The Guest List

by Melissa Hill

  ‘It’s nothing, let it go,’ whispered Zack encouragingly and Danielle felt relieved, realising that for once she had an ally. ‘Don’t worry about her.’

  ‘Do you two have luggage to collect or anything?’ Cara asked.

  Danielle shook her head absently, still feeling the sting of her mother’s comment. ‘No, no, they’ll have it sent it to the resort,’ she said as she waved her hand in the direction of the plane.

  Cara shrugged, but looked unsure as to who ‘they’ were. The elves, perhaps?

  Chapter 32

  ‘But of course the groom’s family always throws the rehearsal dinner,’ Lauren insisted, patting Cara gently on the arm. She smiled. ‘We wanted to do something special for you. I realise that you already have reservations at the hotel restaurant and of course, whatever you want, but we insist on picking up the tab. We hope that is OK?’

  Cara looked at Shane, who nodded in agreement.

  ‘Well, thank you both,’ she said to his parents. ‘Really, that is very kind.’

  Gene smiled and squeezed her shoulder. ‘We are happy to help in any way we can, my dear’.

  At least this time Shane’s parents were asking permission to do something in relation to the wedding, and truth be told, Cara did welcome her in-laws’ offer to pay for the rehearsal dinner, as the costs even for something as small as what they were doing were beginning to add up.

  She smiled back at her very soon-to-be mother-in-law. Lauren was a changed woman since all that had happened in the preceding months. At least now all was on the straight and narrow.

  And, most importantly, all members of the wedding party had safely arrived at the Paradise Oasis resort. Lauren and Gene were the last to arrive, not long after Cara had helped her family and friends check in to the hotel and settle in to their rooms.

  ‘So now that we’re all here, what’s on the agenda first?’ Lauren asked. ‘Of course, I am eager to meet your family, and to assist your mother too. I’m sure that the job of mother of the bride is not an easy one,’ she added pleasantly and Cara knew that this time she was being truly sincere in looking to help.

  ‘And what is the contingency plan if this blasted hurricane hits?’ asked Gene bluntly.

  Cara winced. The stupid hurricane again. ‘Well, we don’t actually have one really. They’re hoping it’ll move off course before—’

  ‘Well really, it’s something you ought to be thinking about,’ Gene harrumphed. ‘The pilot on the way advised the first-class passengers that it was altogether likely to hit here.’

  Lauren lightly tapped her husband on the shoulder. ‘Not now, dear,’ she said sharply.

  Cara looked at Shane worriedly. ‘Oh God . . . what do you think we should do?’

  Shane shot daggers at his father, evidently annoyed at the fact that he had been the one to bring the dreaded subject up again. ‘I think that we talk to resort management before doing anything else, don’t you? Surely they know what to do if needs be – I’m sure they’ve been through many hurricanes before.’

  Cara tapped her foot nervously. ‘I just can’t believe we have this to worry about now.’

  ‘Now, now, it hasn’t come to anything yet,’ Lauren chided confidently. ‘Don’t worry Cara, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort something out.’

  As Cara and Shane escorted his parents to their suite, they were met by Cara’s mother, who was pacing the lobby anxiously like a caged animal. Betty looked anything but calm, and the moment that she saw Cara approach she charged in her direction like a bull at a matador.

  Catching sight of her mother, she secretly wished that Betty had changed out of her kaftan prior to meeting Lauren for the first time. She hated herself for thinking it, but really there couldn’t be more of a contrast between the two women; Betty in her multicoloured, oversized tent and Lauren in her chic linen trousers and Givenchy top.

  Putting this to the back of her mind, she decided she had bigger things to worry about at the moment.

  ‘Cara! They said that the hurricane is on its way!’ Betty cried. ‘That its course is now set, and it’s definitely going to hit St Lucia! Do you think that we need to evacuate? Do you think we should get out of here? I’ve never been through a hurricane before – what if we all drown? This is a national emergency, maybe we should call the embassy and they can helicopter us out – oh hello,’ she said stopping short as she suddenly noticed Lauren and Gene’s presence. ‘I’m Betty Clancy, Cara’s mother.’

