‘Connor, what the hell?’
‘Lottie. I’m outside. Can you let me in?’
‘Outside? Where?’ Her sleep-fogged brain was slow to take in the words. ‘I can hardly hear you.’
His voice was barely above a whisper. ‘Outside your front door.’
‘What?’
‘Here at Firholme. I can’t speak any louder in case I wake someone up. Shit. That bloody dog’s barking now. Please let me in.’
Trevor’s barks from next door finally got through to Lottie that Connor must be on her doorstep. She grabbed her dressing gown and opened the curtain. Snow was falling on an already thick layer. She could just make out Connor in the darkness. She padded downstairs and opened the door.
‘Connor,’ she hissed. ‘It’s past midnight.’
‘I know … but ple-ease, can I come in now?’
He sounded like one of the girls when they were trying to wheedle their way round Steph and she suspected he’d been drinking, but Lottie didn’t have a choice, unless she wanted to risk waking up her neighbours. Trevor had stopped barking but Jay could well be on his way downstairs to see what was going on.
‘OK, but only for a minute. Quick,’ she said and let Connor in before closing the door behind him. He stood in her hallway. He was wearing his coat, a scarf and smart shoes but they were no match for a Lakeland blizzard. ‘What are you doing here? You’re soaked and freezing.’ He had a definite whiff of booze about him.
‘Tell me about it.’ He rubbed his face with his hands. ‘Jesus, there’s no easy way to tell you this. Keegan knows, Lottie. She knows about you and me and she’s thrown me out.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
Twelve hours to the wedding
Lottie’s heart lurched like a ship hitting the rocks.
Connor continued: ‘She’s threatened not to go through with the wedding.’
Her hand flew to her mouth. ‘Oh my God. Does she mean it?’
‘I don’t know.’ He pushed his hands through his soaking hair. ‘What a bloody mess. I wish I’d told her before.’
She was almost too shocked to speak. ‘How did she find out?’
‘It was Mum who let it slip, actually, though of course it wasn’t her fault.’
‘What?’
‘There was a photo at home. It was my cousin’s wedding … remember, they had the reception on that big boat on Windermere? I’d forgotten that Mum had a framed group photo on a bookcase on the landing. Keegan went to the bathroom and picked it up. She spotted you in it and asked Mum about it.
‘Oh God.’ Lottie could picture the scene exactly.
‘Mum told Keegan you were an old girlfriend. She didn’t realise she’d said anything wrong and she was trying to be tactful as it is. She didn’t say we used to live together or anything but it was too late. Keegan managed not to say anything about the wedding, but I could see from her face that she was furious. As soon as she got me on my own, she demanded to know why I hadn’t told her before and exactly how close you and I had been. I had to come clean and say we’d only broken up last year, and that we’d lived together.’ He sighed. ‘That seemed to make her even angrier.’
Lottie squeezed her eyes shut. ‘No wonder she was furious. We should never have kept it a secret. I didn’t want to for this precise reason!’
She sat on the sofa while Connor paced around, swearing.
‘I am so sorry for this. It’s been a nightmare keeping it under wraps and now everything’s been blown sky-high. I can’t see the wedding going ahead tomorrow or any time.’
Lottie was angry with Connor for making her stay quiet about their relationship, angry with herself for letting him come back into her life.
Connor stopped pacing and put his arm around her shoulders.
She shook him off. ‘Don’t.’
‘OK. OK. I was only trying to help.’
‘You’ve done enough. I wish you’d never set foot in Firholme or my life.’
He held up his hands, his eyes full of hurt. How did he even dare to look hurt? Lottie thought, anger hardening into determination. ‘I should have told Shayla right away,’ she said, finally lifting her head. ‘I will tell her, first thing in the morning.’
‘Probably a good idea,’ Connor murmured. ‘Because Keegan has already sent her an email.’
‘What?’
‘She said you’d behaved “unprofessionally”. Yes, I know it was my fault, and I tried to tell her that we’d had a pact.’
Lottie let out a squeak of horror. ‘Connor …’ she said, reining in the urge to shout.
‘That seemed to make her even angrier. She – she – seems to have got some bloody stupid idea that we’re still involved. I tried to tell her that’s not true until I was blue in the face but she won’t believe me. She says we wouldn’t have kept our past a secret if there wasn’t anything to hide. Maybe she thinks something’s been going on since I got back?’
‘We both know there isn’t but you’ve lost her trust!’ Lottie was horrified. ‘We both have.’
‘I think you’re right – and she kicked me out,’ Connor moaned. ‘I’d had a couple of whiskies … so I couldn’t drive and there’s no way I could get a cab at this hour out here in the arse end of nowhere – even if they could get through the snow so – I walked.’
‘Connor!’ Lottie said so loudly, he flinched. ‘Do you have any idea of what you’ve done? Your wedding is tomorrow, you’ve devastated your bride and you could lose me my job and my professional reputation. You need to own this and sort it
