Someone Like You(52)

Go get her. Maybe that was a way better plan than the one he had in mind. The one where he waited for her.

'And let's face it. You're about to put on a suit. Apparently, men like  us, handsome bastards that we are, dressed in suits? We drive women  crazy. You will look hot.'

'Oh Ry, I didn't know you cared.'

'Don't waste the suit, man. You know what they say about best men at weddings.'

'What's that?'

'They always bag a bridesmaid.'

'Three hours to the wedding!' In the glass palace next door, Lizzie  clinked her champagne glass with Julia's and made the happy announcement  to the room. Ry's mother Barbra was seated comfortably on the white  leather sofa, and Harri was resting on the seat of her walking frame,  parked next to it, which had been a great help to her since she'd  returned home after her hip replacement and rehab. All four of the  women, across generations, laughed out loud, enjoying the fun and the  spectacle of Julia's wedding preparations.

Julia hadn't wanted to tempt fate and slip into her wedding dress too  early, so she was still elegantly gliding around the house in a simple  white silk dressing gown. Lizzie couldn't wait and was already wearing  her bridesmaid's dress, so excited to be dressing up for the first time  in what felt like a million years. The pale blue dress felt fantastic,  its cap sleeves and deep V-neck accentuated by a fitted bodice and  cinched-in waist, sitting atop a flared skirt. A ruffled white petticoat  underneath added bounce and made Lizzie feel like a movie star  –  from  the 1950s.

'Okay,' Julia announced. 'I'm ticking off the list. Hair and make-up?'

'Done,' Lizzie called, admiring Julia's natural waves and simply made up face.

'Dress?'

'Hanging upstairs.'

'Excellent. Shoes?'

'By the side of your bed.'

'Bridesmaid's dress?'

'Wearing it,' Lizzie called in a singsong voice and did a little spin  around the living room to prove it. Julia, Barbra and Harri cheered and  clapped her.

'Champagne?'

'Coming right up!' Lizzie fetched the bottle from its ice bucket and  filled each of their glasses. The four women clinked them together like  musketeers and cheered again.

'What a gorgeous bride you're going to be, Julia,' Harri said, her  fingers tightly fixed on her glass. 'Not that being a bride is the  be-all and end-all, not these days.'

Barbra leaned back, took in the scene, then wiped a tear from her eye  and sniffed out loud. 'No, it's not,' she added, her chin high in the  air.

'We feminists fought for so much more for ourselves,' Harri added. 'And our daughters. Metaphorically speaking.'

'Absolutely we did,' Barbra said.

'We never needed a ring to validate ourselves or give ourselves a legitimate place in the world.'

'And the whole white wedding thing? Too patriarchal,' Barbra added.

'Lucky we don't believe in marriage and the whole happy-ever-after thing,' Harri said through eyes brimming with happy tears.

'But you do look stunning, Julia!' Barbra laughed. 'And I always cry at weddings!'

The four of them giggled themselves into a fit of laughter so hard that Julia snorted champagne bubbles out of her nose.

'Now, Julia, my darling,' Barbra wiped her eyes. I have some tips for  you about married life. I know you don't have your mother with you  today, so I feel it's my duty as your soon-to-be mother-in-law to give  you the facts of life.'

Julia leaned across to squeeze Barbra's hand, her bottom lip wobbling.

'There are some things you need to be absolutely sure about when picking  the man you're going to spend the rest of your life with. Don't you  agree, Harri?'         

     



 

'Definitely,' Harri agreed with a cheeky grin.

'Make sure he works to deserve you, every single day of your lives together.'

'Exactly,' Harri nodded. 'He needs to be someone who makes time to  listen to you, to understand you. To wait for you. Even when you're  driving him crazy, he needs to be the sort of bloke who'll stick.'

'He needs to be the kind of man who can cook a decent meal,' Barbra added.

'And wash the dishes afterwards.'

'That's crucial.'

'And,' Harri shot Julia a dramatic wink, 'he needs to rock your socks off in the sack.'

Barbra guffawed and Julia went white, both at the same time. 'Harri!' they cried out together.

'Oh don't sound so shocked, ladies,' Harri hooted in response.

'It's also very important that he's handy with a power tool,' Barbra  called. 'Or at least he should look good wearing a tool belt.'

'And he absolutely, definitely, positively has to love Middle Point!' Julia said with glee.

