‘Oh…’
Maybe all the stints in rehab had addled her memories. A twinge of uncertainty tugged at his gut. The same thought he’d had earlier returned. What if she was unstable? Could she be trusted? ‘I guess you’ve forgotten. You suggested I appear in some movie with you. One where I didn’t speak but there were plenty of naked shots.’
Taylor’s pupils flared and she opened her mouth and closed it again before saying, ‘Yeah, about that… I think we need to—’
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ announced the MC over a microphone. ‘Can we put our hands together for the bride and groom?’
‘Shit,’ said Magnus, the word drowning in the applause. ‘I need to find the bridesmaids. I’m supposed to join the dance.’
Leaving Taylor, he jostled amidst the crowd to get to the collection of blue dresses he spied on the other side of the dance floor. A low chord rang out and Robyn and Carl hit the dance floor, looking every inch the perfect duo as they waltzed closely, Carl’s large hand splayed on Robyn’s back.
Magnus had been through this a few years back with Jakob. That had been hard enough, seeing his younger brother so obviously in love, now Carl. The baby, the one they ‘knew’ would never settle let alone get married, but look at him now. No matter how often Magnus told himself he was ok being single, he wasn’t sure it was true anymore. The life of a free agent had certain perks… and downsides. Especially at his stage of life. But dating Skylar Rousse didn’t exactly tick boxes on the steady relationship front. Jeez. Who am I kidding? If they agreed to it, what would the reality look like? Her in Hollywood, him in Glasgow flying the short haul. He’d made a conscious decision to leave the long haul just over a year ago. And although he’d reasoned with himself it was to have a better quality of life and less disruption to his circadian rhythm, he wondered now if deep in his subconscious he’d done it to give himself a chance to settle, if the right person came along. But if that person turned out to be Skylar, he’d have to rejig his life all over, and he couldn’t be sure it was worth it. Despite how much it seemed she’d changed, he knew her reputation. She didn’t settle at anything for long.
Magnus reached the bridesmaids just in time. He took Beth McGregor to the floor. She was equally as tall as him, slim and elegant, and definitely not a pushover. No way would he be leading her; she was leading him. His head was so full of fuzz, he let her, spending the few minutes trying to figure out a sensible next move. It had to be tactful in case Skylar’s feelings were genuine, but not too heartfelt in case it was a play. He harrumphed and Beth looked at him. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘Just thinking.’
‘Right,’ said Beth.
When the dance finished, he handed Beth over to her boyfriend, a tall guy who looked like a model but had an expression like he might murder Magnus. Obviously, he didn’t appreciate anyone dancing with his girlfriend. With a quirk of his eyebrow, Magnus went searching for Taylor. She found him first and dragged him straight back to the dance floor. Despite the Hollywood in her veins, her dancing was subdued. Gone was the Skylar who danced on tabletops in LA and was photographed at drunken raves in her youth. This Taylor version of Skylar was more refined and their dance was such an act of beauty Magnus lost the ability to speak or think. Just slowly revolving together, taking an occasional twirl and gazing into each other’s eyes was all that mattered. Nothing about this seemed fake.
After a couple of gentle waltzes, the music’s tempo picked up, and Taylor shook her head. ‘I need to get on the stage, I’ve got my live section next.’
Magnus rolled his shoulders. ‘Can we get the duets out of the way first before I get too drunk?’
‘Yes.’ Taylor’s pupils dilated and she clung to his arm, her other hand at her throat.
‘Are you ok?’
‘I… I just…’
‘Hey.’ Magnus steadied her with a hand on each arm.
‘I haven’t done this for a long time. What if it’s a disaster?’
‘Done what?’
‘Sung live to an audience.’
‘Oh.’ Magnus frowned. ‘You were awesome in the car. And if some idiot somewhere has told you they need software to enhance your voice, then the world is beyond fucked. Believe in yourself. If anyone should be cacking it, it’s me. This is way out of my zone. Singing a jokey little skit is one thing but a full-on duet with a Hollywood superstar, quite another.’
‘Yeah, but I know how incredible you are too.’
‘So, let’s give it our best shot.’
