’s a tosser and definitely doesn’t deserve Lily Craig. However, being jilted by your fiancée at the altar is going to sting, especially when it looks like she might end up with a guy you thought was your friend – or in Ben’s case, his employee.
I’ve sort of been in Ben’s position myself with Isla. Luckily for me, I never actually made it to the altar with her, but I know how it feels when the woman you love, or thought you loved, decides she wants to be with someone else.
Now I know that’s a good thing or I’d never have found Demi and I’ve come to believe I’d never have been the man I am if I had married Isla. Maybe I’d have always been restless and unfulfilled and wondering what else there was in the world: Demi has made me see that I have to carry on fighting for what I believe in.
I hope she’s managed to find Lily and look after her.
Most of the guests have stayed down in the glade, consoling themselves with the champagne that Rachel’s arranged for the caterers to serve. A few have wandered back to their cars but most have decided to hang around for the free booze and epic gossip.
But wait … that is a turn-up, as Polly would say. Trevone is still here, or at least his car is. I recognise his BMW SUV parked outside the rear of the farmhouse, next to a Merc limo which belongs to the Cades. Demi told me that Mawgan had arranged for Ben’s parents to travel here in style with her.
I approach Kilhallon House and hear voices in the kitchen. I stop outside. I recognise them: Ben’s transatlantic Cornish twang and Mawgan Cade’s voice, though I can only catch snatches of the words. What the hell are they doing in Kilhallon House?
The back door is open a few inches. Ben and Mawgan are talking in the kitchen.
Or rather Mawgan’s talking. Ben’s not saying much. I peer around the crack in the door and listen in.
‘Ben. This must have come as such a shock. How could Lily be so cruel? You must be devastated.’ Mawgan of course. What did I expect?
‘I’m OK.’
‘You need someone who appreciates you. Lily’s out of her mind.’
Ben grunts. ‘Yeah, maybe. Then again she’s done me a favour. I wish it hadn’t been in front of all those people but I don’t regret it.’
‘You’re so brave, Ben … Do you really mean that you didn’t want to marry Lily?’
‘Yes and no. Shit, Mawgan, I don’t know but the more I think about it, the more I feel as if she handed me my life back. I’m free to do what I want now. You’re a free agent, Mawgs. You must understand what I’m trying to say?’
‘Yes. I do. I understand exactly what you mean. Oh, Ben, I knew from the first moment I saw you at Kilhallon that we were meant to be together.’
Before I even have time to think: Jesus, did I really hear Mawgan make a move on Ben minutes after he’s been jilted at the altar, there’s a strangled cry, the harsh scrape of a chair and an almighty crash.
‘Get off me!’
I shove the door open. There’s a chair on the floor surrounded by smashed crockery. Ben is backed against the scullery door, with Mawgan snogging him for all she’s worth. His hands are in the air and then on her arms.
‘This is what you really want,’ she purrs.
Ben takes a gulp of air. ‘Mawgs. No, you’ve got the wrong idea. I like you as a friend. We’ve had a laugh and I’m grateful for the sympathy but I don’t want this.’
‘What the hell’s going on here?’
Mawgan turns round. Ben’s shoulders slump in relief. Taking his chance, he slips past Mawgan.
Her eyes shoot daggers. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘It is my house, if you hadn’t noticed.’
‘Do you mind? You’ve interrupted a private moment.’
‘No, you haven’t,’ says Ben, edging away. His face is white and he holds up his hands in naked terror as Mawgan, a foot shorter than him, faces up to him. So this is the big brave star of Knife Edge, is it? I don’t know who I feel most sorry for, him or her. Then again, they both deserve each other.
‘I think there’s been a misunderstanding, Mawgs. I don’t want anyone. I …’
Mawgan is about to do one of two things. Leap on me or Ben and rip us both to pieces – or cry. Frankly, I could handle the first far more easily.
‘I bet you’re laughing at me, aren’t you?’ she says, but I’m not sure which of us she means.
‘I don’t think today’s been very funny,’ I say.
Ben takes a step forward. Bold move. Ouch. ‘Mawgan, wait … I still want us to be mates. Just not … anything else.’
She narrows her eyes. Ben will be toast if he actually tries to touch her.
‘I thought … you led me on. You made me think that I was special. You asked me to be bridesmaid and you took me out for champagne and told me not to tell Lily. You told me I could come to Hollywood any time.’
‘Yeah, as a friend. You never thought that I’d actually be interested in you that way, did you? I mean, you’re an attractive girl when you want to be, but you’re no Lily, are you? And I’m Ben Trevone … and well, you do the maths.’ He shrugs.
‘Friends? Attractive?’ Mawgan advances. ‘I could have ruined you. I could have told Lily what you’d done. I could have invited a pap along or told the papers but I didn’t because … because.’
