The Wedding Countdown. Barbara Hannay

unaware of her daughter’s consternation, Rosalind continued her inspection. ‘At least there’s no harm done that a steam iron can’t fix,’ she announced with relief as she finished at last. ‘How are you feeling now, dear?’

      Tessa tried very hard to smile, but the savage pounding in her chest would not subside, and the light-headedness threatened again. She had to stay on two feet!

      ‘I’m fine, Mum,’ she managed to reply without her voice cracking.

      ‘At least you’ve already organised to come home to us for the rest of this week,’ Rosalind added, eying her daughter with concern. ‘You’ve been skipping lunch and now you’re having…what was it? A dizzy spell? Clearly you’re not looking after yourself properly, and I have enough to worry about. There’s still so much to be done before Saturday.’

      Tessa muttered something safely submissive while she tried to hide her mounting alarm. Being at home for the last few days before her wedding with her mother fretting and fussing over reception details was one thing, but if Isaac was home, as well!

      That was impossible, unthinkable. What was Isaac doing home? Why now? Of all the disastrous luck! He’d stayed away for nine years. Surely he could have waited for a few more days. How could he do this to her?

      If only she’d insisted on staying in her own flat until Saturday, she thought with a stab of regret. But it was too late now. She’d already arranged for the new tenants to move in tomorrow.

      Despair churned in Tessa’s stomach. ‘Would you mind making me a cup of peppermint tea, Mum? All the mugs and packets of tea and coffee are packed in a box on the kitchen bench.’

      ‘Of course. That’s just what you need. Let’s get you out of this dress first. There’s just one little rose to be reattached. Now, I’ll undo the back and we’ll have you out of there.’ Rosalind prattled on as Tessa raised her arms and the dress was carefully lifted over her head. ‘Don’t worry, darling. By the end of the week you will be safely married to Paul, and then everything will be all right.’

      Another wave of dizziness threatened Tessa.

      ‘Everything will be fine then, won’t it?’ Rosalind asked.

      ‘Of course,’ Tessa answered softly.

      As Rosalind made a beeline for the kitchen, her high heels tapping a no-nonsense beat across the terracotta tiles of the living area, Tessa mentally submerged that other question, the one that jumped out and startled her when she was least prepared. Sometimes it was there when she woke from restless dreams. Now it threatened her with renewed menace.

      Of course she loved Paul!

      She was really very happy. At least she was as happy as she could expect to be. She’d lost her chance for the Hollywood dream romance—that giddy once-in-a-lifetime kind of rapture—nine years earlier, when Isaac left. But there was absolutely nothing to be gained from dwelling on what happened to her when she was nineteen. She had a new life ahead of her now.

      A good life.

      And this unexpected return was not going to spoil it.

      It had been a relief, after all the years of emptiness she’d suffered when Isaac left, to discover she was growing fond of Paul. He was so steady and obliging it was impossible not to find him charming. The fact that he had an enviable position in one of Townsville’s top law firms and that his family and hers were old friends were added bonuses.

      That was what she must focus on now.

      Changed into casual clothes, Tessa appeared in the kitchen minutes later as her mother lifted the kettle and filled a mug with boiling water. ‘Thanks,’ she murmured, accepting the mug and gratefully sniffing the refreshing mint fragrance as she subsided onto a comfortable sofa.

      Rosalind added milk to her cup of Earl Grey tea then sat down opposite her daughter, her long, slim legs crossed neatly.

      ‘This is all very upsetting,’ the older woman stammered. ‘What a day I’ve had. First Isaac appearing out of the blue and now your little, er, spell. What would Paul think if he heard you were wobbly on your feet at the mere mention of another man’s name?’

      Tessa sighed and closed her eyes as she leant her head against the back of the sofa. She could feel the slanting rays of afternoon sunshine slipping through the wooden blinds and warming her closed eyelids. ‘It wasn’t just another man’s name, Mum. There’s quite a difference between hearing Isaac mentioned in passing and knowing that he’s actually come home! After nine years, of course it’s a shock. But,’ she added, opening her eyes and forcing her voice to sound as flippant as she could manage, ‘Isaac isn’t really another man—not in the sense I think you’re suggesting, anyhow. He’s only my foster brother.’

      ‘Oh, come on, Tessa,’ Rosalind said sharply, stirring her tea with unnecessary vigour. ‘I know you’ve always tried to hide your feelings for that foundling your father brought home, but…’

      Tessa’s mouth dropped open, and she stared wide-eyed at Rosalind. ‘Mum, what are you talking about?’

      Rosalind, her dark eyes fixed on her daughter’s pale face, took an infuriatingly long sip of tea before she spoke. ‘You don’t really think your own mother didn’t know what was going on, do you? My dear girl, from almost the day you turned fourteen, I watched you eat up that boy with your eyes whenever he was in the same room as you. All those hours you two spent away on the hill and down on the boat…’

      The room swam. Tessa rubbed her eyes. She knew about the boat? How much did her mother know? Appalled, she took another sip of tea.

      Rosalind continued. ‘Then there was the dreadful mess you made of your science degree after Isaac went away.’

      ‘But that was because…’ Because we were studying marine science together…going to save the world…planning to rescue every dolphin and discover the cure for cancer in some as yet undetected organism on the Great Barrier Reef. ‘…because I was never much good at science anyway! And I was such a child then.’

      Now, with an education degree behind her and a satisfying position as a preschool teacher, Tessa considered herself past this kind of parental interrogation and reprimand. An angry telltale pink crept up her neck, and she could feel it warming her cheeks.

      ‘Of course it was a shock for all of us the way Isaac just disappeared without so much as goodbye,’ Rosalind remarked. ‘It nearly broke your father’s heart, as you well know. After all those years of a good home, education, love, to just disappear without a trace. It was jolly ungrateful. And it’s just too bad of him to come back now and spoil all our lovely plans.’

      Tessa sat quiet and cold, listening to her mother’s claims, unable to respond.

      ‘But we mustn’t let this spoil things, must we, dear?’ Rosalind jumped up and took her cup and saucer to the kitchen. ‘We must get going. You bring your gown and overnight bag. I’ll look after these kitchen things. I think Paul has taken care of everything else, hasn’t he?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘Let’s get going, then.’

      Home. To Isaac.

      Under other circumstances, Tessa would have protested at her mother’s domineering interference. Surely there was some alternative to living under the same roof as Isaac for the next four days? But the young couple who were to be the new tenants would never forgive her if she tried to change plans now. Places to rent were hard to find, and they had paid their bond and were so excited about having their own flat at last.

      And in reality, given the hectic scattering and disordering of her thoughts since Isaac’s name had first been mentioned, her ability to take any kind of control had completely dissolved.

      It was all very well for Rosalind to claim that they mustn’t let his return spoil things, but for Tessa, everything was totally spoiled already. The thought of Isaac home in Townsville sent her delicately rebuilt life teetering