‘No more mentions of Jonas Baxter?’ Steph asked.
‘Not after the first few minutes.’
‘Good …’ Steph sipped her coffee. ‘So, tell me more about this Jay.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The new gardener bloke who showed you his squirrel.’
Lottie sputtered her coffee. ‘It was a squirrel, not his squirrel and he only moved in a week ago. I know next to nothing about him.’ She smiled. ‘He has a lovely Labrador though.’
‘A lovely Labrador?’ Steph raised an eyebrow.
‘He’s called Trevor, and he’s very friendly,’ Lottie said, recalling how Jay had had to call Trevor back when the dog had run into Lottie’s garden a couple of times, obviously seeking a fuss. Jay was firm but also very gentle with Trevor. He clearly loved animals of all kinds. She thought back to that short time in the forest. She’d been enjoying Jay’s company and the feeling had seemed to be mutual. Funny, she’d half expected him to text her later that day – but now?
Falling for Jay wasn’t some miracle cure for a broken heart plus she had no idea if he was even single. And now Connor had come back into her life …
‘I saw Connor yesterday,’ she said, wary of Steph’s reaction.
Steph frowned. ‘As in Connor, your cowardly ex?’
Lottie winced at Steph’s description of him. Though she herself thought he was a quitter at the time, Steph didn’t know about Connor’s proposal or that he’d broken her heart so badly. Thank God, she’d never told her sister. Steph thought Connor had simply decided to leave; as did their parents. As did everyone they knew. It would only have added to Steph’s problems when she needed to focus on getting well.
‘Yes. He turned up at Firholme out of the blue.’
Steph snorted in derision. ‘What for? To grovel and beg you to come back?’
‘No. Why would he do that?’ Lottie asked.
‘Because he realises how amazing you are? He’s an idiot but you’re better off without him.’
It was hard to fool Steph and Lottie suspected that her sister hadn’t bought the story that Lottie had been OK with the break-up. She was touched by her loyalty but her heart sank. This was going to be even harder than she’d expected. ‘He didn’t even know I was working there. And, he brought his fiancée.’
Steph splashed coffee on her lap. ‘Sodding hell!’ She grabbed a tissue to mop it while Lottie fetched some kitchen roll.
‘Connor brought his fiancée to Firholme?’ She dabbed at her jeans with the paper towel. ‘Why would he do that?’
‘Because he wants to get married there. Or rather she – Keegan – does.’
‘No way! That would be excruciating. I presume he called it all off once he realised you organise the weddings?’
‘No. They’re going ahead.’
‘You cannot be serious?! You can’t possibly agree to plan his wedding!’
‘I didn’t want to, but I’ve no choice. Connor was as shocked as I was when he walked in and found out I’m in charge of the weddings. He’d no idea I was working there …’ Lottie left out exactly why. ‘He went abroad after we split up and met this Australian woman through work.’
Steph shook her head in disbelief. ‘Poor woman. When are they doing the dirty deed?’
‘The week before Christmas.’
‘Jesus, Lottie. Why the hurry? Is she pregnant?’
‘I don’t think so. They came in on the off chance and Shayla was ecstatic to have a booking before Christmas. We can’t afford to turn down the revenue and to be fair, Connor did try to put Keegan off … but she thinks Firholme is “a-mazing” and I don’t blame her.’
‘Even so, why didn’t Connor make an excuse and find another venue? It’s cruel to rub your nose in things like this.’
Lottie sighed. ‘He’s not rubbing my nose in it. I got over the break-up ages ago …’
Steph raised an eyebrow. ‘Mm …’
‘I really am OK with it,’ she said, recalling how her skin tingled and her heart skipped a beat when Connor had touched her. ‘Even if I could have persuaded them to go elsewhere, I still wouldn’t have. This is my first wedding and they’re spending a lot of money that Firholme desperately needs. Plus … the main reason they want to get married in a hurry is that Connor’s mum has been ill. She had a stroke earlier this year.’
‘That’s awful,’ said Steph. ‘I liked Fiona. More than Connor, to be honest.’
‘You never said that before.’
‘I didn’t want to upset you, but I can say it now. How’s his mum doing?’
‘Connor says she’s recovering, but that the whole family has had a huge scare and they want to surprise her with a Christmas wedding. He said she’s always wanted to see one of their kids married at Firholme.’
Steph blew out a breath. ‘Bugger me … I suppose I can’t argue with that. I know all about wanting to make the most of every day, but it’s hard on you, Lottie. Does this Keegan even know you and Connor were together?’
‘No, and I don’t want her to. We’ve agreed to keep it a secret.’ Again, Lottie thought it was easier to be economical with the truth. Steph would have been furious to know that it was Connor’s idea to pretend he’d never been involved with Lottie, even if Lottie had gone along with it willingly enough.
‘Lottie, come on, we agreed to be honest with each other. How do you really feel about him?’
Now, that was the question. Lottie would have liked to have felt nothing other than mild surprise and the pleasure of seeing an old friend when he walked in through Firholme’s grand front door. But she did very much still feel something and she didn’t like some of those feelings.
‘I don’t want him to be unhappy,’ she said, choosing her words carefully. ‘Though I’d never have chosen to plan his wedding, that’s for sure. It’ll be fine now the first meeting is past.’
‘Why am I
