Wedding Bells at Butterfly Cove

by Sarah Bennett

  ‘Oh, shit, Kiki…’

  A cheery rat-tat-tat sounded on the closed kitchen door and Kiki dashed for the dark haven of the pantry. Bad enough she was displaying her worst self to her sister without showing her up in front of a paying guest. She curled her hands around one of the thick wooden shelves and clung on, the feel of the hard wood the only thing preventing her from flying apart. Breathe. Just breathe. Swallowing her tears, she focused on bringing her breathing under control. In…hold…out. She pushed all her focus into those three words over and over until her racing heart slowed and the fluttering panic subsided.

  ‘Kiki?’

  She groaned at the tenderness in her sister’s voice. ‘Don’t, Mimi. Don’t be nice, I don’t deserve it.’

  ‘Bollocks!’ Mia’s arms engulfed her waist and the warm heat of her body soaked into Kiki’s shivering spine. ‘If anyone deserves a bit of nice in their life, it’s you, darling.’

  Kiki shook her head. ‘You can’t mean that. You heard me, you heard the horrible things inside me.’ All this time she’d been lying to everyone—including herself. Trying so damn hard to make her marriage work when it was the last thing she’d wanted. Pretending if she said the right thing, or finally found a way to make Neil happy, then the ugliness would vanish and they’d be like the Waltons, or the Ingalls, one of those perfect happy families she’d grown up watching on Saturday morning television.

  Laughter was the last response she expected. Taken off-guard, she didn’t resist when Mia disengaged her arms and spun Kiki to face her. ‘I’m glad you hate Neil. God knows that slimy bastard deserves nothing else from you after everything he’s done.’

  She really didn’t get it, did she? If Neil deserved to be hated, then Kiki deserved that and more for putting up with him and his awful treatment of her. ‘I let him do it.’

  Mia’s hands cupped her face, forcing Kiki to meet her worried gaze. ‘Is that what this is about? You still think it’s your fault?’ Kiki opened her mouth, but Mia pressed her thumbs to Kiki’s lips to keep her silent. ‘After the way Mum groomed you, you were easy prey for him. He saw that vulnerability in you and, instead of protecting your beautiful, tender heart, he exploited it for his own selfish weakness.’

  Groomed? Such an ugly word with all its connotations of abuse. ‘She was sick, Mia. She didn’t know what she was doing.’

  Mia snorted. ‘She knew exactly what she was doing, Kiki Dee. Why do you think she never tried it with me? She took everything sweet and gentle in you and twisted it around to get you to do what she wanted. Stop making excuses for her, Kiki. Vivian never loved us the way a mother should. Can you imagine treating your sweet Charlie like that?’

  Horror filled her. ‘Never!’

  ‘Exactly. Try as they might, those two haven’t stifled the goodness in you.’ Mia dropped her hands and stepped back. ‘I know you don’t want me bossing you around, but I really think you should find someone to talk to about all this.’

  ‘I’m talking to you…’ Kiki understood what Mia meant, but the idea of sitting down with a stranger made her cringe inside.

  ‘Hello? Mia, darling?’ Madeline’s voice carried from the kitchen, and they both jumped at the sudden intrusion.

  ‘We’ll be right there, Mads,’ Mia called. She dug in her pocket and handed Kiki a folded tissue. ‘Think about it, that’s all I’m saying.’

  ‘Think about what? Why are you two hiding in the dark?’ Kiki looked past Mia’s shoulder to where the older woman stood in the doorway of the pantry. ‘Yes, I know I’m being nosy, dear. Ask your sister, and I’m sure she’ll be only too glad to tell you what a meddling old bag I am.’ There was no shame or censure in her cheerful tone.

  Mia laughed and turned towards her friend. ‘I’m trying to persuade Kiki to talk to someone professionally about her soon-to-be-ex-husband.’

  ‘Bloody good idea. There’s a Relate service in Exeter. I used them years ago when I lost all those babies and Richard got himself snipped without telling me. I know they’re still there because we make a donation to them every year. Let me put the kettle on and I’ll find their details.’

  She left the two of them alone again and Kiki glared at Mia. ‘You shouldn’t have said anything to her!’