  She extended her hand to Lauren, and the two women sized each other up fully. Cara swallowed hard, hoping that there wouldn’t be any problems. Up to now, Lauren and Gene hadn’t been at all shy about expressing any preconceived notions about her family in the build-up to the wedding. And Betty had also had plenty to say for herself about Lauren’s part in the troubles she and Shane had had with them recently.

  But at that moment, neither woman seemed to be expressing any outward animosity.

  Lauren stepped forward and grasped Betty’s hand with one of her own, patting her on the wrist with the other. Cara had to admit, she was impressed; that was practically a knock-down embrace in Lauren’s world. ‘It is so nice to meet you, Mrs Clancy. I have heard so much about you and I must apologise for our not meeting sooner,’ she cooed. While her voice was stately and she very much spoke with her usual upper-crust accent, she was nonetheless welcoming and polite.

  In turn, Betty beamed. Whatever she might have thought previously about Shane’s snooty mother seemed to have vanished like smoke.

  ‘Oh of course, well, I am sure that you are very busy, and I completely understand that you have so much going on. I am so excited to finally meet you too. Please call me Betty. Of course, we are all going to be family shortly. That is, if this hurricane doesn’t spoil everything.’ Betty’s smile all too quickly returned to a grimace of pure worry.

  ‘Try not to concern yourself about it, my dear lady,’ said Lauren, her voice dripping with authority. ‘We’ll figure this all out. Come with me.’ She put her arm through Betty’s and led her off towards the front desk, barking orders the entire way. ‘You there, young man! I need to speak with the manager immediately.’

  Cara had to smile, amused by the force of nature that was Lauren Richardson. Did she really think that she could control the course of this hurricane?

  ‘Anyway, as things stand, and until we hear otherwise, we’re just going ahead with what has been planned,’ Shane said pointedly to his father. ‘We will deal with the weather as it happens, that’s all that we can do.’

  Cara looked at her fiancé with some scepticism. Personally, she rather hoped that his mother might be a force of nature after all.

  If there was anyone who could fight off Hurricane Gail, it just might be her future mother-in-law.

  Danielle lounged on a sunbed by the pool, watching her nieces play in the water with Kim and Ben. Zack was still getting settled in the hotel room, and trying to find a good Wi-Fi connection.

  She looked at her sister-in-law, who was very, very pregnant but still shamelessly and proudly wearing a Gucci Black bikini. She had to admit too, she was pulling it off. But then again, when you looked like Heidi Klum, you could pull off anything from a bikini to a paper bag.

  Danielle smiled briefly; she had to admit, from what she’d seen of her so far, Kim did seem kind of cool.

  ‘Hey Danielle! Would you do me a favour?’ Kim called out from the water.

  ‘Yeah, what do you – erm, I mean sure!’ she replied, struggling to retain her American twang. She had noticed that even in the few hours she had been back around her family, the accent of her native land kept coming back unintentionally. ‘What do you need?’

  ‘Can you order a couple of margaritas, one for me and Ben and one for yourself if you fancy it. And some blueberry slushies for the girls.’

  ‘No problem.’ Danielle duly waved down a waiter at the other side of the pool, but couldn’t help feeling Heidi’s dark gaze on her from the next bed over.

&nbs
p; ‘Problem, Heidi?’ she asked. It hadn’t taken her long to get reacquainted with her sister, who was clearly quite the prima donna.

  ‘You really shouldn’t be encouraging her,’ the younger woman said shortly.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘The margarita. She’s pregnant, remember. As if she wasn’t making it obvious enough,’ she added, patting down her own decidedly more demure pool kaftan.

  Danielle shrugged. ‘I’m sure it’s fine. It’s not like she’s doing shots or anything. Besides, it’s her business,’ she continued, her tone brisk. She had no patience for women like Heidi who had it in their minds that they were the authority on everything. Clearly it was a good thing that they’d never been close.

