‘Mauling her more like.’
‘They’re flirting.’ Lily dragged him round to face her. ‘That’s what single people do!’
‘But she’s—’
‘She’s twenty-five,’ Lily cut in, feeling his protectiveness for his sister and understanding it, ‘and she’s very beautiful and very talented.’
Her words seemed to reach him, the tension leaving his face. Perhaps realising he was overreacting, he gave Lily a smile as her mother walked over, congratulating them both for the hundredth time and commenting on Emma’s spectacular performance.
‘She wanted to play for us.’ Hunter smiled. ‘I so glad you’re enjoying yourself, Mrs Harper—I mean, Catherine.’
‘How could I not?’ Catherine beamed. ‘Though if anyone had told me a couple of weeks ago I’d be at Lily’s wedding today, I’d have said they were mad. I can’t believe the speed of it all.’
‘Neither can we!’ Hunter suitably answered. ‘But we figured why wait when you know something’s right?’
‘And it is right.’ Catherine nodded earnestly. ‘I have to admit when Lily told me what was happening I had my doubts, but seeing the two of you together has completely put my mind at ease—I can just tell you adore each other.’ From the squeeze of his hand on her waist, no doubt Hunter thought her mother’s mind had been soothed by her new son-in-law’s rather impressive prerequisites, but Lily knew better and she would tell Hunter so later. ‘I know you’re going to be happy together—I just know it, darling.’ Her hand reached for her daughter’s face, holding it for a moment. Lily knew what was coming next and closed her eyes to keep the tears in. ‘Your father would be so proud of you today.’
Hunters grip on her thankfully tightened, no doubt feeling the depth of emotion that coursed through her as her mother spoke on. ‘Lily and her father are incredibly close,’ Catherine explained to Hunter, slipping from past to present tense. Lily felt Hunter’s beat of tension sear through her body, realised he’d heard the mistake, too, but thankfully his smile didn’t change. ‘He was a wonderful man. If you and Lily can experience just a fraction of the love we share, you’ll be doing well.’
‘You must miss him terribly,’ the new perfect son-in-law murmured, but Catherine shook her head.
‘Why would I miss him when I know that he’s still with me?’
‘Are you OK?’ For once he wasn’t superior or mocking, for once his question was straightforward and genuine, which made it all the harder to answer. A quick retort would be so much easier than opening up the most painful part of her.
‘I’m fine,’ Lily said, then bit hard on her lip and turned her head so he couldn’t see her face. But Hunter was having none of it. Taking her by the hand, he led her outside onto the balcony and she went without resistance. Only when she was outside did she realise how much tension was stringing her together, how much she’d actually needed some space to be able to drop the charade for just a couple of moments.
‘It’s just been a long day.’ Lily dragged in the cool night air, tried to make light of her threatening tears. ‘Hormones, perhaps.’
‘Well, according to my girl user manual…’ he drew out a tiny smile from her as he refused to be fobbed off ‘…the P in PMT is definitely pre-and not post-menstrual tension!’
Trust him to remember—the moment of panic when they’d realised they hadn’t used contraception had been countered almost immediately by Lily’s period and she’d gone straight on the Pill, which to Hunter’s delight had, in two weeks, added a cup size to her breasts.
‘And don’t blame the Pill!’ Hunter said, reading her mind.
‘I can blame whatever I want,’ Lily answered tartly. ‘And if you’d read the next chapter of your girly user manual, it would have told you that thanks to the Pill, I’m feeling bloated and nauseous.’
‘I must have skipped that part.’ He pulled her back towards him. ‘Come on, Lily, what’s really wrong?’ He wasn’t going to give in, so Lily gave him some of what he was demanding, told him a just a little of how she was feeling.
‘I just feel like a fraud in there—pretending to be happy.’
‘But, why wouldn’t you be happy?’ Hunter asked, bemused. ‘I’m happy.’
‘How?’ She stared back at him. ‘How can you be happy when you’re fooling everyone?’
‘Because we’re not.’ He shook his head. ‘And unlike a lot of couples on their wedding day, we’re not fooling ourselves either. We both like and respect each other. We’re both going to do everything we can to make this the best marriage—even if it is finite. Just because it has a use-by date, it doesn’t mean it can’t be good and productive.’