She nodded and he led her to the podium. They chatted to the band about the songs they’d agreed to, old favourites Magnus had belted out at karaoke nights and a healthy bit of songs from the musicals. Keeping Taylor’s hand in his, he approached the mic, smiled at her, and tapped his thigh, encouraging his inner calm to come forth, the one he summoned every time he landed a plane.
A few groans and chuckles rang out as the opening bars of ‘People Will Say We’re in Love’ rang out. Magnus winked at Taylor.
As he sang, he looked her in the eye, keeping his mouth to the mic. ‘Don’t praise my charm too much.’
She folded her arms and pulled a face. The guests laughed, but Magnus ignored them, focusing on the song with only brief glances at the lyrics on the stand in front of him.
As Taylor belted out, ‘Let people say we’re in love,’ she held his gaze and the message struck him so deep, he almost missed his cue.
The power in Taylor’s voice was astonishing and he released his inner showman to match her as they powered their way through ‘The Time of My Life’. Every damn line in the song seemed to apply to them. He’d never felt this way, ever. Her expression told him she was thinking exactly the same.
As they wound up, he blanked out the cheers from the dance floor, dipped his head, and kissed her cheek. ‘You’re amazing,’ he whispered. ‘Now let them have it.’
He hopped off the stage while Taylor geared up for ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’. Already a groove was going and people were letting their hair down, including rather embarrassingly, Fenella and Joanne who looked like they were at a rave gone wrong. Aunt Jean was in a world of her own, boogying with her two sticks and two young men laughing their heads off as they did some kind of conga around her.
Magnus strolled to the bar and got a drink. Taylor was winding up the song as he took a seat next to Jakob, who was bouncing little Polly on his knee. ‘Well done,’ said Jakob. ‘That took some balls.’
‘Thanks.’ Magnus sipped his beer.
As Taylor finished, Livvi erupted into applause with several other people. ‘She’s utterly brilliant.’ Livvi jumped up and down as Taylor started another song Magnus didn’t recognise. Her voice soared around the ballroom like the pro she was. So much for requiring software to enhance her voice. Who needed that kind of criticism?
After more raucous applause, she left the stage doing a good impression of looking bashful, keeping her head down. Well-wishers accosted her and people clapped her on the back, congratulating her as she moved towards the table, her cheeks very flushed.
‘That was brilliant,’ said Magnus, jumping up to hug her.
‘Amazing,’ said Livvi. ‘And look, you’ve inspired Polly. She’s found her dancing legs just as she should be going to sleep.’
Magnus grinned as Jakob twirled the tiny little girl on the dance floor beside the table, her frilly dress puffing out as she giggled and squealed. Magnus didn’t let go of Taylor but closed his eyes and splayed his fingers on her bare back. An ache for something he couldn’t reach tugged his heart.
‘She’s such a cutie,’ said Taylor, patting Magnus’s back then fanning her neck. ‘I’m roasted. That was nerve-racking.’
‘I’ll get you a drink,’ said Magnus.
‘I’ll just have water,’ said Taylor, pouring some from a jug on the table.
Livvi placed her glass down, still beaming at her daughter. As she turned back to the table, her face lit up. ‘Oh, my goodness.’ She banged the table, a triumphant gle
am in her expression.
‘What is it?’ Magnus peered at Taylor. Livvi was staring at her in such an odd way. Was she about to faint or something? But apart from her rosy cheeks, she looked a picture of health.
‘It’s just come to me who it is you look like,’ Livvi said.
‘Oh?’ Taylor glanced sideways at Magnus, running her fingers around the low neckline of her dress.
Shit. Had they been rumbled? Magnus adjusted his tie and tried to keep his expression even.
‘There’s an American TV star, Skylar Rousse. You probably won’t have heard of her,’ Livvi said to Magnus. ‘She makes these girlie type films, romcoms and the like. Taylor, you are her double. She has different hair and stuff obviously. I could google her and show you.’
‘Na, it’s ok,’ said Magnus. ‘We know about that. Everyone says it.’
‘Do they? Wow, I know why. I used to watch this show she did when I was a kid. She was only like five or six when she was in it, but she was so sassy.’
Magnus sipped his drink, raising his eyes over it, trying to send Taylor a telepathic message that everything was still ok. But his heart was drumming. If they were going to make a go of this, the truth would come out anyway. Should they make it now?