She had her eye on the main prize, I think.
Ben shrinks up against the dresser. ‘Shit, I didn’t mean to upset you, Mawgs. It was only a bit of a laugh. You must see that.’
‘Do you see me laughing?’ Mawgan says in a hiss. ‘You led me on. You’re a spineless creep and, what’s more, you couldn’t act your way out of a paper bag.’
Mawgan takes another step forward. Ben works his way behind me. ‘There’s no need for violence!’ he bleats.
Jesus. I shake my head in disbelief at his callousness. ‘I rarely find myself agreeing with a Cade, but you really are a bit of a prat, aren’t you, mate?’
‘I don’t need your help. I can fight my own battles.’ Mawgan snatches her bag off the table and marches up to Ben, standing right in his face. ‘You have no idea what I can do. No idea.’
‘She’s right,’ I say. Ben’s face blanches. ‘You’d better wait in the sitting room.’ Ben doesn’t need any more excuses and scuttles through the door, leaving me alone with Mawgan.
‘Get out of my way,’ she says.
‘I will but first I have something to say.’
She laughs but her eyes are bright. ‘What? You want to laugh at me, do you? I know you and Demi will spend the rest of the day sneering and laughing at my expense and I didn’t need you to defend me from Ben.’
‘I would say that you don’t often cause hilarity in either of our lives, Mawgan, but on the rare occasion you do it’s entirely your own fault. I walked in here feeling sorry for Ben, and at one point, I even had sympathy with you, but now I think you deserve everything you get.’
Mawgan sniggers. ‘Piss off, Cal.’
‘Fine, but before you go, you need to know that your mother is here.’
Mawgan’s mouth drops open then she spits out the words. ‘You’re lying. You’re saying that to get me away from this pathetic piece of work.’
‘No. Robyn’s been looking for you. Your mum’s on her way to Kilhallon. Andi picked her up from Newquay over an hour ago and they were heading straight here. She’d have been here earlier but her flight to Heathrow was delayed.’
‘My mother’s on her way here? Why?’
‘She was coming over for Andi and Robyn’s engagement party and wanted to see you being a bridesmaid. She thought she’d surprise you both.’
Mawgan visibly deflates in front of my eyes. ‘What do you mean? Andi and Robyn’s engagement? I don’t understand. They haven’t said anything to me.’ Her voice rises in a shriek. ‘They can’t get married. Everyone’s getting married except me. I won’t have it!’
My heart bleeds. Mawgan has brought all of this on herself. ‘Before you see her, tell me one thing. Did you pay the drone operator to buzz Boris when he delivered the rings?’
Mawgan stares at me. ‘Yes. Yes, I did but …’ She collapses onto a kitchen chair, totally gobsmacked. ‘I can’t believe she’d fly all this way to see me,’ she says quietly.
‘I’m here, darling.’
A tall, tanned woman with bobbed hair stands in the doorway. Mawgan stares at her mother as if an alien has just walked into the kitchen.
‘Hello, Cal,’ Mrs Cade says before turning her attention to Mawgan who has her hands over her mouth in disbelief.
‘Mum, I didn’t know you were coming.’ Mawgan stands up as her mother approaches her.
‘I wanted it to be a surprise,’ Mrs Cade says in her Aussie accent. ‘I only told Andi when I landed. I wanted to see you be a bridesmaid and to celebrate the girls’ engagement. After you came and visited me at Christmas and we had such a happy time, I thought I’d come back and spend some more time with you girls. Now, I hear there’s been a problem with this wedding.’ Mrs Cade looks Mawgan right in the eyes. ‘I hope it hasn’t anything to do with you? You promised me you’d changed your ways at Christmas, Mawgan. I did hope you meant it.’
Mawgan shakes her head and wheedles. ‘Trouble? No. No. It’s nothing to do with me. Why would it be?’
‘Hmm. We’ll see about that, because if I find you’ve been spiteful and causing trouble again, I can get straight back on that plane and go home.’ Her mother walks forward. ‘Now. Aren’t you going to give me a proper hug?’
Mawgan shoots me a look, half loathing and half agony. She can’t bear to show emotion or weakness but it’s too late. It’s obvious she adores her mother and they embrace each other. ‘Darling. It’s so wonderful to see you. You look gorgeous, sweetheart. I was so worried that I wouldn’t make it on time to see you today …’
Mawgan gulps back a sob. She’s reverted to a little girl and it’s just weird. I don’t feel I can handle any more drama today.
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ I mutter, grateful to slink past them and out of the kitchen.
In the sitting room, Ben stands in front of the fireplace with a crystal tumbler of amber liquid in his hand.
‘Hope you don’t mind. I helped myself,’ he says, nodding to the decanter and tray on the dresser. ‘Not a bad malt.’
