AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasyou,” hisses Kathryn, equally furious. “Thought you’d get some money out of my Jack by bribing him, did you? Well, I’ll—”
“Mum!” Jack and I say simultaneously, and in identical tones of horror. They stop shouting, and turn to face us, both of them at least having the grace to look slightly shame-faced.
“I’m sorry, Jack, but it’s true,” says Kathryn, recovering first. “You don’t really know anything about this girl; she could be anybody. And, let’s face it, her behavior hasn’t exactly been a credit to her — or you, for that matter. I really think—”
“Enough,” roars Jack, sounding angrier than I’ve ever heard him. The entire room seems to fall silent as he turns to Kathryn.
“I don’t want to hear you speak about Emerald like that ever again,” he tells her, his jaw set with fury. “Not ever. Emerald and I are getting married,” he goes on, apparently oblivious to the small crowd of spectators who are hanging on his every word. “I know her better than anyone else in the world, and I love her. I won’t have you or anyone else putting her down or trying to undermine her. That goes for Rose too, wherever she is.”
Wow. He stood up for me to his mother. He took my side. And he said he loves me, in front of pretty much the entire town.
I reach for his hand, almost overcome with emotion. But it seems I’m next in the firing line.
“This nonsense stops now,” he tells me, leaving my hand dangling uselessly in mid air. “Look at what it’s doing to us — to our families.”
He looks at the families in question, who are in varying stages of embarrassment, although Mum does look ever so slightly smug at the very public dressing down Kathryn’s just had.
“Jack, I—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Emerald,” he says, shaking his head. “I don’t want to hear another word about this.”
He turns and abruptly stalks off towards the door, leaving me standing there fighting back tears as everyone goes back to whatever they were doing before our little floor show started, and Mum and Kathryn do their best to avoid looking at each other.
Across the room, I catch sight of Frankie, who grins weakly when she sees me and holds her hand up to her ear, like a phone.
“Call you later,” she mouths apologetically, before slinking off towards the door, clutching a large brown paper bag.
“Is literallyeveryonegetting married this summer, or is there another reason half the town’s at a wedding show?” I ask — speaking mostly to myself, given that I’m pretty sure no one else is going to want to talk to me.
“It’s Bella’s tablet,” says Dad, who’s carrying a bag of the stuff himself. “She always makes a fresh batch of it for these things. Helps draw the crowds, ye ken?”
He pats me awkwardly on the shoulder.
“Chin up, hen,” he says cheerfully. “Worst things happen at sea.”
This is actually not quite as much of a cliche as it seems, considering Dad’s an ex-fisherman, but it doesn’t really comfort me, either. I’m not sure anythingwillcomfort me right now, but then Kathryn speaks up, surprising me.
“I’d like to apologize for what I said, Ruby,” she says stiffly. “And you, Emerald. It was unforgivable.”
“She’s no’ wrong,” interjects Tam, who’s still standing behind us, but everyone ignores him.
“Thank you, Kathryn,” says Mum, equally formally. “I accept your apology, and I would like to extend one of my own for referring to you as Lady Muck.”
They nod at each other without warmth, and I allow myself to relax slightly, although the heavy feeling that settled in my chest when the latest message arrived shows no signs of shifting.
“Well,” says Rose brightly, appearing from somewhere at the back of the room. “That’s the shepherdess’s crook ordered. Now, what have I missed?”
* * *
Back at the house, Jack is nowhere to be found. He’s not answering his phone either, and I find myself pacing uselessly around the ground floor, wondering if I should drive up to The View and try to find him, or if it’s better just to let him cool down first.
“Ah, Emerald! Back already? How was the wedding show?”
Jack’s dad is sitting in the sunlit conservatory (Which is the name Jack gives to the huge glass construction that houses the pool. Istillcan’t believe I actually live in a house with an indoor pool…), a large cardboard box on his knee, which he’s flicking through with interest.
“It… er, it wasn’t the best, to be honest,” I admit, going over to join him. “I think Rose enjoyed it, though.”
“Ah, well, as long as someone did.” He smiles and pats the seat next to him. I’m not particularly in the mood to chat, but I don’t want to risk offending yet another member of the Buchanan family, so I sit down obediently, and ask him what he’s up to.
