Page 12 of A Summer Wedding at Pennycress Inn
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked, should I? I should be capable of finding my own wedding dress!’
‘I’m more than happy to come.’ Ellie could see Laura’s cheeks pinking. She was feeling self-conscious about asking, but the truth of the matter was Ellie loved helping her brides find the perfect dress. Not only was it a nice thing to do, but it also allowed Ellie to really get to know a client and to learn what sort of things they liked, which then made her job of organising their big day all the easier. ‘I would love to come. In fact, it’s one of my favourite parts of my job.’
‘Is it? I didn’t know if it was something you did or not. You know, whether you’d think it weird I asked you to come.’
‘It’s not weird at all.’ Ellie smiled. ‘It’ll be fun. Let’s go with the sole agenda of finding out what shape and style you feel comfortable in. We won’t pressure ourselves to find the perfect dress.’
‘Okay.’ Laura nodded, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
‘I’ll take a little look on the internet tonight and see what other dress sales or fairs are coming up. That way, you can be reassured that this isn’t the only chance you have of finding your dress.’ Ellie picked up her mug. She’d already searched within a two-hour radius of Meadowfield and Saturday’s sale was the only one of its kind taking place in their time frame, but Laura didn’t need to know that. The last thing either of them needed was to arrive at the sale with Laura thinking this was her only chance. Besides, Ellie may have missed something in her search. There was bound to be another option. Hopefully. And they could always travel further afield if needed too.
‘Thanks.’ Laura shifted position on the bench. ‘Okay, I feel a bit better and less stressed about it now.’
‘We’ll have a good time.’ Lowering her mug, Ellie grinned.
‘Yes, yes, we will. I’ll ask Nicola if she can come too.’ Laura smiled.
‘Good idea.’ Ellie glanced towards the open kitchen door as voices rose from the sitting room, followed by the clatter of footsteps in the hallway.
‘Laura!’ Miss Cooke’s familiar voice wafted through to them before she peered around the door. ‘Might we have a little more coffee?’
‘Yes, of course.’ Standing up, Laura glanced back at Ellie. ‘Sorry, can you give me a moment, please?’
‘Yes, yes. Certainly. I’ve got plenty to be getting on with.’ Ellie nodded before flicking through her notebook.
‘Ah, Ellie Newton. Meadowfield’s own wedding co-ordinator. How’s the lovely Melissa Moore?’ Miss Cooke, Meadowfield’s infamous mayoress, turned her attention to Ellie as Laura hurried from the room to retrieve the coffee mugs from the sitting room.
‘Hello. Melissa’s fine, I think.’ Ellie picked up her pen, hoping to give the impression she was hard at work. The last thing she needed right now was to get into a conversation about Melissa and All Things Love. And to Miss Cooke too. Everyone in the village knew how well-connected Miss Cooke was. If Ellie said too much or implied anything, she was certain it would take less than twenty-four hours to get back to Melissa and she just couldn’t risk that.
‘I hear you’ve gone your separate ways. What a shame. You two made a good team.’ Leaning against the work surface, Miss Cooke crossed her arms. By the looks of things, this wasn’t going to be a quick conversation, and her only option would be to steer the conversation away from Melissa.
‘Well, yes. It was the right time.’ Ellie lowered her pen again.
‘I spoke to her yesterday, actually.’
‘You did?’ Ellie swallowed. She’d known Miss Cooke knew Melissa. They’d organised Miss Cooke’s nephew’s wedding years ago, but why would Miss Cooke and Melissa have spoken yesterday? Had Melissa told her why Ellie had left All Things Love? Was Melissa trying to ruin her chances of setting up her own wedding planning business? Had she lied to Miss Cooke and made out it was Ellie’s fault the celebrity wedding had almost fallen through?
‘I did.’ Miss Cooke nodded slowly. ‘She was very upset you’d decided to break away from the company.’
Upset? Melissa? It had been her so-called best friend and business partner who had all but forced her out. No, that was a lie. Melissahadforced her out. She’d accused Ellie of something she hadn’t done, tried to pass the blame to Ellie, and now what? What had she said to Miss Cooke?
Looking down, Ellie kept her eyes focused on the first sentence in her notebook. ‘It was a mutual decision.’
‘Was it? That’s not the way I understood it.’ Sighing, Miss Cooke pushed herself away from the work surface and came to stand at the end of the table. Picking up one of Laura and Jackson’s sketchbooks, she began flicking through it. ‘I understood there was a little more to it.’
Ellie swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. She knew it! Melissa had been spreading rumours about her. It wasn’t enough for Melissa to have blamed Ellie for the venue mix-up for the McClouds’ wedding to the McClouds themselves, she was now spreading lies about her to other people too.
She picked up her mug and took a long sip, trying to think of something to say. Lowering it again with a tap against the table, Ellie managed, ‘It wasn’t my fault. What she told you, the mistake, it wasn’t down to me.’
‘Down to you? Mistake? What mistake?’ Lowering the sketchbook, Miss Cooke locked eyes on her just as Laura came rushing back through to the kitchen, a tray stacked with used mugs and plates in her hands.
Ellie watched as Miss Cooke reluctantly turned to look at Laura. Had she just dropped herself in it? From Miss Cooke’s reaction, she hadn’t known as much as Ellie had assumed she had. Why had she mentioned it not being her fault?
She could almost feel the atmosphere in the kitchen change, and she knew if she didn’t make a sharp exit she’d be in the firing line of a hundred more questions.
‘Ellie, did you want another coffee?’ Laura nodded towards the cafetière as she placed the tray on the work surface.
‘No, thanks. Actually, Laura, would you mind if I took another look outside at the garden?’ Ellie stood up. She needed to get out of here and away from Miss Cooke. If Melissa had spread her lies to her or if she’d landed herself in it by saying what she had to Miss Cooke, then Ellie didn’t want to be about when she inevitably told Laura.
