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Millie and Ella had returned to the Purple Parrot to give the wedding party some privacy whilst they came to terms with what had happened and decided what they wanted to do about their wedding arrangements. It was clear to everyone that the reception couldn’t take place in the Hummingbird Suite.
‘Superficial cuts to his arm and chest. He’s been taken to hospital for stitches.’
‘Poor Jerome. What on earth had he done to deserve that? Surely it couldn’t have been a disgruntled guest!’
‘Well, you’re not going to believe this, but Jerome did know his attacker.’
‘Who was it?’
‘Fleur Markham.’
‘Who’s Fleur Markham?’
‘She’s Imogen and Alex’s wedding planner.’
‘Really?’
‘Well, she only met with them once. Imogen and Alex did think it was a bit strange that she had disappeared, but they never expected anything like this to happen.’
‘And she decided to wreck the place and then stab Jerome with a pair of scissors, because…?’
‘It turns out Imogen’s mother, Julia, was right all along. Fleur and Jerome have history.’
‘It’s a very disturbing story,’ muttered Ella, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since they had arrived at the bar, clearly very upset at the personal tragedy that had unravelled before their eyes. She twiddled the stem of the empty wine glass on the table in front of her, her eyes fixed on a spot on the horizon where the sea met the sky.
‘What sort of history?’ Lottie, pressed refilling everyone’s glass with a tot of rum: her prescription for the recent shock.
‘Apparently, a few months ago, Jerome ditched Fleur and ran off with her cousin. He had to leave his job as a hotel manager in Rodney Bay because Fleur was constantly harassing him after he’d terminated their relationship – he thinks she must have gone a little bit crazy. She had no idea he had relocated to Soufrière and found a new position at a local hotel; he thought he was safe. But as fate would have it, when she met with Imogen and Alex to discuss their wedding last Sunday, she caught a glimpse of Jerome in the hotel lounge. She returned later and sought him out – that was when Julia saw them arguing by the gazebo.’
‘So what’s happening about the wedding reception? I take it the Hummingbird Suite will be out of action for a good few weeks? Oh, no, don’t tell me they have to call off the wedding? That would be just too awful!’
Millie saw Lottie cast a quick glance out into the bay where Dylan’s boat was on its way back to shore after that morning’s diving excursion. The expression of undiluted adoration on her pretty face made Millie think of Zach and her heart gave an uncomfortable kick. Because of everything that had happened over the last few hours, she hadn’t had chance to dwell on what he and Clio were doing, but now she remembered that Clio had said they would have a full itinerary.
What if Zach had taken her to Treetop Adventures? She was more upset than she cared to admit about that possibility.
‘Ella and I left before any decisions about the wedding were made, but Jerome couldn’t be more apologetic. He honestly didn’t connect the kitchen fire incident – the one that destroyed Imogen’s wedding cake and favours earlier in the week – with Fleur. We know she was responsible for that too because when Alex and Greg arrived to drag her off Jerome, she was screaming incoherently about the kitchen fire and how she had hoped he’d be caught up in it or sacked for the damage.’
‘How utterly dreadful,’ Ella murmured, her brown eyes filled with compassion for all the players in the story.
‘So where is Fleur now?’
‘She was also taken to the hospital with cuts to her hands. The paramedics sedated her, and I think I heard them mention a referral to psychiatric services.’
Silence descended around the table as each of the women contemplated the recent turn of events.
‘Hey! Why the long faces, girls? Aren’t you sitting in the best bar in the Caribbean, ably managed by the most wonderful woman on the island of St Lucia?’ Dylan leaned down to deposit a kiss on the top of Lottie’s head, causing a splash of colour to appear on her pale cheeks and her eyes to dance with delight. ‘Drinks are on me this afternoon. Just finished diving the coral reef with a bunch of corporate types from Texas who insisted on rewarding me with a huge tip!’
Dylan grinned as he shoved his palms deep into the pockets of his cut-off denim shorts and meandered towards the bar where he greeted Travis with a friendly fist bump and slap on the back. Millie watched the two men share a joke, her heart ballooning at their display of relaxed camaraderie, and her faith in human nature leapt up a notch.
‘So what do you think will happen about the wedding?’ asked Lottie, her eyes still resting on her boyfriend who wouldn’t have looked out of place carrying a surf board along Waikiki Beach with his tanned features, sun-bleached hair, and the leather thong around his neck sporting a huge shark’s tooth.
‘I really don’t…. Ah, well, perhaps you can ask Imogen that question yourself.’
Millie nodded in the direction of the wooden steps leading up to the veranda from the beach where Imogen was kissing Alex goodbye, before waving him off with Greg and Owen. Carla and Harriet followed their friend onto the terrace.
‘Is it okay if we join you?’
‘Of course!’ said Lottie, leaping from her chair. ‘I’ll get you some drinks – on the house.’