‘I was so disappointed to find out years later,’ Livvi went on, ‘that it wasn’t always her. Apparently, she had a twin sister and they both did the part because of the child acting law. I loved that show,’ said Livvi, gazing into space and taking another drink.
Music pounded in the background but the thumping of his pulse in his ears deadened it.
‘And she can sing,’ Livvi said, ‘though I think you sound better. I saw her in a musical and her voice was that fake way like it’s been put through a computer.’
Livvi’s words got lost. Skylar has a twin sister. Magnus shifted his gaze to Taylor. She was staring forward, her jaw set. Slowly, her face turned to him, and his heart flipped over. It wasn’t her. Of course it wasn’t. No wonder she’d seemed so changed; she was a different person. Standing up and cracking his thigh on the table, Magnus growled and bundled his chair out of the way, then stormed towards the bar.
‘Is he ok?’ he heard Livvi say as he strode forward, flicking the lapels on his jacket, barely able to string a cohesive thought together.
As he joined the queue for drinks, a hand tapped him on the shoulder.
‘Magnus, please.’ Taylor stared at him with pleading eyes.
‘Please what? Am I about to discover that Skylar’s twin sister happens to be called Taylor?’
Taylor covered her mouth and looked away. ‘Yes.’
‘And who are you? Actually Taylor? Or Skylar pretending to be Taylor in the old twin double, treble, quadruple bluff?’
‘I’m Taylor. I told you I was Taylor.’
‘And that makes it all fine, does it?’ Ringing and pounding clamoured in his ears. How had he been so stupid?
‘I wanted to tell you, I just thought—’
‘Thought what? Thought I might not feel the same if I realised I’d been sleeping with a perfect stranger for the past few days. Ugh!’ He tugged at his hair.
She nodded, still covering her mouth. ‘Exactly.’
‘Spot on then. How did you know who I was when I bumped into you?’
‘I met you… fleetingly. It was me you spoke to in the bar on the day of our party.’
‘Jesus Christ.’ Magnus rubbed his hand down his face. ‘I don’t know what to say. I can’t begin to describe what this feels like. I’m beyond anything.’ Bile rose in his chest.
‘I’m sorry, I really am.’
‘Whatever. Because we’re done. You’ve played me good and proper. There’s no way anything is happening now. After tonight, you’re gone. In fact, I’m going to sleep on the sofa when we get back. I don’t want anything else to do with you.’
She sniffed back a tear and Magnus looked away, his head pounding. When he turned back, the crowd had swallowed Taylor.
He banged his hand on the bar, ordered a double whisky and downed it. Everyone else was using this as an excuse to get drunk, so he had the perfect cover. He wanted to erase all memory of this evening and cursed the day he’d crashed into Taylor Rousse.
Chapter 21
Taylor
Taylor ran down the wide steps at the front of Glen Lodge Hotel straight into a gust of icy wind. Cinderella had nothing on this. If Taylor lost a shoe on the stairs, she wouldn’t even notice. Why am I outside? Pain splintered through her chilled veins, stabbing her so deeply she almost doubled up. What have I done? Since her last breakdown, she’d tried to detach and disassociate, blank out the hurt and lack of fulfilment in her life. Now the full weight of her insignificance clobbered her with crushing strikes. She held her chest. Air. She needed air.
Leaning over, she braced herself on a hefty balustrade. Slowly and steadily, she forced herself to inhale, then exhale until her lungs expanded. She straightened up and shivered, rubbing her arms, trying to awaken something other than the desire to fall on the cold hard ground and give up. Taylor Rousse didn’t need to stoop this low because of some guy. She was her own person, wasn’t she? Blinking fast, she pressed her lips together, denying the tears; she’d brought this on herself. Falling so deeply for Magnus was never part of the deal. A bit of harmless deception had turned into full-blown betrayal because she’d given emotions airtime.
Now he hated her. How could she explain the feelings were real? Everything had been real. Except she wasn’t the right person. She couldn’t because she’d never see him again. She had to get away. How could she face him? Face his family?
