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‘Thanks, Dad,’ said Emma, kissing him on the cheek, deeply moved by his words. ‘That was wonderful. Thank you.’ Although Emma hadn’t been planning to make a speech, she made her mind up in that instant that she should also say a few words before Max made his speech. She squeezed his hand and stood up and thanked all the guests for being part of their special day. Emma was still blown away by the romantic setting and all that James and his colleagues had done to make it extra wonderful. She thanked her dad and her sisters and Max and his family. Most of all, she wanted to pay tribute to her mum who she wished was with them all. She stopped to catch her breath. ‘But I truly believe she is and has been watching over us all.
‘So, I would like to raise a glass to Mum, who made me the woman I am today. That is something I will be forever grateful for, and I hope her spirit always lives on in me.’ Max handed her a glass of champagne. ‘To Mum,’ she said softly, her voice hoarse with emotion. ‘Thanks for being you.’
Chapter Forty-Two
‘Amy,’ said James, gently tapping her on the shoulder. ‘Have you got a moment?’
‘Sure,’ she said on a shrug, excusing herself from the guests she had been speaking to at the outside bar.
‘I just want to check that everything has been okay, today?’
Amy had a feeling his question was loaded, and he wasn’t referring to just the wedding. ‘It’s all been great, thanks. I mean, what could be a more romantic setting?’ She took a deep inhale of the salty sea air. ‘The weather couldn’t have been better, could it? It felt like we were in the Caribbean.’
He nodded, looking at her intently. ‘Good, I’m glad to hear you’ve been happy with it. Are you sure everything is okay?’
‘And the food . . .’ Amy began, but James didn’t let her finish.
‘I’m not talking about the food, Amy . . .’
She tried to hide her frown, but it was too late.
‘Have I done something wrong?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘No, why would you think that?’
He eyed her carefully. ‘It’s just that you have been a bit off and I wondered if there was a problem . . . I had such a great night out with you at the pub. I’m sorry if I overstepped the mark in any way?’
Amy rolled her eyes. ‘I just think you might have told me.’
‘Told you what?’ he asked puzzled.
‘Well, I thought, or maybe I imagined that we were getting on well too. I mean . . . it kind of felt like old times when we were together . . .’
‘You’re right,’ said James. ‘I agree.’ He looked upset as though she had said something to make him doubt himself.
Amy looked around at the fairy lights which had started twinkling now the sun had set.
‘What went wrong, then?’
‘Look,’ said Amy, folding her arms across her chest. ‘I saw you . . . with Amanda.’ There, she had said it. She wasn’t one for mind games.
‘What do you mean?’
Amy flicked her hair over her shoulders. Was he being intentionally stupid? ‘Earlier today. I came here to do last minute checks for the wedding and Rachel said you were dealing with something and was very vague about whether or not you would be back.’ She searched his face, looking for any signs of guilt or remorse.
But James grimaced. ‘I had to nip out. Of course, I was coming back. Today was always really important to me and there was no way I would have missed it.’
Amy waved her hands dismissively. ‘That doesn’t matter. It’s not about that, it’s about the fact that you’re with someone else.’ She looked at him questioningly and waited for him to reply. But instead, he gave a small, sad chuckle. ‘Okay, well that wasn’t exactly the reaction that I had hoped for,’ she said tensely.
‘Oh, Amy, I am genuinely so sorry that you thought that when you saw us.’
Amy’s gaze drifted over to Kirsty, standing a few metres away, and who looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She returned her attention to James. ‘But I saw you walk her to her car and it looked like quite a hug.’
James reached for her hand. ‘I can understand why you would get the wrong idea.’ He looked around, seemingly back in professional mode as he scanned the area before returning his focus to her. Grasping her hand, he said, ‘I was comforting her. She’s had a really hard time of things these past few months.’
‘How so?’ said Amy, unsure of what he was getting at.
‘Her wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.’ James kept his voice low. ‘She’s been trying to stay strong for her but this morning it all got too much, and she just needed some friendly support.’
