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After four days of intensive wedding planning, she was exhausted and behind on every task. She didn’t need the interruption. But Toto looked unhappy, and she knew why. Her father had been using her as a go-between ever since Dan’s arrival.
‘What’s up, Toto?’
‘Dad says he’s towed the caravan to the wild meadow behind Jacob and Maddy’s place, so it’s ready for you and Tess and Annie when you want to decorate it.’
The mention of the caravan made the gaping hole in Ellie’s stomach, which had resolutely refused to close up since Sunday, feel even bigger, but she ignored it. Art and she had been avoiding each other since that night, they’d spoken exactly twice. But she didn’t have time to feel sad or stressed about that, she had a wedding to stress over instead.
‘Thanks, Toto. Tell him that’s terrific and we all really appreciate it,’ she said, forcing magnanimity into her voice.
It had been Annie’s idea to use the caravan for Jacob and Maddy’s wedding night, because Maddy’s parents would be staying in their cabin.
It would have been a great idea, if Art wasn’t using the thing to sleep in at the moment. Art hadn’t returned to the farmhouse, even though Dan had moved into a hotel after that first night, at Ellie’s insistence. She wasn’t sure if Art’s absence from the farmhouse had anything to do with their bust-up, or simply because he was running scared from all the wedding prep. But, either way, she hadn’t wanted to have a conversation with Art about lending the caravan to Jacob and Maddy, just the thought of that conversation making her feel raw. So she’d made up some excuse as to why Annie should ask him.
That he had agreed to loan it out meant he was without an extra bedroom until after the wedding now, but she wasn’t going to worry about where he planned to sleep tonight. Or for the next three nights. It was none of her business. If he decided to sleep back in the house, great. She’d take a sleeping pill and pretend he wasn’t there. How hard could it be?
‘How did the first day of school go?’ she asked Toto, because the child was still hovering.
The poor kid looked harassed. Had Art been as surly with his daughter in the last four days as he’d been with her? She hoped not. But there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. Trying to decipher Art and his moods had always given her a headache.
He couldn’t be angry about Dan’s turning up, because he didn’t care enough about her to be jealous. And anyway there was nothing to be jealous of. She’d finally contacted a lawyer, who would be serving Dan with papers as soon as he returned to Orchard Harbor. Which she hoped would be sooner rather than later. She didn’t want her whole final three weeks here soured by Dan’s presence. She’d have enough time to deal with him when she and Josh got back to the US.
‘All right, we did algebra though, which was pants,’ Toto said. ‘Miss Morely asked after Josh and so did Frankie Bradford. I think they missed him.’
The quietly spoken observation had guilt pressing in on Ellie.
Miss Morely and Frankie Bradford weren’t the only ones who had been missing Josh in the last four days. The plan for Josh to go to school with Toto had been nixed by Dan who had wanted to spend some time with the son he’d been ‘missing like crazy’ for the last three months. Josh had seemed eager to spend time with his dad and Ellie had been pleased that at least Dan seemed focused on his son and not the impossibility of resurrecting their marriage, so she’d been happy to sanction the daily trips Dan had arranged, to go to the movies in Salisbury, or go to a soccer match in Swindon, or today’s excursion to Stonehenge. But she knew Toto had missed her best friend terribly.
Ellie had tried not to worry about that too much. Toto and Josh would be separated soon anyway, so they would both have to get used to it. And Ellie couldn’t do any more about Toto’s unhappiness than she could do about her own. But if Toto had ended up on the sharp end of her father’s temper as well as losing Josh’s companionship through no fault of her own, that seemed grossly unfair.
Toto ducked her head. ‘Do you know when Josh is coming back from Stonehenge?’
‘I think he’s staying at his dad’s hotel tonight in Gratesbury,’ she said. ‘But he’ll have to be back all day on Saturday for the wedding.’
Maddy had asked Josh and Toto to be wedding attendants. Josh had been overjoyed at the prospect, before Dan had arrived. She hoped he hadn’t gone off the idea. But, even if he had, he needed to follow through on that commitment.
‘But Saturday’s two days away.’ Toto looked even more dejected as she turned to go. ‘I wish his dad hadn’t come to visit now.’
You and me both.
‘Don’t worry, he won’t be staying much longer.’ Surely Dan would leave after the wedding? She’d told him they were coming back to Orchard Harbor at the end of September, she refused to change her plans just for him. Or for Art, who probably wanted her to leave sooner rather than later now too.
Well, they could both bog off. She’d done enough to keep them both happy. She was making the choice to go back on her terms, which meant staying till the end of September as she’d originally planned.
And she was not going to let either one of them ruin the three weeks she had left. With her mum and her friends, and the shop.
‘Toto, wait.’ Ellie halted her progress, an idea forming. ‘I’m going over to Maddy and Jacob’s after we close the shop in about an hour to do some more wedding prep.’ The wedding prep that would never end. ‘Annie and Tess are meeting me there, we were going to have some supper over there, too. Why don’t you come with me?’
It wouldn’t hurt the child to spend more time in female company. And they had about a million things to do, most of it grunt work, so an extra pair of hands would not go amiss. Also it would take Toto out of Art’s orbit. Maybe take her mind off Josh?
?s absence. And save Ellie from any probing questions from Annie and Tess and Maddy about Dan. Annie had already asked some pointed questions about what Dan was doing here if they were getting a divorce? Having Art’s impressionable teenage daughter in their midst ought to halt any more awkward questions, at least until Ellie had the energy to answer them.
‘What’s wedding prep?’ Toto asked, but she looked a little less dejected. Wow, she must be seriously bored.
‘We’ve got to finish tinting the jam jars for the tea lights. And we’re decorating the bases of the flower centrepieces Mum’s doing for the tables. It should be fun.’ Once the wine started flowing. ‘Melody will be there.’ Although she doubted Melody would be much help to anyone.
Toto’s face screwed up, as she considered the invitation. ‘Josh is definitely going to his dad’s?’
Toto’s request for confirmation tore at Ellie’s heart. ‘Yes, I’m sure he is.’
