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itchen stacking champagne flutes onto trays, and finishing the final prep.
The aroma of fresh herbs and roasted garlic wafting out of the kitchen and the glimpse of the wild mushroom and goat’s cheese tartlets Dee had just covered made Ellie’s mouth water.
‘Good, that’s the general idea.’ Dee smiled and straightened, flicking a tendril of hair back from her face. The subtle application of make-up accentuated her mother’s enviable bone structure and the cool blue of her eyes.
Ellie felt the pulse of pride in her chest. At all her mother, no, all of them, had achieved today. This would be a celebration not just of Maddy and Jacob’s love for one another, but of the love they all shared for this place, this community.
The pulse of sadness wasn’t far behind, at the thought of all the things she was going to miss when she went back to the US. She pushed the thought to one side – no time to mope about that now. Given the increasing awkwardness with Art now he had moved back into the house, she knew she’d made the right decision there.
‘You need to get upstairs and change,’ Dee admonished.
‘Right, but have you seen Josh? And Toto?’ She’d been keeping an eye out for them both for over an hour.
‘Toto’s upstairs moaning about the dress she has to wear. I haven’t seen Josh,’ her mother remarked.
‘I thought they were together.’ The two of them had headed off after breakfast to help Jacob decorate the vintage Land Rover Art had found to transport the bride and groom to their wedding night caravan. ‘He needs to get showered and changed into his suit.’
‘Toto might know where he is,’ Dee said, before one of the catering students interrupted to ask if it was time to start frying the sweetcorn and tofu fritters.
Ellie dashed up the stairs. She did not have time to track Josh down. But, as she raced down the corridor, Art stepped out of his bedroom
She barrelled into him, his whoosh of breath matched by her squeak of dismay.
Strong arms wrapped around her, to stop her tumbling on her arse. For a split second she was inhaling his delicious scent – soap and man – overlaid with the fresh hint of sandalwood cologne, her face nestled against the fabric of a starched white shirt.
She stumbled back. Awareness shot through her like wildfire. He looked magnificent, his tall rugged physique filling out the sleek lines of the expertly tailored single-breasted suit.
‘Art, sorry,’ she mumbled. The flash of something hot and yearning arched between them.
‘Are you OK?’ He hadn’t released her arm and the light touch of his fingertips made the skin pebble and pulse.
‘Yes.’ Although she didn’t feel OK, her emotions a jumble of needs and desires and dreams she couldn’t explain.
They were over – when was her body going to catch up?
His thumb stroked the inside of her elbow, setting off a riot of sensations.
‘I need to find Josh, have you seen him?’ she said, subtly tugging her arm out of his grasp.
‘His dad turned up and took him off somewhere,’ Art said, sweeping the still damp hair off his brow, the sneer in his voice unmistakeable.
‘He what? When?’ she said, trying to adjust her pulse from hysterical to merely frantic.
‘Couple of hours ago. Toto was pretty upset about it,’ he said, clearly mad with Dan.
Of course he was, this was the first day Toto and Josh had spent together since Dan’s arrival. Josh had been keen to spend time with Toto this morning, and had told Ellie he didn’t want to spend time with Dan, when Dan had texted. So why had he gone off with his father? And, more importantly, the wedding was starting in an hour. And Josh was a pivotal part of the ceremony.
‘She’s not the only one,’ she said.
‘Really? You didn’t sanction this?’ Art said, his dark brows lowering into that moody frown she’d seen far too often of late.
‘Of course not, why would I?’
‘Because you let that guy do whatever he wants.’
The harsh words and the accusation stunned her, almost as much as the judgemental frown.
Why was he having a go at her about Dan? When he’d made it very clear he wasn’t remotely interested in her relationship with her husband? She shook off the thought. She didn’t have time to worry about Art’s jerky behaviour. Because she had a pageboy to locate who seemed to have gone AWOL.
