A Wedding In December. Sarah Morgan

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      After the wedding, she promised herself. After the wedding, she’d pull herself together. First she’d spruce up the house, then put it on the market and find somewhere smaller.

      The idea of selling Honeysuckle Cottage made her feel physically ill. All the best parts of her life had happened here. Nick. Katie. Rosie. She still remembered the day they’d moved in. Nick, ducking his head to avoid the low beams. Fixing a gate across the stairs so that Rosie didn’t tumble down them. And hours spent in the garden, shaping it into the tranquil haven it was now.

      There had been tough times, but the place was full of laughter and memories. All those things would be erased when someone else moved in. They’d see a dent in the wall and think it needed fixing. They wouldn’t smile, remembering that was where Rosie had ridden her bike into the wall on that Christmas morning when it had been raining too hard to go outdoors.

      A new story would be written into these walls.

      But that wasn’t her immediate concern.

      “Hear me out.” She tipped her omelet onto a plate and grabbed a fork. “Whether it turns out to be a mistake or not, this is Rosie’s big day. This is all about her and Dan. A celebration. What do you think it will do to the mood if we announce our divorce at the same time?”

      “If we do it today, then it won’t be at the same time. She’ll have had time to get over it.”

      “This isn’t flu, Nick. You don’t ‘get over it.’ A divorce changes the landscape of our family. We all have to find a new way to be together. To fit. It’s going to be a massive adjustment.” Saying it aloud somehow made it all the more depressing. “And today she is going to choose her wedding dress. It wouldn’t be appropriate to spoil her day.”

      “Divorce is part of life. Life happens. Wasn’t that the point you were making earlier?”

      “It doesn’t have to happen before what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of our daughter’s life.” She forced down a mouthful of her breakfast and then put her plate down.

      “So what are you suggesting?”

      “That we act as if nothing has changed.”

      “You—” He broke off, bemused. “You want us to attend this wedding together as a couple? Pretending everything is fine?”

      “Yes. We present a united front. There will be plenty of time to share our less-than-happy news once the wedding bells have stopped ringing and the snow has melted.”

      “To be clear about this, you’re suggesting we ‘act’ married?”

      “Well, technically we are married, Nick, so it shouldn’t be much of a challenge to pretend for one week.”

      His gaze was steady. “You want us to travel together, share a hotel room—”

      “Whatever it takes.” She wasn’t going to offer to relinquish the bed. Nick could sleep anywhere, whether it was a tent in a desert or the hard floor of a hotel room. Maggie could barely doze off if she was lying on a feather-filled mattress, so she didn’t need to make things harder for herself. “It will be easy enough to keep up the pretense. It’s not as if we argue all the time or anything.”

      He pushed his plate away. “It doesn’t feel right to lie to them.”

      “We’re not lying. We’re withholding our news. We haven’t told them we’ve been living apart for a while. What difference does it make to wait a few more weeks?”

      “We haven’t told them because we agreed it was better done face-to-face when we’re all together.”

      “You seriously think the right time to announce a divorce is at our daughter’s wedding?”

      He sighed. “No, I don’t think that.” There was a long pause. “All right.” The words were dragged from him. “But as soon as they’re back from their honeymoon, we’re telling them.”

      “Agreed.” She felt a rush of relief which died as he reached across and dragged her laptop toward him.

      “What’s this?”

      Why, oh why, hadn’t she closed the browser? “I was finding out a bit about the family.”

      He lifted his gaze from the laptop to her face. “You mean you’ve been torturing yourself.”

      “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

      “You’re the same before every college social event. You panic about what you’re going to wear and what people will think of you.”

      “That’s called being human.”

      “You’re lovely, Maggie.” His voice was rough. “I wish you had more confidence.”

      She was a soon-to-be-divorced mother of two grown children who didn’t particularly like the way her life was looking. She thought about the file, safely tucked away in the drawer.

      What did she have to feel confident about?

      And if he thought she was so lovely, why were they getting divorced?

      He tapped the keys and brought up airline details.

      “How are we going to transport all the Christmas gifts?” She picked up her coffee and sat down next to him. “I won’t be able to carry everything.”

      “Take a few key things, and they can have the rest next time they’re here.”

      “I always make them a stocking. And I can’t imagine a tree without all the decorations the girls made over the years. It’s tradition.”

      “So pack them up and bring them.” He glanced up from the screen, seemed about to say something and then changed his mind. “We’ll pay for excess baggage if necessary.”

      Excess baggage. He could have been describing her.

      “I can’t pack our decorations. That would be ridiculous.” She watched, anxious, as he keyed in dates and checked prices. “Is the flight overbooked?”

      “I’m sure you’d like it to be but no, there are two seats left on the early flight. Business class.” He dug into his pocket for his wallet.

      “Nick, we can’t fly business class.”

      “Why not? We deserve a treat.”

      Flying? A treat? The reality of strapping herself into a seat on an airplane and waiting for takeoff loomed in her brain. Her heart started to pound. “It’s an extravagance.”

      “I know you’re scared of flying, but if I don’t book this now you won’t be going to your daughter’s wedding.”

      Maggie moaned and put her head on the table. “How did Christmas turn into this?”

      “They give you free champagne in business. I’ll pour a bottle of that into you before we take off. You won’t feel a thing.”

      Maggie СКАЧАТЬ