Lois dabbed at her own eyes with a tissue. ‘I don’t want them either so I’ll stop rabbiting on and go and rescue the staff at the bakery.’
‘Good idea,’ Melissa laughed. ‘I’ll see you tonight.’
After Lois left Melissa went out onto the tiny balcony. On some evenings during her stay she’d come out here with a glass of wine and watch Heritage Cove drift from its sun-filled day to dusk, and finally to night, when a star-studded sky blanketed the homes and the village she knew so well. Now, she watched the odd car pass below, noticed cows on a field in the distance, sheep on another, rolled golden hay bales on the farthest field her eye could see. A tractor trundled its way down the road before disappearing behind the trees, its rumble fading away gradually.
When a cloud passed across the sun she shivered and went inside. It was only a matter of hours before her first Wedding Dress Ball in five years, and she was so excited she felt just like the same girl who’d watched the event from high up on the beams and longed to be one of the party down below.
*
‘Mum, I’m not fifteen anymore.’ Harvey undid his bow-tie for the fourth time and pushed away any attempts from his mum to fix it. They were in the courtyard at Barney’s place and people were starting to arrive for the ball. Harvey had only come out here because he’d given up trying to perfect the bow-tie inside and he didn’t want to miss Melissa’s arrival.
‘You’re all fingers and thumbs. Why so nervous?’ Carol’s grey hair curled in large waves, skimming the back of her neck. She had a small white gardenia in her hair, a floaty white dress to show her slight figure. Given what Harvey’s dad had been like, wearing a wedding dress to this ball had never been an option for Carol because of the memories it would evoke, but she’d gone out and spent over a hundred pounds on a three-quarter-sleeved dress with delicate beading that made her feel like a new woman – her exact words when she’d returned from the shops with it one day. Harvey had known from that moment that his mum had her life back.
‘I’m not nervous,’ he lied unconvincingly, and with a bit more fiddling he was done. ‘There, sorted. Just a bit out of practice at tying them, that’s all.’
Carol smiled. ‘What a beautiful evening for it, thank goodness you talked Barney out of cancelling.’
Since he’d talked more to Barney it seemed plenty of others had been in on this little game of his. The bakery knew full well they were doing the cake but had pretended to Melissa it wouldn’t be easy, the band had never been cancelled but had been told to go along with the pretence, even Ashley from White Clover had known about this from the start. Harvey swung between wanting to throttle Barney one minute and wanting to thank him the next, because if he hadn’t lied to them then Melissa would already be back in Windsor. And he wouldn’t miss seeing her tonight, here at the ball once again, for anything.
The sun held the summer warmth that bathed the barn and courtyard in a soft glow as guests continued to arrive and mingle. The wooden doors of the barn had been folded back, hay bales graced the entrance for anyone who wanted to step outside for some air when the ball began. The food tables lined one wall and caterers would bring everything in at the agreed times. Barney and Lois were standing inside the barn doors greeting guests as though they were a couple who hadn’t missed out on decades together, and the band was playing a classical melody Harvey didn’t recognise but one that sat perfectly as a calm, country-wedding-type tune.
Harvey fiddled with the cuffs of his shirt to straighten them beneath the sleeves of his tux and nodded a hello to Ashley, who was next to arrive. She had on an ivory dress with a bustle – he only knew what it was called because she’d pointed it out last year when someone else asked her about it – and she was soon gossiping with his mum and discussing dressmaking, a topic that was always covered given the theme of the event.
Harvey was glad people weren’t wasting time in getting inside the barn, he didn’t want an audience to see how he reacted when Melissa arrived.
Casey turned up and came over to give him an enormous hug. ‘Your girl here yet?’
He was about to deny what she was implying, but how could he? It was all true. She knew it, he knew it, everyone else probably knew it too. ‘You look beautiful tonight.’ But their conversation ended swiftly when a girlfriend of hers whisked her into the barn. He’d heard her mention eligible men so he figured they’d be flirting it up a storm very soon.
Tilly was next to arrive with a couple of girlfriends he didn’t recognise, all chatting at a rate of knots, then came Gracie.
She did a twirl in a dress that only revealed itself to be pink when she stood next to someone in white. Her curly chestnut hair was pinned into an up-do that made her look sophisticated and totally different from the girl who bummed around the Cove in denim cut-offs and walked his dog for him.
‘How’s Winnie?’ she wanted to know.
‘Trust you to ask…most girls here probably want to check whether their lipstick is on their teeth or if their hair is perfect.’
‘You know me and dogs, Harvey.’
‘I do, and Winnie’s fine, made a real fuss of her before I came out.’
‘Save a dance for me later?’
‘Of course I will.’
And when she went inside he didn’t miss the admiring looks from Declan, a local lad about her age. He probably hadn’t recognised her when she first turned up but he’d certainly noticed her now.
Locals flocked, people from nearby villages and towns who’d bought a ticket returned for another year or to give it a go for the first time. And when Tracy arrived she confided in Harvey that she felt like a newlywed all over again. Her comment was bordering on too much information but he chatted with Tracy and Giles before they both went inside. He didn’t have to tell either of them why he was waiting there.
Jade and Celeste looked stunning when they arrived with the cake and set it safely in place on a table well out of the way. No sign of an apron for either of them, it was perfectly applied make-up against porcelain skin, and white dresses that were totally different and beautiful on the sisters who were the close siblings Harvey had always envied. They not only worked together, they lived in the same home, they got on apart from the odd cross word at the bakery making you steer clear until the dust settled, and it made Harvey wonder whether he might have had that same bond with Daniel had their father not been so terrible.
Harvey shook away thoughts of family problems and smiled, welcoming Patricia from the tea rooms, who was excited to be here and more than proud to be in her wedding dress for another year. She was instantly chatting away to anyone who’d listen about the laced-up back of the gown that was a godsend if your weight fluctuated year on year. Her husband looked at her as though their wedding day had been last week not years ago; his hands told the same story. Lottie was next, the tan she’d built over the summer even though she worked inside the convenience store striking against a white gown. Like everyone else here, she was transformed from the usual attire of jeans and a top or shorts and T-shirt, and it was all part of the fun of this event – seeing the same people you spoke to day in day out look different, act different and feel different.
The atmosphere here in the courtyard and beyond the doors of the barn was one of togetherness, excitement, heady summer love. Some arrived hopeful with a date on their arm, others were relishing an evening as a couple after the demands of family life and jobs, an evening where they could remind themselves of how they’d fallen in love. Some came here with friends and no intention of anything romantic, some would be surprised tonight, he wouldn’t mind betting – there was usually an unpredicted hook-up in the air. Last year it had been Jules, his boss’s sister, who’d got together with another of Harvey’s work buddies, both a little regretful the morning after apparently.
Lucy arrived next and on her arm was Fred Gilbertson, back in town for the event. ‘Fred, great to see you.’ Harvey shook his hand. ‘And Lucy, you’re looking beautiful.’
She did a quick twirl in an off-the-shoulder ivory dress that finished almost at the ground. ‘Why thank you. I found this beauty in a charity shop and it fits perfectly.’