'Too true,' Harri said, her voice growing serious. 'I was lucky. I had  one like that. If you're lucky enough to find a man who is not only as  handsome as sin, but one who loves you right back with all his heart,  one who runs towards you when you're sick instead of running away like a  scared rabbit, you've got a keeper.'

Lizzie felt herself drifting away from the conversation, a strange  buzzing in her head. She couldn't think. A keeper. They may as well have  been talking about Dan.

The man who hadn't run from her.

The man who understood her.

The one who was waiting for her.

Dan was all those things.

Dan was everything.

'Darling,' Barbra patted the sofa next to her and Julia plonked herself  next to her. 'This has been so much fun. I want to thank you for letting  me be part of this, with you here. It means so much to me, you can't  possibly know.'

Julia dropped her head on Barbra's shoulder. 'Barbra, it means so much  to me too. To have you here, and Harri, and especially my wonderful  Lizzie.'

When the three women looked up and glanced around the room, Lizzie was gone.





CHAPTER


29


Best. Idea. Ever.

'You are crazy, Elizabeth Blake,' Lizzie muttered and she could only  agree with herself as she stomped over the low fence to Dan's house,  crushing the daisies underneath the soles of her feet as she rushed the  dozen steps to his front door.

Crazy? For sure.

Best idea she'd ever had? Abso-fucking-lutely.

A few quick raps on the door and she tried not to hold her breath. Her  memory did a quick rewind to the first time she'd stood there, when Dan  almost ripped it off its hinges and had gone all surly wild man of  Borneo on her. Slamming it in her face. That day felt like a million  years ago.

When she heard footsteps, her heartbeat picked up and pounded in her  temple. Her palms grew sweaty the closer they came and when she heard  the lock click, she squeezed her eyes shut.

'Hey, Lizzie.'

Damn it. It was the groom.

She cleared her throat, unclenched her lacquered fingers, which were  digging nail marks into her palms. 'Hey Ry.' A quick glance revealed he  was still wearing a T-shirt and his boardies. Typical. She tried to peer  over his shoulder, and then decided around his chest might be the best  option. 'Is Dan here?'

'You want to see Dan?' Ry narrowed his eyes and if they could have laughed at her, they would have. Smug bastard.

'Yes. I need to see … I need to talk to him.'

'Sorry, Lizzie. He went to grab some more beers. All this wedding preparation is thirsty work, you know.'

She huffed out loud; the frustration she felt was too strong to hold back.

Ry looked her up and down with a friendly smile. 'Hey, you look fantastic by the way.'

'Thanks.'

'How's JJ? Everything ticking over next door?'

'Good, she's good. When's Dan going to be back?'

Ry checked his watch. 'He's just hopped in the car so about ten minutes,  I guess. You want me to send him over when he gets back?'

Lizzie shivered at the thought. Send Dan over into that pack of women?  He'd never make it out alive. She was fast losing her window of  opportunity. If she didn't get back there to resume her bridesmaid  duties, the bride and the two wise sages were likely to get very pissed,  very quickly. And that could lead to all sorts of unintended  consequences at the ceremony. She had a duty to Julia first and she  would have to see to it.

'No Ry. I'll see him at the wedding. And do me a favour? Please don't tell him I came by?'         

     



 

'You sure?'

'I'm sure.' Lizzie looked him up and down. 'You gonna get your suit on anytime soon?'

He shrugged. 'Ten minutes before the wedding. No biggie.'

'One hour to the wedding!' Lizzie's time call had an immediate effect on  the bride. Julia jumped to her bare feet and her face went as pale as  the stylishly painted white walls behind her.

'Shit shit shit. I'd better get my dress on. Oh God.' Julia's fingers  flew to her cheeks, pressing tight. She'd squeezed her eyes shut. 'I've  got a headache. I've drunk too much champagne. Where are my shoes?'

Lizzie gently pressed Julia backwards onto the king-sized bed in the  all-white bedroom. Julia didn't fight it, but sat, shoulders slumped,  her chin dropped to her chest.

'Jools, you haven't had too much to drink. This is just nerves.'

Julia opened one eye carefully, then the other. 'I don't think so.'

'Don't worry. Just relax and take a deep breath. Or maybe three.'

'You're right. I need to stop. Breathe. And not hyperventilate because that would be bad. Very bad.'

'What a good idea.' Lizzie dropped to her knees in front of her best  friend. 'Stop with the panicking and keep breathing. Everything is here.  I've made sure of it. All you have to do is get dressed, check your  lipstick, and then go marry that man of yours.'