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‘Don’t push it.’ Chuckling, he leaned back against the pillows and watched as she brushed eyeshadow on.
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LETTING GO OF JACK’Shand, Evie slipped into the chair next to Nina and looked around the huge table. She recognised all the women. Everyone who had come wedding dress shopping was there. She also recognised Simon and Chris.
Jack leaned in close to her. ‘I bet you’re wondering who everyone is? Ollie is sitting next to Daisy, Connor is next to Wendy, and Harry is Diane’s partner.’ He pointed around the table. ‘Scott is next to Olivia, and you know Chris. There’s Jude next to Molly. Charlie is Lauren’s partner, Daniel with Carrie, Matt and Gemma, Heidi and Liam, and Brooke and Max. You remember Simon, the police officer from when we first met? And then there’s Rowan next to Nina.’
Evie held her hand up, waving to everyone as Jack sat back in his seat.
‘Nice to meet you, Evie.’
‘Hi, Evie.’
‘You know I don’t stand a chance of remembering everyone’s names, don’t you?’ She spoke quietly to Jack.
‘It’s a bit daunting meeting so many new people at the same time, but you’ll soon learn everyone’s names.’ Jack grinned.
‘Cocktails for you both?’ Teresa poured two glasses of a blue concoction and passed them to Rowan, who passed them to Nina, who then gave them to Evie and Jack.
‘Lovely, thank you.’ Taking a sip, Evie coughed. It was a lot stronger than the blue lagoon cocktail she used to drink.
‘Right, now everybody is here,’ Diane looked around the table before pulling a canvas bag from beneath the table. ‘We can give Elsie her hen do gear.’
Evie laughed as Diane pulled a bright white, stiff veil from the bag, two learner driver ‘L’ plates, and a tiara with plastic hearts on.
‘Oh, I don’t think I need to wear those.’ Elsie raised her eyebrows.
‘Aw come on, look, the tiara even lights up.’ Diane fiddled with the plastic tiara until the hearts flashed a cerise pink.
‘Go on, you have to. They’ve gone to the effort of buying them for you.’ Ian nudged Elsie’s shoulder and chuckled.
‘Don’t you think you’ve got away with it either, Ian.’ Connor laughed as he pulled out another bag and laid a headband on the table with large antlers sticking up from it.
Covering his eyes with his hand, Ian turned to Elsie and stage-whispered, ‘Quick, let’s do a runner.’
‘Oh no, you don’t. Come on, they’ll look good on you.’ Picking up the antlers, Ollie laughed as he placed them on Ian’s head.
‘Your turn now, Elsie.’ Standing up, Lauren stuck the ‘L’ plates to the veil before securing the veil in Elsie’s hair and slipping the tiara on over her head.
‘Brilliant. Quick, we need to get some photos of this.’ Diane pulled her mobile out from her pocket and held it up. ‘Smile.’
‘I spy something going on over at the table by the window.’ A loud whistle pierced through the conversation in the pub as Gerald, the landlord, picked up the microphone and held his hand above his eyes. ‘Are they antlers I can see? And a veil? Woohoo, everyone, Elsie and Ian are on their stag and hen dos. Stand up and give us a twirl.’
Pushing her chair back, Elsie grimaced and stood up, holding her hand out for Ian. They twirled around, the ‘L’ plates on Elsie’s veil flapping against the cheap material and Ian’s stag antlers slipping over his face.
A huge cheer and round of applause erupted through the pub as people stood and watched.
‘I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing this lovely couple the best wishes possible for their wedding day as we all ask the same question, why has it taken you so blooming long to realise what we could all see years ago?’ Gerald raised a glass. ‘To Elsie and Ian. Wishing you both the very best of wishes for the journey ahead.’
‘To Elsie and Ian.’
‘Thank you.’ Raising her hand in acknowledgement, Elsie returned to her seat, shortly followed by Ian as he pushed the antlers out of his eyes. ‘Well, I wasn’t expecting that.’
Ian rubbed her hand as he settled back in his chair.
‘Okay, and now, after all the excitement, I will begin our quiz of the evening and in honour of Elsie and Ian’s impending nuptials, the theme for tonight’s quiz is Famous Weddings.’
‘Ooh, this should be good. Molly, you’ll know most of these, won’t you?’ Nina looked across at Molly before turning to Evie. ‘Molly used to be a journalist specialising in weddings, didn’t you?’ She turned back to Molly.
