Love Me Or Leave Me. Claudia Carroll

in front of Lucy. ‘Well actually, it might be a tad awkward at this late stage, you see …’

      ‘Come on Dad, you’re already officially married! You’ve had the ceremony, you’ve done the deed and it’s all over and done with now. Surely you don’t need to invite everyone you’ve ever met in your life to some posh dinner when you get home as well, do you? It’s just I’d hate for Mum to feel her nose was being rubbed in it. I mean, it’s actually really insensitive, when you think about it.’

      ‘Ahh, well you see …’ Andrew began genially, but Lucy interrupted, unable to contain herself much longer.

      ‘It’s more than awkward to cancel our wedding celebration now, Josh, I’m afraid,’ she fired back, not even giving a shite if she sounded rude. ‘The party is all booked for New Year’s Eve, we’ve reserved most of the restaurant and invited over fifty guests. Including my own family, who really wanted to be here today, as it happens. And this is the only chance that we both get to celebrate with them, not to mention all my close pals and your Dad’s colleagues from work. To call the whole party off now would be the height of rudeness, not to mention that it could probably break the restaurant.’

      Besides, she added silently, if either you or your mother had a bloody problem, then why didn’t you tell us when we were first booking it? All of two months ago! Why leave it till the week before to start griping? And if you’re so worried about your Mum being alone and upset over Christmas, then what are you even doing here in the first place? Why not stay home with her, if you’re all that concerned?

      Andrew slipped a supportive arm around his new bride’s waist while Josh stopped all his sniping and just settled for glaring moodily at his new stepmother instead, temporarily silenced. But then Lucy knew the drill all too well by now. She may have won that tiny battle, but she was still fighting a losing war. And make no mistake, this was all-out war.

      Then after an interminably long, drawn-out dinner, Andrew gently ting-tinged the glass in front of him and rose to his feet to make an impromptu little speech.

      ‘First of all,’ he began hesitatingly, ‘I’d like to thank both of my beautiful children for being here on this very special day.’

      Funny, but Lucy could still remember thinking how handsome he looked in his white linen suit, tanned and relaxed and so sexy, in a silver-haired, moustached, Tom Selleck-y way. And good-naturedly, she began a tiny ripple of applause, to back him up. But no one, she noticed, joined in with her.

      ‘And now if I may turn for a moment to my beautiful bride …’

      Alannah called over the waiter and ordered another glass of wine, looking anywhere except at her Dad’s beautiful new bride.

      ‘I first clapped eyes on this gorgeous young girl at an awards ceremony my bank was hosting and thought she was the most attractive woman I’d ever seen …’ Andrew gamely went on.

      ‘And then he went home and told his wife all about it,’ Josh muttered.

      Both Andrew and Lucy heard him loud and clear, it was impossible not to, but both stayed tight-lipped. Not the time and certainly not the place.

      ‘… Though in a million years, it never occurred to me that this vision of loveliness would ever have anything to do with an aul’ fella like myself!’ Andrew continued. ‘I persisted though, didn’t I, Lucy, and eventually got you to agree to go on a date with me … do you remember, darling?’

      Lucy had to smile. Course she remembered. Andrew had somehow got hold of her number to ask her out to dinner not long after the awards do and her heart had just gone out to him. He’d told her about all the trouble he’d been having at home and how his marriage was effectively over, in all but name.

      ‘… Of course it wasn’t the easiest time in my private life,’ he was saying, with just a tiny nod of acknowledgment towards Alannah and Josh. ‘But I do think that over time and with great perseverance on my part, true love eventually won the day. And so without further ado, can I ask you all to raise a glass to the new Mrs Lowe? My darling Lucy, you’re the love of my life. After my first marriage broke up, I never thought I’d smile again, laugh again, be happy again. Then you came along and with a simple wave of your hand, you changed everything. In my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be blessed enough to find a soulmate at my hour of life? And yet it happened. So now, it’s my supreme wish to make every day of our new life together absolutely magical. To my breathtaking bride!’

      Lucy beamed warmly back at him and toasted him back, but it seemed Andrew wasn’t finished yet.

      ‘And now would anyone else care to say a few words?’ he added, looking hopefully from Josh to Alannah. ‘Maybe to welcome Lucy into our little family?’

      No takers though. Instead, just stony, mortifying silence.

      ‘After all, she is now officially a member of the Lowe family,’ he added, flushing just a bit.

      Still nothing. Just the sound of the mariachi band playing ‘True Love’. Odd and discordant, Lucy remembered thinking from out of nowhere, to hear it sung in a Mexican accent.

      ‘Josh? Alannah?’ Andrew persisted, with just the tiniest edge creeping into his voice.

      Say something, Lucy tried to madly telegraph over to the pair of them. Not for me, for your Dad. It would mean so much to him today of all days. For God’s sake, he paid for your entire trip, would it kill you to string three sentences together on the man’s wedding day?

      ‘Okay, Dad,’ Alannah said, in a dangerously low voice that Lucy instantly recognized meant trouble. ‘Here’s a few words for you.’

      And suddenly, it was like no air moved.

      ‘You broke our family,’ Alannah said in a low, even voice. ‘While you were busy moving on at the speed of light after you’d separated, you broke Mum’s heart. And for the record, you broke us. So there you go. Enjoy your wedding night. And I hope you can live with that. But if you think I’m hanging around to hear more about how happy and in love you are now, then you’re wrong. I’m out of here. You know I came all the way here for you, I wanted to be here for you, to try to support you if I could. But I’ve officially had enough. I tried Dad, but you know what? Turns out it’s just too bloody hard.’

      The air pulsed, as her words just seemed to hang there. Andrew, glass in hand, froze, just staring at her. This is exactly what it feels like, Lucy thought, to be punched right in the solar plexus.

      *

      Back on her lonely barstool all of three years on and it looked like Alannah had actually cursed her that day, like some kind of wicked fairy at a feast. Because there were four things Lucy knew now with absolute certainty.

      That Alannah and Josh had set out to sabotage her marriage from day one.

      That never in her wildest dreams could she could have foreseen the lengths they’d go to. The depths they were prepared to crawl to, just to be rid of her.

      That she’d underestimated them at her peril.

      And lastly, she thought, downing her shot in one gulp, just to stem the nausea, it was purely a matter of time before she and Andrew would be divorced.

       Chapter Seven

       Chloe.

      ‘Welcome to the Hope Street Hotel.’

      Oh God, I love saying it so much! Can’t stop myself; every workman, interior designer, plumber and carpenter that crosses the threshold, is warmly welcomed to the Hope Street Hotel. We’ve got just two weeks to go before showtime and even though there’s a mountain of work to do before we officially throw our doors open for business, I couldn’t be prouder or happier of how it’s all pulling together. This is the single biggest challenge I’ve