‘Now? It’s after midnight. I can’t do anything now.’
‘Well, you can’t stay here.’ She was horrified at this new twist of events. ‘No way, especially after what’s happened.’
‘Where then? I’m not sure I can make it home in this blizzard.’
‘You are not staying here for the night,’ she repeated, though the sick feeling in her gut was already telling her that every other option was looking impossible.
She thought about saying she’d lend him gloves and a coat then she looked out of the window. The snow was falling more heavily than ever and it was below freezing. There was every likelihood he really wouldn’t make it home if she forced him to walk back, especially if he’d been drinking. Maybe she could ask one of the staff to let him share their cottage, but who could she wake up at one a.m. without a lot of explanations. Jay … no chance. He and Connor might come to blows.
She ushered him into the lounge, her mind working overtime. ‘If Keegan finds out you slept here in my house, then the wedding definitely will be off. Look, maybe you could sleep in the café,’ she said. ‘I can get the key. They have sofas.’
‘So, do you – and then neither of us will have go out in a snowstorm.’
She clutched her dressing gown tighter. ‘If that’s what it takes.’
Water dripped off his coat and trousers, pooling on her carpet. His face was red with the cold and his hair matted with melting snow. It was a wonder he didn’t already have hypothermia. ‘Won’t that cause more fuss than letting me kip in your sitting room for a few hours?’ he pleaded. ‘All I want is the sofa and a blanket. A hot drink would help too. I swear I’ll be gone by first light.’
‘If anyone sees you, what will they think?’
‘They won’t see me. Trust me.’
That was the last thing Lottie was prepared to do. ‘Maybe not tonight but you might not be able to get home in the morning.’
‘I’ll say that someone brought me up here in a Land Rover at first light. I dunno, I’ll say they had to drop me off early before everyone else.’
‘Your wedding suit isn’t here.’
‘Well … I’ll say I decided to wear something more practical and left it behind. The way things are, I probably won’t need it. By the looks of the snow, how will anyone get here? How will Keegan and her family make it?’ he said. ‘If the wedding even happens after this shitstorm.’
‘I’ll handle the transport even if Keegan has to arrive by tractor. You start thinking of how you’re going to get us out of this mess and placate her.’
‘Keegan arriving at the wedding in a tractor?’ Connor laughed. ‘She was bad enough when her first choice of Rolls-Royce wasn’t available so there’s not a cat in hell’s chance of that.’
‘That’s the least of my worries now.’ Lottie’s whole focus was on explaining why she’d been the reason behind a lucrative wedding being called off. What if Keegan refused to pay and tried to sue? She’d have to resign.
‘OK, I’ll do my best to think of something but for now, can I at least have a h-hot drink and maybe get some dry c-clothes?’
Lottie stared at him. What a pathetic, whining individual he was. How had she ever fallen in love with him in the first place? However, realising he genuinely was in danger of hypothermia, she decided she had no choice. ‘Go up to the bathroom and get changed. I’ll leave some clothes outside the door. God knows what. Do not come out until you’re ready. I’ll make you a coffee.’
She’d no idea what she was going to find Connor to wear. It struck her that she’d had to do the same for Jay. He’d kept the poncho for some reason. Then she had a brainwave. She rooted in the cubby hole and pulled out a large towelling robe with a hood and short sleeves.
‘I’ve left a robe and some socks outside the door,’ she said.
A red-faced Connor shuffled into the lounge.
Lottie would have burst out laughing if she hadn’t been so annoyed. The towelling robe was designed for getting changed after you’d been surfing or swimming out of doors. It reached down to her ankles but on Connor, it was mid-calf. He might not have looked so peculiar if he hadn’t also been wearing fluffy pink socks.
‘Do not laugh! I will leave right this minute if you so much as titter,’ he said.
‘Don’t tempt me,’ Lottie said. ‘And don’t moan. It’s all I could find that was big enough.’
‘Really?’ He curled his lip. ‘If this is your idea of revenge, it’s working.’
‘It’s not, but now you come to mention it …’ She hardened her tone, catching sight of the clock and seeing it was past one. ‘There’s your coffee.’ She pointed to the mug on the coffee table. ‘The duvet’s on the sofa and I’ve asked Alexa to wake you at six forty-five. Then you have to be out of here, without anyone seeing you, or I swear, I will bundle you out into the snow, in the robe and socks.’
She was about to sweep off upstairs when a chilling thought struck her. ‘Um … who else actually knows you’re here?’
‘No one yet. I can say I stayed with my best man at his hotel after getting drunk. He’ll back me up. Lottie, I appreciate this might be too much to ask but can you do something else for me?’
‘What?’
‘Tomorrow morning. Would you speak to Keegan for me? Explain that nothing has happened between us – that it’s been over for a long time.’
‘If you’ve explained this already, and she won’t believe you, why should she believe me?’
‘Because you’re so genuine, Lottie … people trust you. They always have. Like Mum. She said you went for tea together.’
‘Well,