  ‘Of course she should, dearest. We’re your friends now, too, and we want to help you,’ Madeline called out.

  Bloody hell, the woman had ears like a bat! Feeling disgruntled and outnumbered, Kiki trailed after Mia out of the dark pantry and back into the airy kitchen. Madeline had already set fresh mugs on the table and was poking around in the fridge. ‘Ooh, is this chocolate cake?’

  ‘That’s for the guests, for afternoon tea,’ Kiki protested as Madeline bore a familiar Tupperware container to the table with a triumphant smile.

  Mia rubbed her hands together with glee. ‘Cake sounds just the ticket. I’m only expecting the Pritchards back this afternoon so we’ve plenty to spare. The Morrises and the Shenleys are making the most of their last day and going for a hike on Exmoor. They won’t be back until dinnertime.’

  Which was no help at all. Kiki didn’t want tea and cake. She wanted to escape to the quiet safety upstairs and get on with her work before these two steamrollered her into making an appointment. She didn’t want to dig around in the past any more than she already had. The skeletons in her closet were rattling enough to drive her to distraction. She tried a different tack. ‘It’s only nine-thirty, a bit early for cake.’

  ‘Nonsense!’ Madeline said briskly, a large knife already poised over the double-chocolate fudge cake Kiki had made the night before. It had taken all of her willpower not to surrender to the pleading looks and fluttering lashes of Aaron and the children when the rich smell of cocoa filled the cottage. It seemed a bit mean to them to eat it herself now.

  The shiny blade sank into the thick icing and she surrendered. ‘Just a tiny slice.’ Madeline tilted the knife and slid a huge wedge of cake onto a side plate, then plonked it down in front of Kiki. ‘Or maybe not.’

  Mia placed the striped teapot on a mat in the centre of the table and accepted her own enormous slab of cake with a grin. ‘Cheers, Mads.’ She raised the plate to her nose. ‘God, this smells heavenly, Kiki Dee. You always were better at cakes than me. I’d better not let Daniel taste this or he’ll throw me over. He only loves me for my baking.’

  Kiki couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. She might have only been in Butterfly Cove for a fortnight, but it was patently obvious Mia hung the moon and stars for the big, gruff northerner. She forked up a mouthful of the cake and closed her eyes as the buttery-sweet icing melted on her tongue, followed by the darker, headier taste of the plain chocolate she’d added to the batter mix. ‘Oh, that’s good.’

  ‘Good? It’s better than sex,’ Mia moaned.

  ‘If a bit of cake is better than sex, my girl, you’re doing it wrong,’ Madeline snorted before taking her own bite. ‘Oh… you’re right. It is better.’ The worshipful tone of her voice set Kiki laughing again and the other women joined in.

  They ate the rest of their cake with relish, each trying to outdo the others with sighs and moans of faux-ecstasy until they were giggling so hard, tears leaked from the corners of Kiki’s eyes. ‘Stop! Please, stop, I’m getting a stitch.’

  She pushed away her plate, which was empty apart from a small smear of icing. Feeling a bit sick after eating so much didn’t stop her licking her thumb and wiping up that last trace. Her mobile phone vibrated on the table and the cake began to churn around in her stomach. The rising fear subsided when she swiped the screen down and saw the incoming text was not from Neil, but Aaron.

  Clicking to open it, she couldn’t help but smile at the picture he’d sent. Matty’s head poked out of the top of a pile of sand which Charlie was patting down with a bright-red plastic spade. She held up the screen to show Mia and Madeline and they both chuckled at the sunny, funny image. ‘He’s really taken to them, hasn’t he?’ Madeline obse
rved.

  If he’d taken to the kids, they were entirely smitten with him. His gentle patience and seemingly endless good humour had drawn them to him like a magnet. Charlie wouldn’t leave him alone for a moment, pestering him for cuddles and clambering into his lap to watch Frozen yet again over the weekend. Matty had been a little more circumspect, but he was never more than a couple of feet from wherever Aaron happened to be—even claiming a corner of the desk in Aaron’s office for his colouring book when he went in there to catch up on some paperwork.

