Anxiety clouded Nina’s flawless features and Claire felt an unexpected pang of sympathy for Scotty’s intended. She was a virtual stranger in a town that was insular at the best of times, marrying one of its favourite sons in just a few days’ time, without family or friends to guide her. The poor woman must have been terrified.
She suddenly remembered her resolution to befriend Nina. ‘I’ll help you. We’ll go shopping in Alison Bay tomorrow,’ she said decisively. The next town along the coast was ten times larger than Bindallarah. ‘I don’t think there’s any actual bridal boutiques between here and Brisbane, but if I remember correctly Ally Bay has some nice stores. It’ll have to be off the rack, but we’ll find you a beautiful dress. You’d look stunning in anything.’
Nina’s concerned expression gave way to an elated smile. ‘Really?’ she said. ‘Oh my gosh, Claire, that would be amazing. Thank you so much.’ She reached across the table and gave Claire’s hand a grateful squeeze.
‘You know, I could help in other ways, too,’ Claire said, turning her attention to Scotty. ‘I have all this time on my hands. Why don’t you let me help out with the wedding plans? Make life a little easier for you both.’
In her peripheral vision, Claire saw Vanessa shoot a sharp look in her direction. Scotty looked faintly alarmed too. ‘Oh, well, I don’t really —’
‘That’s a wonderful idea,’ Nina exclaimed at the same time. ‘Scotty, you’ve been saying how busy you are. Claire knows Bindallarah so much better than I do. You know you could use the help.’
Scotty paused for what felt like an eternity. His emerald eyes grew dark in the flickering torchlight. ‘Okay,’ he said at last. ‘Thanks, Claire.’
She shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘Happy to lend a hand for an old friend.’
Claire didn’t know why Scotty had bought Thorne Hill or why he was intent on living in it with a woman he barely knew. She didn’t know why a worldly and, she had to admit, lovely woman like Nina had pitched up in a rural backwater and agreed to marry someone who hadn’t thought to mention that their future marital home once belonged to his ex-girlfriend. She didn’t know whether spending time one on one with Scotty was a good idea or a calamity waiting to happen. And if it was destined to be calamitous, she didn’t know who would suffer the most – him or her.
But Claire did know one thing: she was going to find out.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Vanessa asked the next morning. ‘Actually, let me rephrase that: this is not a good idea.’
Claire froze midway through rifling behind the sofa cushions in a frantic search for her car keys. ‘Why would you say that?’
Vanessa perched on the coffee table and set down her mug of tea beside her. She gave her niece a look that said, Do I really need to spell it out?
Claire sighed. ‘Aunty Vee, for the hundredth time, Scotty is my friend. Just my friend. Why shouldn’t Nina become my friend, too?’ Her fingers closed around the wayward keys and she pulled them out with a triumphant flourish.
‘Friends or not, Scotty was the love of your life. I just worry that forcing yourself to spend time with his fiancée to prove a point is not going to end well.’ She took a sip of her tea.
Vanessa’s tone was gentle, but her words struck Claire like a sledgehammer. ‘The love of my life?’ she spat. ‘So if I can’t be with Scotty I’m destined to be alone forever? Well, forget the shopping, I guess I might as well go and adopt fifteen cats right now.’
‘There’s no need for sarcasm,’ her aunt said. ‘You know that’s not what I meant.’
‘And what point am I trying to prove? That I can be a mature adult? That I’m not going to despise a woman just because a man I once loved chose her instead of me?’ As soon as the words left her mouth, Claire realised how they sounded. ‘I don’t mean . . . I didn’t want . . .’ She let out an exasperated breath. ‘He was never going to choose me. That’s not what this is about.’
Claire sank onto the sofa and Vanessa moved to sit next to her. ‘Then what is it about, sweetheart?’ she said.
‘It’s about . . .’ Claire looked around Vanessa’s cosy living room, as if the words she was looking for could be hiding in a corner. Her gaze came to rest on her aunt’s enormous white Christmas tree. It was the same one she’d had since Claire was a little girl, back when her parents were still together. She had always loved their family Christmases, filled with laughter and presents and way too much food. She remembered creeping into her parents’ bedroom before sunrise on Christmas Day. Their windows would be wide open, the day already warm, and she would feel the soft, fragrant breeze caressing her bare arms as she tiptoed excitedly across the floorboards to rouse her father. Jim hadn’t minded being woken early. He had been a typical farmer in that sense. The morning was the best part of the day, he had said – and Christmas morning was the best morning of them all.
But that had all been so long ago. Christmas would never be like that again. This town had a way of trapping people in the past.
‘It’s about moving forward,’ she told Vanessa. ‘Honestly, I have doubts about the speed of this wedding, but it’s not because I still have those kinds of feelings for Scotty. This is about the future. His and Nina’s.’
And mine.
Vanessa pursed her lips. She looked entirely unconvinced, but she didn’t say anything further.
‘Trust me, Aunty Vee. I know what I’m doing,’ Claire said. She stood and picked up her handbag. ‘I’d better get going or I’ll be late
