Country Affairs. Zara Stoneley

       Chapter 3

      Lottie was on her second glass of bubbly and feeling slightly disorientated by the time Billy had finished the speeches, filling in for his AWOL best man, Rory, last seen riding his mechanical charger into the distance.

      So far the day hadn’t gone to plan at all, she thought, as she gazed across the lawn towards Folly Lake Equestrian Centre, home to her father and his new bride.

      She had been totally confused when Tiggy had dropped her bombshell, mainly because they both looked happy, and surely you were supposed to be devastated (or at least seriously upset) if it turns out your future forever person was on the verge of becoming a bigamist? She certainly had been when she’d found out that Todd had two weddings but no divorces to his name. I mean, she hadn’t exactly been planning on marrying him herself, but it was still the type of news that came as a bit of a shock.

      So, it had been a toss-up. Did she burst into tears because she’d gone to all this bloody trouble organising this wonderful day for nothing? Did she have a ‘life is so unfair’ tantrum? Or did she follow Rory and Todd’s example and do a runner?

      She’d opened her mouth, but nothing had come out. Which was when Billy had put a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘To me. She’s already married to me, Lottie. Sorry love,’ he didn’t look that sorry, in fact he looked very pleased with himself, ‘but we got married last month when we were away. Didn’t want to hang around any longer and, er,’ he gave her an apologetic look, ‘we didn’t know if you’d pull this off. So, it’s like a blessing, isn’t it Rev?’ He’d glanced at the vicar who nodded and smiled with, Lottie thought, a certain un-reverential smugness.

      The fact that even the bloody vicar was in on it seemed so unfair, thought Lottie, why was she always the last to know everything?

      But her Dad had looked so pleased with himself it was hard to be ratty with him, and he’d even given her a brief bear hug, which was almost unheard of. ‘And it’s a bloody good excuse for a party as well, of course. Right then, let’s get this wound up and get on the razz.’ He’d hugged Tiggy in close and there was a collective gasp of relief and outbreak of laughter from the crowd, who’d agreed that this topped even the best of the Brinkley’s previous disorganised events.

      And talking of bigamists, which for a brief moment it had looked like her new step-mother had been in danger of becoming, Todd had almost slipped Lottie’s mind. ‘Do you think he’s okay, Pip?’

      Pip, who was in the process of grabbing a bottle of bubbly from a passing waiter, topped up their glasses, resisted the man’s attempts to reclaim the bottle, and followed the line of Lottie’s gaze. It wasn’t hard to see where Todd and Merlin had been, and Rory had followed. ‘Who, the beach bum?’

      ‘No, Rory, silly.’

      ‘I wouldn’t like to say who’s the fittest. Who do you reckon has the most stamina?’ Pip raised an eyebrow and Lottie hoped she hadn’t gone the shade of beetroot she normally did when asked questions like that.

      ‘Rory, of course.’

      ‘Of course.’

      ‘You never were very keen on Todd, were you?’

      ‘I didn’t need to be, he had it covered.’

      ‘That’s a bit mean. He was quite nice, really, until…’

      ‘Lottie that man spent more time looking in the mirror than both of us put together when we were in Barcelona. Hey, look. Is that them coming back?’

      ‘Crumbs, I’m drunker than I thought. I knew I should have eaten something, but I was frightened I’d bust out of my dress.’ Lottie squinted, and when that didn’t help she tried covering one eye, but she was definitely seeing double, or triple. There were only two men (two was good, they hadn’t killed each other) and one girl (that had to be Tab), but several…

      ‘Why’ve they brought all those horses?’ Pip said the words Lottie hadn’t dared, in case she actually was imagining it.

      ‘Thank heavens for that.’

      ‘What do you mean, “thank heavens for that”? You don’t bring horses to wedding receptions. Amanda was upset enough with just the one. She’ll have a pink fit if she sees this lot.’

      ‘I thought I was seeing things.’ Lottie giggled with relief. ‘I didn’t mean thank heavens for all the horses.’

      ‘Charlotte, what on earth is Rupert doing now?’

      The giggles froze in her throat when she realised her gran was breathing down her neck. Lady Elizabeth Stanthorpe had sneaked up in her usual manner and was now peering across the lawn at the rapidly approaching group. ‘And who is that fellow with him and young Tabatha? He doesn’t look like a groom. The man hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing. Terrible hands and just look at that seat! Looks like he’s about to come off the horse.’

      Lottie sighed. For some reason of her own Elizabeth insisted on calling Rory by anything but his actual name, usually to his face. She was pretty sure her gran was actually fond of Rory (just as she was fond of Billy, who had married her late daughter and given her her only grandchild, Lottie), but for some reason she seemed determined not to acknowledge the fact. And Rory, just like Billy before him, refused to rise to the bait. Maybe it was some weird kind of test.

      ‘That’s the Australian.’ Pip supplied helpfully, and Elizabeth grunted and looked again.

      ‘I thought William told him to shove off?’

      ‘I do love the way you say that.’ Pip grinned. ‘Shove orff.’

      ‘I wish he had.’ Lottie muttered, wondering why on earth they’d all come back.

      Rory and his entourage came to a halt several feet away, and this time Todd wobbled but he didn’t fall off.

      ‘How’s it going, Lots?’ All grins. The man she never thought she’d see again. She peered more closely. She’d expected to see at least some signs of a fight or a minor scuffle, or at the very least like Rory had told him off.

      ‘Who exactly is that man, Charlotte?’

      Lottie brushed the feathers, once jaunty but now drooping sadly from Elizabeth’s hat, out of her face.

      ‘That man,’ Pip was enjoying herself, ‘is Todd, and he’s the reason Lottie came home.’

      ‘Well, at least he has some uses.’ Elizabeth sniffed dismissively and turned her attentions to Rory. ‘And what are you up to Richard?’

      ‘We decided to have a competition. Like a duel but without the death.’

      ‘A duel?’ Elizabeth had really perked up now, thought Lottie, unlike the feathers.

      Rory shrugged and grinned. ‘Well not exactly a duel. We just thought this party needed livening up, and old Todd here is game.’

      Lottie looked at ‘old Todd’ and back to Rory. She didn’t like the sound of this at all. Well, it was good that they didn’t actually seem at loggerheads.