  The whole week since he’d returned from his trip to London, they’d been like one of those TV families with their idealised picture of domestic bliss. Funny how the thing she’d striven and strained for with Neil had slotted into place with Aaron with no effort whatsoever. They’d fallen into an easy routine without any real thought. At times, she’d found herself holding her breath, waiting for a problem to arise, for her or the children to do something to irritate Aaron and bring them all down to earth with a bump. It hadn’t happened yet. By the time they’d settled in a post-dinner lazy sprawl around the living room yesterday evening, she’d even let herself relax for a minute and believe it might be genuine. That Aaron really was as kind and easy-going as he appeared.

  And that had scared her half to death.

  ‘They’ve formed a mutual appreciation society.’

  Mia eyed her over the top of her mug. ‘You don’t sound entirely pleased about it.’

  ‘I don’t want them to get hurt. Aaron’s great with them, really wonderful.’

  ‘But…?’

  She sighed and propped her chin on her hands. ‘But, no one is that nice. It’s all a bit too easy at the moment, but we’re obviously in some kind of honeymoon period. The novelty will wear off. They’re bound to annoy him at some point, and I couldn’t bear it if their new hero turned out to have feet of clay.’

  Madeline frowned at her. ‘I don’t think that’s very fair on Aaron. You might find it hard to believe, but he really is a very nice guy. Perhaps instead of waiting for him to disappoint you, you should ask yourself why he’s thrown himself so wholeheartedly into things. You might find it’s not just those children who are in dire need of a little love and affection.’

  The comment took her aback. Aaron was so robust, so full of life and energy, he filled every space he entered with his warmth and wit. It had never occurred to her the confidence she’d taken for granted in him might be hiding something. ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘I’m saying big hearts are every bit as tender and vulnerable as little ones. Yours as well as his. Circumstances have thrown you all together. While it’s all right to let him support you through this difficult time, make sure you don’t take advantage of him in the process.’

  Kiki shook her head. Madeline was getting things confused. She and Aaron hardly knew each other and she wasn’t looking for anything more than friendship with him. Sure, she might have peeked when his T-shirt rode up to display an impressively toned stomach when he’d changed one of the burnt-out spotlights in the kitchen on Saturday. But it had been nothing more than a fleeting glimpse, an uncontrolled biological reaction, an objective moment of admiration for his toned physique.

  She needed to put a stop to this nonsense before the entire conversation derailed. They were talking about the children’s needs, not her own. ‘I don’t need a man in my life, Madeline. I’m not ready for one, even one as attractive as Aaron.’ Why had she said that?

  ‘I hate to tell you this, dearest, but you already have a man in your life, whether you’re ready for him or not.’ Madeline slid a number scribbled on a piece of paper forward, a serious glint in her eyes. ‘Go and talk to a counsellor. Put the past to rest and then be honest with yourself. If you don’t want anything more than a friend, you need to find yourself somewhere else to live sooner rather than later. Two attractive, lonely, available people under the same roof is a recipe for disaster.’

  Kiki gaped at Madeline. She couldn’t honestly think she and Aaron were likely to jump into bed with each other. Could she?

  Apparently ready to kill Kiki with embarrassment, Madeline ploughed on. ‘If, however, you’re only rejecting the thought of a potential relationship with Aaron because convention states you must wait a certain period of time, then to hell with it. You’re a nice girl, and he’s a lovely boy. If you can put each other together again the way Mia and Daniel have, then what’s to stop you?’

  ‘The fact that I’m still married?’ She retreated behind the sarcasm to cover her utter shock. Madeline must be crazy to think she could stagger out of one relationship only to tumble headlong into another.

  ‘Semantics,’ Madeline responded tartly. ‘Unless you’re having second thoughts about the divorce.’

  ‘No bloody chance.’ Kiki turned to Mia. ‘Help me out here.’ But Mia tapped her lip with one finger, as though considering Madeline’s words.

  Unbelievable.

  Kiki dragged the pile of wedding magazines towards her. ‘Let’s all focus on this happy ending instead of trying to conjure one up out of nothing. Aaron and I are housemates. Friends. That’s all.’

