From Mistresses To Wives?. Lee Wilkinson

with reluctance. ‘You still have to shower and change.’

      His shrug made light of the moment. ‘I guess it will keep.’

      He exchanged the suit in which he’d spent the day for a pair of cord trousers and a designer T-shirt, shrugging on a beige suede jacket that sat on his frame the way only bespoke tailoring could. Looking at him, Jessica still found it difficult to consider it was only a matter of days since they’d first met. Most couples getting married had at least been together long enough to have some understanding. Apart from the obvious, they knew so little of one another.

      With traffic at its heaviest, it was gone eight by the time they made it to St John’s Wood. Neither Leonie nor Zac showed any awkwardness in their greeting. Jessica did her best to act naturally herself. Leonie had invited a friend to make up a foursome. Around the same age as Zac, he proved to be very good company. He was something big in information technology from what Jessica could gather.

      ‘Any chance of a lasting relationship?’ she asked her cousin when they had a few minutes on their own in the kitchen.

      ‘With Greg?’ Leonie laughed, shaking her head. ‘He’d run a mile if I showed any sign of getting serious! Same here.’

      ‘Do you plan on staying single all your life?’ Jessica said curiously.

      ‘Depends on whether I ever meet a man I could contemplate spending my life with. You already cornered the best of the bunch.’ She turned a glance when Jessica failed to answer, her smile brief. ‘Just teasing again. You should know me by now. Anyway, how’s it going so far?’

      Jessica made an effort to infuse enthusiasm. ‘Fine! He has a mews cottage in Chelsea. It’s absolutely gorgeous!’

      ‘Not quite what I’d have imagined him to choose,’ Leonie commented. ‘Though I can see the advantages. Getting the car off the road, for one.’ She paused, her regard too shrewd for comfort. ‘I don’t see you going in for domesticity wholesale.’

      ‘I’ve no intention,’ Jessica acknowledged. ‘I’ll be looking for a job.’

      ‘With Prescotts?’

      ‘Hopefully.’

      ‘You’ve discussed it with Zac?’

      ‘Not yet.’ Jessica slanted a glance. ‘You doubt he’ll agree?’

      Leonie gave a brief shrug. ‘Who am I to say what he will or won’t do?’

      ‘You’ve known him longer than I have. And you’re very much alike in outlook.’

      ‘Depends on the direction. I certainly never saw him as a hook, line and sinker man. But then, who can ever know? You’ve proved a regular bundle of surprises yourself. After your experience with Paul, this is the last thing I’d have expected of you. Meeting to marriage in one short week! You have to admit, there’s a distinct ring of fairy tale in there.’

      Jessica forced a smile, a lighter note. ‘With a happy ending!’

      ‘I hope so. For both your sakes.’

      There was no more said on the subject, to Jessica’s relief. It was only too obvious that her cousin was far from convinced of the reasons for this marriage.

      ‘Leonie’s suspicious,’ she said on the way back to Chelsea.

      ‘Of what?’ Zac asked.

      ‘The time element, for one thing. She seems to find it difficult to believe that you of all people could fall that far that fast.’

      ‘So it’s just my feelings she doubts?’ he said after a moment.

      ‘Mine too, considering I was supposed to be still getting over Paul.’

      ‘She thinks you were caught on the rebound?’

      ‘Something like that.’

      ‘Then we’ll just have to convince her she’s wrong on both counts.’

      Jessica gave him a swift glance, but there was no reading anything from the profile etched against the sodium street lighting. What was she looking for anyway? she asked herself. She already knew exactly where she stood in his estimation: the same place he stood in hers. Whether there would ever be more was a question only time could answer.

      The drive down to Dorset on Friday was accomplished in sunshine, with a forecast for a fine weekend to come; a welcome change from the damp and dismal days just passed.

      Jessica viewed the coming events with mixed feelings. While Henry Prescott’s condition appeared to have remained static over the past week, his impending death was bound to cast a shadow over the whole proceedings. It was only to be hoped he’d at least see the ceremony through.

      Which was more than her parents were going to do. They’d both of them expressed themselves delighted for her, but each found pressing reasons why they couldn’t possibly attend the wedding. Something of a relief, Jessica had to admit. The two of them together would hardly have enhanced the weekend. She could just imagine Henry Prescott’s reaction to their constant wrangling.

      Zac’s mother had returned to her family in Scotland on his father’s death. Jessica had spoken to her on the phone, and found her pleasant enough on the surface, though there had been more than a hint of underlying doubt concerning the marriage itself. Hardly surprising, considering the suddenness of it. She would be travelling down today too by train.

      As Zac hadn’t mentioned anyone else, it seemed safe to assume it would be just the five of them at church. With no one of her own attending, Jessica was glad about that. Less stressful for Henry Prescott too.

      ‘Do you think your grandmother was being quite truthful last night when she said your grandfather was just the same?’ she ventured.

      ‘Probably not,’ Zac admitted. ‘She sounded evasive. No reason to let the blues take over though. He wouldn’t appreciate it.’

      Recalling the old man’s attitude, Jessica could only agree. The way to treat him was as though nothing at all was wrong.

      They reached the house just after six. Esther came out to greet them, her manner subdued.

      ‘Your mother’s been delayed. She’ll be coming down overnight,’ she said. ‘But Brady and Sarah will be here for dinner. I’m sorry your parents weren’t able to make it,’ she added to Jessica.

      Jessica murmured something appropriate, aware that as Zac had expressed no surprise over the news that his cousin and wife were expected, he must have known they were coming. He could at least have warned her!

      Henry Prescott looked no different physically from when they had last seen him. He greeted the two of them benevolently.

      ‘You’ll be wanting to get yourselves settled,’ he said. ‘We can talk later.’

      They were to occupy the same rooms as before. Jessica confronted Zac in his.

      ‘Why didn’t you tell me the whole family was going to be here?’ she demanded.

      ‘It didn’t occur to me,’ he returned mildly. ‘What’s the problem, anyway? You had to meet them sometime.’

      He had a point, Jessica had to admit. And she probably should have anticipated it. She spread her hands in a rueful gesture. ‘I know that. It’s just…’

      ‘Just that you’ve no one of your own coming,’ he finished for her as she paused. ‘Those parents of yours should be ashamed of themselves. Your mother, at least, might have stirred herself!’

      Jessica kept her tone matter-of-fact. ‘She had something else already arranged. Anyway, it isn’t really that. More the thought of facing your family en masse.’

      ‘Five people hardly constitute a mass. Anyway, you’ll cope. You handled Grandfather pretty well.’ He put out a hand, his smile an invitation. ‘Come here a minute.’

      She