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‘More to the point, whether Chris would want him there.’ She added another sugar to her coffee. ‘I can’t see that happening. Chris hates him.’
‘I know.’
Their half-brother hadn’t been a fan of his stepdad even before he’d been sent to prison. Chris’s own father had died young, so up until the age of fourteen it had been just him and their mum. Chris hadn’t reacted well to his mum meeting a much younger bloke. A bloke who drank, yelled at her and made Chris’s teenage life hell. He’d liked it even less when they married and two snotty-nosed kids came along. He was forced to share, and he’d hated it. Understandably, Chris wasn’t a fan of Pete Hardy, and he certainly wouldn’t want him showing up at a family event.
Matt’s phoned pinged. It was work. ‘Shit.’
Leah emptied the bowl of sweeteners on the table, searching for more sugar. ‘What is it? Bad news?’
‘Someone’s called in sick. I’m on standby, I need to go into work. Sorry.’ He got up.
She looked up at him, forlorn. ‘You’re leaving so soon? Was it something I said?’
‘I’m really sorry, Sis.’ He bent down and kissed her forehead. ‘I thought I had the rest of the day off.’
‘And to think I skipped class for this.’
‘I’ll make it up to you. Dinner later this week?’
‘I’ll hold you to that. Somewhere horribly expensive, where I can embarrass you by slurping my wine and using the wrong fork.’
He laughed. ‘Pizza Express it is, then.’
‘Idiot.’ She laughed and sloshed him. ‘Bugger off, then. Leave me to drink alone. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine… if I could just find more sugar,’ she said, heading off in search of a member of staff.
How on earth his sister wasn’t diabetic, he didn’t know.
Chapter Four
Friday, 5thApril – 9 weeks till the wedding
There were days when Beth felt like the world was conspiring against her. When every effort to lead a calm, organised and composed existence was challenged by factors out of her control. Today was one of those days – and it wasn’t even lunchtime.
‘If you insist on bringing Tiffany to the wedding, Dad, then Mum’s refusing to come.’ Beth checked the clock on the dashboard. She was late. She hated being late.
The court hearing had overrun this morning. Her client had ignored her instructions to remain calm and had yelled at the judge instead, calling him a moron and completely undermining all the arguments she’d painstakingly prepared to overturn a custody agreement. Add to that her mother getting drunk last night and phoning her in the early hours to moan about her father, and Megan having a last-minute panic attack about what to pack for Greece, and was it any wonder that Beth was feeling a little fragile this morning? Now it seemed it was her dad’s turn to annoy her.
‘That’s not my problem,’ he replied, refusing to accept hewasthe problem. ‘Your mother’s being unreasonable.’
Beth swung her car into the small car park behind their offices, only to discover a delivery truck blocking her space. ‘Is it really so unreasonable, Dad?’ Beth leant on her horn, trying to attract the driver’s attention.
‘Tiffany’s my girlfriend, and I want her at my daughter’s wedding.’
Beth flinched at the word ‘girlfriend’. It never got any easier to accept.
She leant on her horn again, using it as a vent for her frustrations. Why was the driver ignoring her? She wound down the window. ‘Excuse me! Can you move your truck?’ She doubted he could hear her above the engine noise.
Winding up the window, she refocused on persuading her dad to see reason. ‘You’ve only been with Tiffany a few months, Dad. It’s not like you’ve been together for years. Not like you and Mum.’
‘What difference does that make? We’re together now.’ He’d never reacted well to being challenged.
‘If you’d met Tiffany after the break-up maybe it wouldn’t be so raw. But she’s the woman you ran off with, Dad. She’s the reason Mum’s hurting.’ Not to mention the reason behind her mum’s late-night drinking.
Last night’s phone call had involved a lot of slurring, swearing and something about needing to lock away the kitchen knives so she wouldn’t be tempted to drive over to Tiffany’s place and stab her. Her mum was not in a good place.
The truck driver appeared at the rear of the truck and opened the doors, lowering the loading platform and revealing numerous pallets waiting to be unloaded. This was not going to be a quick delivery.
Beth glanced at the dashboard. She was now twelve minutes late for her meeting with her future brother-in-law. A meeting she wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about, but had been coerced into by her sister. Nonetheless, a promise was a promise. It would be rude to cancel, especially as Zac had travelled down from London to see her.