  The waiter approached and Danielle ordered the drinks and looked at Heidi out of the corner of her eye. ‘Plus, a couple of shots of Patron, extra chilled,’ she added defiantly. The shots were for her alone, but she couldn’t resist winding up her younger sister by making her think she was ordering extra for Kim.

  Just then, a squeal from across the pool diverted Danielle’s attention. It was coming from one of Cara’s girlfriends; she’d been introduced to them earlier but she couldn’t remember their names.

  Some guy standing at the edge of the pool had just tossed the girl in. A rather cute guy too, she realised, taking in his nicely defined biceps from the back. He was wearing a tight pair of black swim trunks and it looked like he was a devout follower of a very good workout, she observed.

  Then the same guy turned around to face the pool, a huge grin on his handsome face, and Danielle’s heart almost stopped.

  Suddenly, everything around her became a blur. She felt the blood drain from her face.

  Now her heart was beating so quickly she didn’t think it would be possible to slow it down, and her knees felt weak as she tried to get around the fact that the one man in the world she had never expected to see again was standing only a few metres away. A man whom she hadn’t seen in more than two decades.

  What the hell? Why was he here? At Cara’s wedding, of all places . . .

  Conor Dempsey, possibly one of the biggest skeletons in Danielle’s closet, was here in St Lucia.

  And for some reason seemed to be a guest at Cara’s wedding.

  Just at that moment Cara emerged into the pool area. Danielle hadn’t had a chance to catch up with her properly since she and Zack arrived, and she knew that Cara and Shane had been busy helping everyone get settled in and making last-minute arrangements for the wedding.

  Cara strode confidently towards the end of the pool where her friends were laughing and joking. She was wearing a pale pink bikini that accentuated her light tan, and Danielle felt briefly envious of the fact that Cara looked even younger than she actually was – more like her early rather than late twenties – whereas she herself was unfortunately starting to show her age. She glanced down at her swimming costume, suddenly self-conscious now that Conor was here.

  Danielle tried to push the thought from her mind as she watched Conor playfully catch Cara round the waist and heave her into his arms, threatening to throw her in the pool.

  Laughing, Cara screamed and pounded on his chest, demanding to be let down. Instead, though, he started to swing her above the water, acting as if he was going to let her go any minute. Cara howled with laughter and, finally, Conor placed her back on her feet. She hugged Conor around his middle and he delivered a little peck to the top of her head.

  What the hell? Clearly, Cara and Conor were very close friends, and watching all that made Danielle very uncomfortable.

  ‘That is not cool,’ she said under her breath, trying to calm her thoughts. She closed her eyes and tried to just relax and not think about it, not for the moment. She needed to try and balance her chakras, relax and enjoy the sunshine. Once that was done she could try to get her head straight and think about what to do next.

  A moment later the waiter arrived and delivered the drinks, along with the extra shots of tequila she’d ordered. Danielle waved to Kim to come to the side of the pool, where she handed out the margaritas and slushies. Returning her attention to the rest of the group, she noticed Zack had just made his way down to the pool deck. He took in the scene, apparently deciding where to go.

  For some reason he headed directly towards Conor.

  ‘Holy hell,’ said Danielle under her breath. Those were two people who should not have an opportunity to get to know each other.

  She jumped up from her position on the lounge chair and wrapped a sarong around her waist. At least I look hot in a one-piece, she thought, considering her expertly toned stomach. Grabbing a shot of tequila, she threw it back and sucked on a lime as a chaser. She glanced briefly at the second shot, shrugged and thought, what the hell? Downing it for good measure, she stood up and walked with confidence towards her boyfriend, and her, well . . . ex-something.

  ‘Nothing like liquid courage,’ she said under her breath as the tequila burned its way down her throat and she considered how much would she have to drink to make it through the next few minutes – let alone the weekend – in one piece?

  Cara looked up and smiled as she saw her approach.