‘It was one of my dad’s,’ I say, wincing at the level in the bottle.
‘He had good taste. Sorry to invade your place, Cal, and for that scene with Mawgan. I needed some space away from people. Jade and Addison mostly, but I never expected Mawgs to go for me like that.’
‘Where’s your best man?’ I say, still furious with him.
‘Arranging an emergency exfil ASAP.’ He grins. ‘If you know what I mean by the military jargon.’
I do because I’ve been on the receiving end of an emergency ‘exfil’ myself but in slightly more dangerous circumstances. I somehow don’t think Ben has any idea of what it’s like to be rescued by Special Forces before you’re executed by insurgents. Then again, perhaps the experience might do him good …
‘Have you seen that little shit, Harry, by the way, or has Lily sent him packing by now?’
‘I don’t know what his or her plans are,’ I say, wondering if Demi has tracked either of them down. ‘And I hope you don’t mind me saying it, but you don’t exactly seem heartbroken by what’s happened.’
He knocks back my whisky like it’s lemonade. ‘That’s because I’m not. OK. I’m pissed off about her doing it in public but in the end, it’s for the best. I like Lily. She hot and she’s fun and I guess I was in love with her. I still do love her, but more as a friend. I never wanted to get married to her but my agent and publicist said it would be great for both of us. They said we could get divorced in a couple of years. I told them I didn’t want to do that to Lily.’ He finishes his drink.
‘But you were going to?’
‘Yeah. No. I … Lily is braver than me. She’s a much better person and she deserves someone better. But Harry? Jesus.’
He’s right about that. So right and it’s all I can do to restrain myself from not chucking him out of my house.
‘What do you want us to do with all the food, the band? The guests are being fed in the tepee now but there’s the evening party too.’
‘Carry on, if anyone wants to stay. I can’t handle that now. I bet everyone feels sorry for me. Poor Lily, she’ll come off worst in all of this. Jade and Addison will stick with me, if I ask them to. I’m worth more than Lily at the moment.’ His phone rings. ‘I have to take this. It’s my best man.’
He mutters a few words into the phone then says, ‘There’s a car waiting for me outside. I’m going to get legless somewhere no one can find me. I’ll deal with this when I’m ready but that could be a while. All I want now is to get the fuck away from all of it.’
He swills the final dregs of my whisky, tosses it back and dumps the glass on the mantelpiece.
‘You must know what I mean. Haven’t you ever wanted to pack up and leave all the shit behind? Screw everything and everybody and take off, look after number one? Do what you want and to hell with the consequences?’
‘Yes. Yes, I have.’ I’ve done it. Gone off and said screw the consequences. Done what I wanted and what I thought was right for me, and sod everyone else, like Isla and my father. I took those arms when I should have said ‘no’, I let Soraya get involved …
Ben sighs. ‘Well, thanks for organising the wedding – and to Demi too. I never thought you’d be able to put on a show like this but hats off to you. It’s all paid for so I’d get pissed with your mates and enjoy the party at our expense if I were you.’
‘Thanks,’ I manage through gritted teeth. ‘What about your mum and dad? What shall I tell them?’
‘I’ll call them once I’m safely away from here. See you around, maybe?’ he adds.
‘Yeah. See you.’
And he’s gone. And I don’t feel one iota of sympathy for him, or pity other than for the fact he’s a total jerk and there’s no cure for that. I’ve no doubt that those leeches Jade and Addison will paint him as the injured party although any publicity will probably be lapped up by Lily too. As for Harry, I don’t envy the bloke living in that cauldron of publicity. There’s a lot to be said for the quiet life … if I can only find it.
Wincing at my depleted whisky bottle, I walk into the wrecked kitchen. Mawgan and her mother have left the house and I suck in a huge breath of Kilhallon air, trying to take in all the events of the past few hours and days. I pick up the chair and gather the broken crockery in a piece of newspaper – including one of Demi’s favourite breakfast bowls and an Il Divo mug she bought Polly for Christmas. It can be replaced.
‘Cal!’
Demi’s voice cuts through the quiet and the window. I spot her hobbling across the yard in her slinky dress that shows off every gorgeous curve. Her hair has escaped from its clip and is flying wantonly in the wind.
We meet in the porch and she flings her arms around me. ‘What is it?’ she says, ‘What is it about Kilhallon that attracts so much drama?’
Her cheeks are pink from running and she’s wearing the safety shoes she uses at work. My breath catches in my throat. She looks gobsmackingly sexy and funny and I hardly know what to do with myself.
Or maybe I know exactly what to do.
‘I have no idea but it seems to have something to do with a certain person whose name begins with a D and ends in an I. Let’s call Rachel and try to sort out the mess down at the wedding glade and then, I want to talk to you.’