Tears clouded her vision and she gave up trying to stop them from spilling out. They trickled down her cheeks. Despite being made from the same genetic material as her sister, she was lacking. Even when she’d been considered the more promising actress, her confidence had failed her. Skylar was the one born to be seen and loved, Taylor to sink into the background.
Voices made her look up and she pushed her palms across her stinging cheeks. The tall bridesmaid Magnus had danced with was walking towards the door, laughing with a sexy-looking guy in shirt sleeves; his kilt-suit jacket was slung around the shoulders of the bridesmaid and he was talking with his lips close to her ear. Taylor froze, needing to move but seeing nowhere to go.
‘Oh, hi,’ said the bridesmaid. ‘Are you ok?’
Taylor didn’t meet her gaze, hoping to hide the panda eyes which might show up even in the artificial outside light. ‘Yeah, sure.’
‘Aren’t you freezing?’ said the man. Taylor glanced up, remembering he’d been at her table during the meal.
Taylor’s bare arms glowed under the Victorian-style lamp. Goosebumps erupted all over her, she trembled and her teeth chattered. ‘I need to get back.’
‘Where to?’ said the man.
‘Back to LA.’
Taylor caught the two exchanging a glance. Yeah, I know it’s crazy, but I want to go home. ‘Can you give me a lift to Tighnatraigh or tell me who to call, taxis, minicabs, anything.’
‘Should I get Magnus?’ said the bridesmaid.
‘No,’ Taylor replied sharply. His name brought her to her senses. She had to be sensible. ‘He can’t drive, he’s had a lot to drink. I have to go somewhere quiet and deal with some business. It’s really important.’
‘I can drive you,’ said the man. ‘It’s only a few minutes up the road.’
‘Would you?’ said Taylor. ‘That would be great. I’ll message Magnus.’
‘I’ll come too,’ said the bridesmaid. Taylor barely heard whatever they were saying after that. She pulled out her phone but no way was she really messaging him. In the backseat of the smart blue Audi, she scrolled through Google browsing for hotels on the island within walking distance of the ferry. In the short drive back to Fenella’s house, she made a plan.
‘Thanks so much,’ she said, jumping out. ‘And enjoy the rest of your night.’ Fenella had told her people on the island rarely bothered l
ocking doors, especially when they owned as many dogs as her. Taylor patted the big softies briefly as she entered the cottage. ‘You’d make useless guard dogs. Get back to your beds, go on. I know you’ve been walked, Fenella told me she’d arranged it. I’m not sticking around. I need to make a few phone calls, then I’m out of here – forever.’
She changed out of the dress, folded it up and left it on the bed in the little room she’d shared with Magnus. Don’t look around. Don’t think. She mustn’t let it affect her. None of it was real. She’d stolen a week of love but now she had to let go and leave it behind.
Packed and changed back into her normal clothes, she rang a hotel she’d ear-marked and tapped her finger as she waited for the call to connect. Reception was dodgy but the call connected. The person who took the call didn’t mask their incredulity, but Taylor didn’t care.
‘Yes, a room for tonight.’ Or what was left of it. ‘Also, do you have a shuttle service that could pick me up from a house in Salen?’ The silence on the other end told her that was a categorical no. ‘So, a number for a local taxi then please.’
As soon as she discovered they had a room, she ended the call and rang the taxi company. Even with an hour’s wait that was fine. She wanted to write a note. In fact, three. The first one she left with the dress for Robyn. The second a heartfelt thank you to Fenella and Per for having her. Her eyes swam with tears as she wrote Fenella’s name. She wiped them away and glanced heavenwards.
The third was to Magnus. She only had a small notebook but by the time she got the words right, she’d wasted several pages. Eventually, she ripped out the sheet and placed it on the bedside table, slipping it under the lamp. Then she stood in the entrance, waiting. After what felt like an age, lights flickered in the distance. Please god, let this be the taxi, not one of the family. Her prayer was answered and a few minutes later, she was in the backseat, whizzing down the crazy little roads. When they passed the entrance gate to the Glen Lodge Hotel, Taylor put her head down and didn’t look up until the light changed. They were in a village, windows illuminated the buildings around a curved bay.
A Flight of Fancy (Scottish Island Escapes Book 6) Page 16