Kathy and I were in the lounge.
“Mum and Dad would have been so proud of you today,” Kathy said, totally out of the blue. “I wish they could have been here.” She began to well up.
“They are here. In spirit, anyway.”
“You’re right.” She wiped away a tear. “I’m sure they’re looking down on us right now.”
“The cars are here!” Peter shouted. “The first one, anyway.”
Moments later, a white limousine pulled up outside the house.
“This is us.” Kathy gave me a kiss. “We’ll see you there.”
Peter and I watched as Kathy and the kids climbed into the car and drove away.
“Nervous yet?” he asked.
“Terrified.”
“You’ll be okay once you get there. It’s the waiting that’s the worst part.”
“Here it comes.” I pointed to the limousine which had just turned onto our street.
“You’re supposed to be at the hotel by two, aren’t you?” the driver asked once we were seated in the back.
“A bit before then,” Peter said. “The ceremony starts at two.”
“We may have a problem, then.”
Those were not the words I wanted to hear at that precise moment in time.
“What do you mean?” I barked.
“All the roads around Washbridge Park are gridlocked with traffic headed to the music festival.”
“Will we make it?”
“I’m not sure. Hopefully.”
“Let’s get going then.”
The first part of the journey, from Smallwash to Washbridge, went smoothly enough, but as soon as we reached the outskirts of the city, the traffic ground to a halt.
“Why didn’t Marceau think about this?” I said to no one in particular.
“I’m sorry, lady, but I can’t see us making it there on time,” the driver said. “You might be better getting out and walking.”
“From here? It must be two miles. We’ll never make it, and besides, I can barely walk in these heels.”
“I’ll call Kathy.” Peter grabbed his phone. “Kathy, we’re stuck in traffic. You too? Where are you?”
Someone knocked on the side-window. It was Mr Hosey, reaching out from the cab of Bessie. He motioned for me to wind down the window.
“I thought you might have problems today,” he said. “I heard about the congestion on Washbridge Radio.”
“Who’s that?” Peter asked.
“It’s one of our neighbours.”
“Come on.” Mr Hosey beckoned to us. “Jump on board.”
“I can’t turn up to my wedding on that thing.”
“It’s the only way you’ll get there on time. Bessie can drive along the pavement.”
“He’s right,” Peter said. “What choice do we have? And besides, it does look really good with all those flowers. They must have cost him a small fortune.”
So off we set. I did my best to ignore all the strange looks we got as we made our way through the streets.
“Look, Kathy and the kids are over there!” Peter shouted.
“Mr Hosey. Can you pick those people up?”
“No problem.” He pulled up alongside Kathy whose face by now was a picture.
“Don’t ask.” I pre-empted her questions.
“This is great, Auntie Jill,” Lizzie said.
“Totally cool.” Mikey agreed.
Chapter 20
Despite the bumpy ride, and the strange looks that we’d attracted along the way, Bessie managed to deliver us to the hotel with ten minutes to spare. Mad, who was standing outside the main doors, signalled that she wanted a word.
“There you go,” Mr Hosey said. “All safe and sound.”
“Thanks.” I was trying my best to get out of the small carriage without snagging my dress.
“You can call this my wedding present to you both.”
“Thanks again.”
He tooted his whistle, and away he steamed.
“You lot go inside,” I said to Kathy, Peter and the kids. “I’ll be in in a couple of minutes.”
“Don’t you dare run away.” Kathy looked genuinely concerned.
“I’m not going anywhere. I just need a quick word with Mad.”
“If you’d told me you were going to travel here by model train, I’d have come with you.” Mad grinned.
“It wasn’t planned, I can assure you. The roads are all gridlocked. Has everyone else made it?”
“I think so because there’s a full house inside. I hope you didn’t mind my bringing your adoptive parents over earlier? I didn’t know what to do for the best.”
“I’m really pleased you did. I didn’t think I’d ever see them again.”
Kathy appeared in the doorway. “Come on. It’s five-to.”
“Okay. I’m coming.”
“Jill, wait.” Mad caught me by the arm. “There’s someone who has been waiting for you.” She gestured to the side of the hotel.
“Who is it? I really should go inside.”
“It’ll only take a minute. Come and see.”
“Winky?”
“I’ll leave you to it.” Mad made her exit.
“I thought you were never going to get here.” He looked super smart in his tux. “Did you go to the wrong hotel too?”
“I—err—”
“I know you’ve been stressed about the wedding, but how did you manage to mix up the names of the hotels? When I realised your mistake, I had to hightail it over here from the Washbridge Hotel. You’re lucky I made it at all. We’d better get inside.”
“Winky, I—err—I don’t know how to say—”
“Come on. I’m really looking forward to this.”
Oh bum!
I’d painted myself into a corner this time. If I told him now that he couldn’t be my pagecat, he’d be totally devastated, but if I allowed everyone to see him, they’d think I’d lost my mind.
That’s when it came to me: a way to get out of this awful mess.
I quickly cast the ‘hide’ spell.
“Okay. Follow me, but once we’re inside, you mustn’t speak. At all.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“You have to walk behind the two bridesmaids.”
“No problem.”
“And be careful where you step. You mustn’t bump into anyone.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s go.”
I hurried inside to find Kathy, Peter and Lizzie waiting outside the room where the ceremony was to take place.
“I thought you were never coming.” Kathy looked more than a little flustered.
“I’m here now. Let’s do this.”
Peter took my arm, and Kathy and Lizzie fell in behind us. Moments later, when the music started, we walked through the door.
The next twenty minutes are a bit of a blur. I remember Jack looking back at me as I walked down the aisle; the smile on his face blew away all of my nerves. We made our vows and moments later, kissed for the first time as man and wife.
“We did it,” Jack said, as we walked through the French doors out onto the large patio.
Before I could reply, we were showered with confetti.
“How does it feel to be Mrs Maxwell?” Jack brushed a piece of confetti from his mouth.
“It feels great.”
“I hear you had a few problems getting here.”
“We did, but Mr Hosey came to our rescue.”
“You came here on Bessie?” He laughed.
“I just hope no one took any photos.”
“It’ll be something to tell our kids.”
“You’ll never guess who came to see me this morning.”
“It wasn’t more clowns, was it?”
“No, thank goodness. It was my mum and dad.”
“They were in church, weren’t they?”
“I mean my adoptive parents. I haven’t seen them since—well, since they died.”
“That must have been a shock.”
“It was, but the best one ever.”
“I was kind of hoping that my mum might—” His words trailed away.
“She will, Jack. One day. I’m sure she will. Give her time.”
The next thirty minutes or so were taken up posing for a million and one photographs. Marceau had hired the photographer—a man by the name of Brian Lyon. He was a fussy little so and so, who took an eternity on every shot.
“Why is he taking so many?” I said under my breath, as Jack and I posed for the millionth photo.
“When we’re old and grey, and we look at our wedding album, you’ll be pleased that he did.”
“At this rate, it’ll be our silver wedding anniversary before he’s finished.”
While Brian (who should have been named Sloth) Lyon took photos of the guests, I managed to escape to the other side of the lawn where Kathy and Peter were having a breather.
“I think it all went okay in there,” I said.
“Jack looks amazing,” Kathy glanced over at him.