  ‘Hi, Danielle, wow, you look amazing – like a fifties Hollywood icon or something,’ she said, and Danielle kept putting one foot in front of the other, while she tried to work out if this was actually a compliment. Then Cara grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. ‘There’s someone you haven’t met yet I think. She tapped Conor, who was still fooling around with the three other women and had his back to her, on the shoulder. Danielle steeled herself for the inevitable, knowing that she was powerless to stop what was about to happen next.

  ‘Conor,’ Cara smiled. ‘I want you to meet my big sister Danielle. Danielle, this is my boss, Conor.’

  He turned around quickly, immediately meeting Danielle’s gaze head on. Suddenly, everything around her came to a stop. Despite the temporary buzz from the tequila, she felt the blood drain from her face and her knees go weak as his gaze locked on to hers. She thought she noticed a slight wrinkle of confusion in his face but just as quickly it was gone. Conor’s expression remained cool and collected, and Danielle struggled to keep her feet planted firmly on the ground, although she had the overwhelming desire to run.

  Conor spoke, an ironic smile playing on his lips. ‘Of all the bars in all the world . . . Danni, how the hell are you?’

  Chapter 33

  ‘And so, it makes us so proud and happy to be welcoming Cara as a daughter and a new member of our family,’ Gene said later that night, addressing the small group in the private dining room where the rehearsal dinner was being held. ‘And also to welcome all of you. We are so happy to be a part of this wonderful celebration in this stunning location. Cheers to Shane and Cara!’

  Everybody raised their glasses, saluting the happy couple in a toast. Shane and Cara exchanged a smile and a brief kiss and returned the fond gazes of the people around them.

  So far, so good, Cara thought. The rehearsal on the beach earlier had gone according to plan, even as she did her best to try to ignore the wind that seemed to be picking up around them, and the growing waves that grew more restless as they crashed on the shore. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, the weather would hold off until after tomorrow night? Come hell or, erm, high water (although no, scratch the high water bit), she wanted to get married on that beach.

  ‘Thank you Gene,’ she said, getting up from her chair and hugging the man who would hopefully become her father-in-law in less than twenty-four hours.

  ‘Pleasure dear,’ he said, returning the embrace.

  Cara sat back down, delighted with the way things were going so far. She had to admit that everyone was getting along swimmingly. However, she couldn’t help but notice that Danielle did seem somewhat on edge, especially when Conor was in the room.

  It had transpired at the pool earlier that the two already knew each other, which was a surprise, as Conor had never mentione
d it to Cara before. When she’d asked earlier how they knew each other, both had been vague, saying something about being in school together and sharing mutual old friends, which Cara supposed made sense. Danielle had been away from home so long she’d almost forgotten her sister had had a life in Greygates too.

  But it seemed that Conor hadn’t actually realised that she and Danielle (or Danni as he seemed to know her) were related, as Cara and her boss had only become acquainted after his return from London, long after Danielle had moved away from home. Cara was sure she’d mentioned her older sister on occasion, but evidently he hadn’t made the connection.

  Lauren stood up and took command of the room. ‘I also have something to say, Cara,’ she said, turning to her. ‘Now, I am not sure if you have your “Something Blue” just yet and of course, if you do I understand. But I wanted to give you a gift of my own. Something that was given to me for my own wedding day. It seemed only appropriate that I now pass it to you since I never was blessed with a daughter, at least by birth. Come here Cara – you too Shane.’

  Cara turned her attention to Lauren and got up as requested. Her mother-in-law to be turned back to the table where she had been sitting and retrieved a dark rectangular velvet box.

  ‘Now of course, if you don’t want to wear this, I understand, but I just thought . . .’ She handed the box to Cara.

  Cara took it and looked at Shane, somewhat puzzled but delighted at the same time. Opening the box slowly, she saw that inside was a delicate sapphire-studded necklace, sparkling beautifully beneath the overhead lights. It wasn’t big or gaudy, but simple and classic, a fine stream of sapphires sitting in an invisible, white gold setting. But regardless of its simplicity, Cara knew this necklace would have cost a fortune. Indeed, she did already have her ‘something blue,’ some sexy underwear to wear beneath her dress, but she decided that a little more couldn’t hurt.