Lottie had, however, reminded him that he hadn’t been as responsive as she, or some of his co-workers, deserved … She and Kerr had both tried to invite him to the pub, after all, and he’d been non-committal so far.
‘Trevor!’
Seeing a couple walking along the path towards him, Jay tried to bring his dog to heel. He was surprised to see people on a dull November day in the middle of the week. They weren’t dressed like ramblers either. The woman was in a smart pale blue coat and knee-high Uggs, while the guy wore a Barbour.
Clearly, Trevor found their presence far too exciting to ignore and raced towards them like a Grand National winner.
‘Trevor! Heel!’ Jay shouted, running after him before he decided to give the woman a ‘friendly’ greeting probably involving a lot of slobber – or worse, tried to jump up. Not everyone liked dogs and there was no excuse for letting one run out of control.
Luckily, Trevor sensed that Jay meant business and he ran back to his side. ‘Sorry, boy, but you’ll have to go on your lead for a little while. I’m not sure these people will appreciate one of your special greetings.’
The couple had stopped next to a rowan tree, loaded with crimson berries. They didn’t appear to have seen Jay yet, because they seemed to be having an argument. He caught snatches of raised voices on the wind.
‘Wait …’ he said in a low voice to Trevor. Crouching down, he stroked the dog’s head. The couple were talking animatedly. He thought he saw the woman give the man a push before she walked away from him and away from Jay. The man called after her.
‘Keegan!’ he shouted. Or something like it. It was an unusual name so caught his attention.
Keegan took a small path down the fellside. It was steep and she almost slipped. Jay was a little worried about her in those furry boots. The fellside was muddy.
‘Grow up!’ the man shouted and let out a groan of annoyance that made Trevor’s ears twitch.
‘Stay, boy. I don’t think they want company,’ he said. Jay certainly didn’t want to intrude on their tiff.
The man followed Keegan down the fell, almost losing his own footing. Keegan had made it to a lower path and was marching along. Her partner caught her up so Jay waited a moment to make sure she was happy that he’d followed her. She rounded on him but after a minute or two, she let the man embrace her and after that they strolled back in the direction of Firholme arm in arm.
Jay let Trevor off the lead and continued towards the opposite end of the lake to Firholme. He didn’t want to risk bumping into the couple again – or anyone if he could avoid it.
Nonetheless with her talk of how close her family were, Lottie had reminded him that it was a lonely existence. Perhaps it was time to engage with the world again – just not at Christmas, yet he still felt the old Jay, trusting, loving his family, the centre of their gatherings, had gone.
Trevor licked his hand, as if he sensed Jay’s worries.
‘Trouble is, Trev,’ Jay said, stroking the dog’s head, ‘I’m not sure he’ll ever come back.’
Chapter Nine
Five weeks to the wedding
Lottie wasn’t normally superstitious, but couldn’t help thinking Friday the thirteenth wasn’t the best day for Keegan and Connor to give their verdict on the festive décor and finalise the menus and wine list.
She’d been on edge all morning, wondering how they’d react to the ballroom – and how she’d react to being so close to Connor again, while having to bottle up her emotions under a veneer of cheerful professionalism.
By the time she’d spotted their car, she was worked up so much, her stomach was like a ball of twine. However, Connor stayed in the car to take a call, leaving Lottie to escort Keegan up to the ballroom alone. The huge space was now decorated for Christmas, with the tree already festooned in their colour scheme. Lottie had to admit it looked sensational but would Keegan agree?
Keegan had inspected the nine-foot Nordmann fir that Jay had delivered to the ballroom, along with the other trees, the previous day but it was now resplendent in its finery.
‘This is wonderful.’ She turned to Lottie, beaming. ‘It’s just how I imagined it. You’re very talented.’
Lottie gave a huge inner sigh of relief and smiled. ‘Thank you, but I can’t claim all the credit. The whole team worked on it.’
‘Well, I think it’s awesome that it’s been decorated especially for us.’
Lottie was delighted that the tree had arrived inside the ballroom, without any mishaps. Beforehand, she’d worked alongside Jay’s team and a freelance interior decorator to remove any furniture or objects that might be damaged.
It had been a delicate and time-consuming operation. Worth every moment, though, because Keegan’s theme of rich jewel colours looked fabulous. The glass baubles and tinsel in amethyst, sapphire, emerald and ruby were rich and warm, and perfectly in keeping with the dark oak panelling and tapestries.
‘I’m pleased you love it.’ Lottie actually was happy. No matter who her couple were, she couldn’t help be proud of what her colleagues had achieved.
‘It’s going to match my dress perfectly. I’m wearing a cranberry velvet cloak over a cream silk dress. I’ll show you on my phone, if you like.’
‘Lovely!’ Lottie determined to show as much enthusiasm as possible. She was good at hiding her true feelings, having had a lot of practice since Steph had been ill, and knew she was going to need all of that skill now.
Keegan whipped out her phone and showed Lottie a picture of the designer dress. It really was beautiful and she could easily imagine how stunning it would look on Keegan’s slender frame.
‘It’s gorgeous,’ Lottie said, not letting her mask slip.
‘Thanks. I went to London to choose it. It’s being altered for me
