A few minutes later, Toyah Harlow, the Nomad house captain, came onto the platform to collect the eggcup—err—trophy.
“Well done, Toyah.”
“Thanks, Miss Gooder. We’re really proud to be the first house to have our name engraved on the new cup.”
Probably the last one, too. There wouldn’t be room for any more.
She turned to the crowd and held the tiny trophy aloft.
“Thank you for sparing us your time today, Jill,” the headmistress said.
“My pleasure, but I really should get back now.”
“Of course. Best wishes for tomorrow.”
“Did you hear what I said?” Jack passed me the tea. “Weren’t you supposed to go to the sports thing today?”
“I just did.”
“When?”
“While you were making the tea. Nomad house won.”
“That’s just weird. The idea that you could have been over there while I was making a cup of tea is kind of freaky. What’s the trophy they named after you like?”
“Magnificent. Probably the biggest one I’ve ever seen.”
I’d just cleared away the empty cups when there was a knock at the door.
“Deli, come in.”
“How are you, Jill? I was a bag of nerves the day before we tied the knot.”
“I’m okay. Just trying to keep busy.”
“Hello, there.” Jack made an appearance.
“I can see why you’re marrying this one, Jill. I wouldn’t chuck him out of bed.”
Jack blushed. “I’ll leave you ladies to it. I have to—err—do stuff. Upstairs.”
“You’d better conserve your energy,” Deli shouted after him. “You’ll be doing plenty of stuff upstairs tomorrow night.”
“Shall we go through to the kitchen?” I said.
“Good idea. You don’t want me spilling nail varnish all over your best carpet, do you? Only kidding!”
“I thought a subtle, natural colour would be best,” I said, once I was seated at the kitchen table.
“Don’t you go worrying your head about colours. Leave that to the expert. I’ve done enough brides’ nails to know what’s what. You trust me, don’t you, Jill?”
“Err—yeah, of course.”
“Dearie me. You’ve really neglected these, haven’t you?” She studied my nails and shook her head. “They’re going to need a lot of prep before I can apply the colour.”
“Will it take long?”
“Quite a while, I’m afraid, but don’t worry, I’ve got my secret weapon.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
She opened her bag and took out what appeared to be an inflatable neck cushion.
“Slip this around your neck and relax. Doze off if you like. When you wake up, it will all be done.”
“I’m not going to fall asleep. I’m wide awake.”
“Humour me.” She slipped it around my neck.
This was stupid. There was no way I was ever going—
“Jill!”
“What? Where?”
“You were snoring,” Jack said.
“Where’s Deli?”
“She’s gone. She said to tell you she’d collect the cushion another day.” He glanced down at my hands. “I didn’t realise you were going to have each nail a different colour.”
“What?” I screamed.
“I take it you didn’t know either.”
“I’m going to kill her.”
“They don’t look all that bad.”
I gave him a look.
“Okay, they do look a bit naff.”
“I can’t get married with my nails looking like this.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Jill?” Kathy picked up on the first ring. “Is everything okay?”
“No, it most definitely isn’t.”
“Don’t tell me you and Jack have fallen out. The wedding isn’t off, is it?”
“Of course it isn’t. Do you have any nail varnish remover at your place?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Good. On your way home, I need you to buy a neutral colour nail varnish.”
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ll explain later when I get there.”
Chapter 19
The big day had arrived.
Nervous? Who me? Of course not. After all the things I’d been through over the last couple of years, why would I be nervous about a little thing like getting married?
“Jill!”
I almost shot out of the chair. “Kathy, why are you sneaking around? You scared me to death.”
“I only came in to ask if you wanted another cup of tea.”
“I daren’t have any more. What if I’m just about to say my vows and I need to pee?”
“You’ve got three hours before then. If you don’t drink, you’ll be dehydrated. You don’t want to collapse in the middle of the ceremony, do you?”
“Dehydration? Why did you have to mention that? Now I have something else to worry about.”
“I thought you said you weren’t worried about anything.”
“I’m not. Get me a cup of tea, would you? And a glass of water.”
I’d stayed the night at Kathy’s house. As Peter was going to give me away, it made sense for me to be based there. Jack was back home where his best man, Alby, had stayed overnight.
Kathy had spent much of the previous evening undoing Deli’s handiwork. Thankfully, she’d managed to replace the rainbow colours with a neutral colour.
Kathy had been fussing over me since we got up at seven. I’d barely slept all night—I just kept tossing and turning, thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
“When are you putting your dress on, Auntie Jill?” Lizzie was in her PJs.
“Not until it’s nearly time for us to go.”
“Mummy won’t let me put my dress on yet.”
“It’s probably best not to. You wouldn’t want to spill anything on it, would you?”
“I suppose not.”
“Where’s Mikey?”
“Still in bed.” She giggled. “I could hear him snoring—just like a little pig.”
“Morning, Jill.” Peter appeared behind Lizzie. “She’s not annoying you, is she?”
“Daddy!” Lizzie sounded quite indignant. “I’m only talking to Auntie Jill.”
“It’s okay, Peter. She’s no trouble at all. How are you? Are you nervous?”
“A little. I’ve never given anyone away before. Still, it’ll be good practice for when this little one gets married.” He put his hand on his daughter’s shoulder.
“I’m not getting married.” Lizzie pulled a face. “Boys are stupid and they all smell.” She thought for a moment, and then continued, “Not you, though, Daddy. You’re not stupid.”
“Thanks.”
“You do smell, though. When you come home from work.”
“Well, that’s me told.” He smiled. “Why don’t you go and get some breakfast, Petal?”
“Okay. I’m having Sparkle Pops.” She dashed out of the room.
“Are you really okay?” Peter asked me.
“I would be if everyone would stop asking if I was okay.”
“Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I just want to get started. It’s the waiting that’s the worst part.”
“Not long now.” He grinned. “Only another two hours and fifty-one minutes.”
“The flowers!” I yelled. “Where are the flowers?”
“Were they supposed to be here yet?”
“I’m not sure. Marceau arranged everything. Anyway, where is Marceau?”
“You called?” The man himself popped his head around the door.
“The flowers aren’t here yet.”
“Have you consulted the wedding day timetable?”
“The what?”
“I gave Jack two copies. Didn’t he give you one?”
Just then, a memory from a couple of days earlier, flashed across my mind. Jack had handed me a sheet of paper, and we’d had a brief conversation. I slowly ran it back through my head.
“Jill, this is the timetable.”
“The what?”
“The wedding day timetable.”
“Why do we need a timetable? Surely, we just turn up, say our vows, and that’s it, job done, isn’t it?”
“There’s a lot more to it than that. Marceau has spent ages drawing this up, so make sure you memorise it, or at least keep it with you.”
“Okay.”
What had I done with it after that?
Then it came back to me.
Oh no! I’d slipped it into one of the drawers in the kitchen without even looking at it.
“Jill?” Marceau said. “Did Jack give you a copy?”
“He must have forgotten. You know what he’s like.”
Marceau harrumphed, and began to fish around in his man-bag. “It’s just as well I printed a few additional copies. Here you are. See, the flowers are due to arrive at eleven-thirty-seven.”