Page 5 of The Clockmaker's Cottage
She stepped back.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she whispered, looking Rob straight in the eyes.
His eyebrows shot up. ‘Pippa?’
‘I can’t do this.’
Then she turned.
Gasps rippled like shockwaves down the pews as her veil fluttered and her dress rustled and she, Pippa Bell– horologist, people-pleaser, bride– ran.
Louder gasps trailed behind her like confetti.
A stunned doorman offered a confused ‘Everything all right?’ as she passed him at the hotel entrance.
‘Wrong time,’ she shouted, lifting her dress. ‘Wrong person.’
The clock on the church tower struck twelve.
She didn’t look back.
* * *
An hour later, Pippa was sitting cross-legged on Rose’s sofa, still in the dress, eating Wotsits and crying intermittently into a novelty mug that saidTea First, Panic Later.
‘Well,’ Rose said, cracking open a second bottle of prosecco. ‘That was dramatic.’
‘I’m a monster,’ Pippa moaned.
‘You’re not. You did the right thing for you… eventually.’
‘Everyone hates me.’
‘Don’t kid yourself. Everyone secretly loves a runaway bride.’ Rose grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
‘I have no plan, no future, and a wedding buffet that’s no doubt going stale.’
‘Of course you have a future. You have your very own business restoring clocks, and let’s not forget you have me!’ declared Rose. ‘Even though I’m moving soon with Ethan’s job, I’ll always be just on the end of the phone, and we’ll make sure we put dates in the diary to see each other.’
‘We’d better.’ Pippa paused. ‘Why did I leave it until the last second?’
‘The last second is better than getting married.’
Pippa glanced at her phone. It was switched to silent mode, but she could see numerous notifications for missed calls and text messages lighting up the screen.
‘What am I going to do?’
‘Absolutely nothing.’
‘We both know I’m going to be the talk of the town.’
‘Oh, let them talk. There will inevitably be something new for them to talk about by tomorrow. By the way, you’re more than welcome to stay here and lie low for a while.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Or you could disappear on the honeymoon?’
‘It wasn’t my scene or my choice.’
