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Beth wondered if she’d misheard. ‘Come again?’
‘I realised what a stupid mistake we’d made, so I applied for an emergency annulment. The state of Nevada allows for a no-questions-asked annulment within twenty-four hours of the ceremony. I guess they’re used to drunken tourists getting hitched and regretting it the next day.’
Beth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘Please tell me you’re not joking.’
‘Check for yourself.’ He watched her pull out the contents of the envelope. ‘I messaged you, but when I didn’t get a reply, I called a mutual friend. She told me about the wedding today. I figured you’d need these documents, so I thought I’d better come down.’
Beth skimmed over the annulment papers dated eight years earlier. ‘Freddie Wood, you’re an absolute star. You’ve just single-handedly saved the day.’ Even if he had omitted to mention the annulment to the bride before now, which wasn’t exactly helpful.
He grinned. ‘No problem. Okay if I stay for the wedding? It’ll be good to catch up with Megan.’
Beth placed a hand on his chest. ‘Please don’t take this the wrong way, but absolutely not. The groom only discovered your existence about twenty minutes ago.’
‘Shit.’
‘Exactly. So can you see why you can’t stay?’
‘I get it.’ He shrugged. ‘Oh, well, back to the train station.’
‘Thanks again for this.’ She turned and ran for the hotel, eager to get upstairs and break the good news. The wedding could go ahead.
She just hoped it wasn’t too late.
Chapter Twenty-One
The first Connie knew of her daughter’s complicated marital status was when Kenneth started banging on her bedroom door and yelling at her, as though the situation was somehow her fault. Far from making her angry, Kenneth’s heated claims that Megan had ‘humiliated’ the Lawrence family name simply made her laugh. The gall of the man. Who was he to talk about humiliation? His attitude really was beyond arrogance – the man was positively delusional.
That said, the news still shocked her. Megan was already married? It was too implausible to be true. Surely she’d know if her youngest daughter was already married? Megan would have told her… wouldn’t she?
Needing a few moments to collect her thoughts, she shooed Kenneth away, slammed the door in his face – for no other reason than it felt good to do so – and quickly zipped up her emerald-green shift dress. Maybe wearing her wedding outfit was wishful thinking if Kenneth’s ludicrous claims turned out to be true, but until she knew otherwise, she would assume the ceremony was going ahead as planned.
After buttoning up the jacket on her mother’s pretty blue floral two-piece, complete with matching hat and handbag, the pair of them were ready to head off and find out what the hell was going on.
Any lingering doubts that Connie still had about the validity of Kenneth’s allegations quickly disappeared when confronted with the scene in the bridal suite. Megan’s face was tear-stained and Beth was in a heightened state of anxiety.
Her eldest daughter filled her in on the morning’s events, detailing Megan’s Las Vegas marriage, subsequent annulment, heated confrontation with Zac and emotional make-up session. It sounded exhausting.
Although Connie’s first emotion was disappointment at being kept in the dark about the whole situation, motherly instinct quickly took over. Megan looked awful, soggy from crying, her flimsy dressing gown hanging from her slight frame, her diamanté tiara lopsided.
Connie immediately took control of the situation, and instructed Beth to fetch a pot of tea and a large bottle of gin from the bar. If Megan didn’t need a stiffener, then Connie certainly did.
After positioning Doris in the chair by the window and handing her the bag of knitting to keep her occupied, she redirected her attentions towards her youngest daughter.
‘First things first, we need to repair your make-up,’ she said, manoeuvring Megan onto the stool in front of the dressing table. ‘We can’t have you walking down the aisle with panda eyes, can we?’
Megan sniffed. ‘I’m so sorry, Mum. I’ve messed everything up.’
‘Nonsense.’ Connie handed her daughter a tissue. ‘You’re a Lawrence, this is par for the course – we wouldn’t be us without a drama of some kind. And besides, you have some way to go before you surpass your father.’
Megan blew her nose. ‘How can I face everyone after what I’ve done? Zac’s family must hate me.’
‘They’ll get over it. Anyway, it’s Zac you’re marrying, not his family. Has he forgiven you?’
‘Just about.’
‘Well, that’s all that matters. Lift your chin.’ Connie used a cotton bud to wipe away smudged mascara from under Megan’s eyes. ‘Once the wedding gets under way, everything else will be forgotten – or it will be, once the alcohol starts flowing.’
Megan blinked up at her through watery eyes. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Freddie.’