  Thankfully, they took the hint and each grabbed one of the thick, glossy tomes from the pile. The mood lifted as they laughed and swooned over huge meringue frocks and elegant silhouettes. They touched on what Daniel might wear, but Mia said she was leaving it for him to choose. Having never seen Daniel in anything other than paint-stained jeans and a T-shirt, Kiki found herself wondering if he would look as good in a suit as Aaron did on those occasions he dressed up for a client meeting. The jackets emphasised the width of his shoulders and the trim line of his waist. Funny how she could hate the sight of Neil in a suit and yet be drawn to the image of Aaron in one.

  He was bound to be acting as best man and Mia had already asked her to be matron of honour. Her mind’s eye painted a picture of them arm in arm as they followed the happy couple down the aisle. The contented smile on her face reflected the happiness of celebrating her sister’s wedding day—nothing more.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Aaron sat back in his office chair, stretching the kinks out of the muscles in his lower back. One day he would remember to sit properly in his chair, but it wasn’t going to be today. Cocking his head, he listened for sounds from upstairs, but the cottage was silent other than for the hum from his laptop. He’d been banned from the bedtime routine on the grounds of being too much of a disruptive influence. His favourite times as a child had been curled up under his covers, fighting heavy eyelids as he pleaded with his dad for one more page of his book.

  Perched beside Charlie’s bed, putting on silly voices as he read her stories of princesses and dragons helped him remember those good times. Luke’s harsh words had forced Aaron to reflect on things he’d rather have ignored about their dad. Aaron didn’t possess the same ability Luke appeared to have to view their parents objectively, and a slow-burning anger threatened to overwhelm him if he dwelled on the idea his dad could have done more to bridge the gap between his first-born son and his wife. He didn’t want to think about it, didn’t like the unfamiliar anger, so he buried it deep under layers of innocent sweetness as he focused his attention on the children. Which wasn’t fair on them either. What a bloody mess.

  Part of him recognised he was using the kids to avoid the mess in his own life, but he couldn’t deny his genuine affection for them. They’d found a special place in his heart without doing anything other than being themselves. How their father could just ignore them both was beyond him. Minding his own business when it came to Neil might be the hardest thing he would have to do.

  Needing a cup of coffee, Aaron shut down his laptop. He paused at the door to the living room, frowning when he found it empty. Checking the kitchen, he found it empty, too. He shrugged. Maybe Kiki had decided on an early night for herself. Though she normally said goodnight. A noise came through the open back window, and he glanced out into the fading evening light. Kiki
was down at the bottom of the garden, working in the vegetable patch. It seemed a bit late to be planting potatoes, but she had embraced bringing the scruffy stretch of soil and weeds back to life

  With a mug in each hand, Aaron made his way down the path. He had to concentrate on his footing in the growing gloom, so didn’t look up until he was almost level with her. She slashed her spade into the ground with such force a grunt of sound escaped her mouth. A divot of earth flew through the air, landing inches from where he stood. The spade swung again, and he realised she was muttering something over and over again.

  ‘Useless. I’ll show you useless.’ The square blade slammed into the ground.

  A sob escaped her, and he set down the coffee, then stepped forward, grabbing the wooden shaft of the spade before she could lift it again. ‘Hey, hey, what’s the matter?’

  ‘Leave me alone.’ She yanked on the handle to budge his grip, but the difference between their sizes made it a wasted effort. Breathing hard, she stared up at him. Strands of hair clung to her forehead and he could just make out a dark smudge on her cheek. ‘Go and be bloody perfect somewhere else, Aaron. Leave us pathetic, useless, stupid mortals in peace.’

  Wow. The sheer invective in her voice forced him to move back. ‘I brought you a coffee.’ He nodded to where the cups rested on the path. ‘I didn’t mean to disturb you.’ He scooped up his own mug and turned on his heel, fighting not to rub his chest against the pain flaring there.

  He barely made it three steps before she called out. ‘Stop. Stop! I’m sorry.’ The desperate anguish in her voice paled any hurt he felt into insignificance.

  Slumped in the dirt, hair spilling around her hunched shoulders, she cut a pitiful figure. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, covering her face with her dirty hands. His heart went out to her.