‘We’re ready in here, sweetie,’ Leonie called through the door. ‘How are you going?’
‘Won’t be a sec,’ Nicole answered. ‘My phone’s ringing. Tell Kat not to panic. It doesn’t matter if we’re a little bit late. Hugh’s not going anywhere.’
Kathryn smiled at Nicole calling her Kat, Hugh’s nickname for her having already caught on with most of his friends.
Kathryn was still surprised by how much she’d taken to Russell’s wife, and vice versa, Nicole having been very warm and welcoming after her return to Sydney with Hugh. It seemed only natural that Kathryn would invite Nicole to be her chief bridesmaid opposite Russell’s best man. She would have asked James’s wife to be a bridesmaid as well—and it would have been nice for Hugh to have his two best friends stand by his side at his wedding—but Hugh said James thought Megan wasn’t up to it just yet.
Poor Megan. Apparently, she’d taken her miscarriage very hard, and rarely left the house any more. She hadn’t done any socialising at all over the months since it had happened, James only just managing to persuade her to come to Hugh’s wedding as a guest.
Kathryn felt very sorry for her.
The interconnecting door opened and Nicole walked in looking elegantly beautiful in the pale green evening gown which Leonie had chosen for her.
‘Oh, you look so gorgeous!’ Nicole exclaimed on seeing the bride in full regalia for the first time.
Kathryn knew that she would never be as stunning-looking as Nicole. But even she could see that today she looked pretty amazing, her designer-made wedding dress having a style which suited her hourglass figure to perfection. Her full breasts looked great in the strapless, tightly fitted diamanté bodice, which was overlaid with lace and studded with pearls. Her tiny waistline would have rivalled Scarlett O’Hara’s, even without a corset to pull it in, though perhaps this was an illusion created by the dress’s full and very feminine skirt.
Her hair and make-up had been attended to this morning by a top beauty salon in Double Bay, Kathryn very pleased with the end result. Her thick, glossy dark hair was up, but not severely, several softly curled strands framing her superbly made-up face. Her long lace-edged tulle veil was anchored by a simple row of small white roses, which matched her white rose bouquet. Small pearl drops hung from her ears and a single strand of Paspali pearls—a wedding present from Hugh—adorned her neck.
All in all, Kathryn knew she would never look better.
‘Thank you,’ she replied. ‘You look pretty amazing yourself.’
‘Green does suit me,’ Nicole said. ‘That was Russell on the phone just now. He said he can’t believe how calm Hugh is. You’ve had a wonderful effect on him, Kathryn.’
‘He’s had a wonderful effect on me,’ she said, thinking how Hugh’s more easy-going nature had begun to rub off on her.
‘Russell also said we should consider making an appearance soon,’ Nicole added. ‘He said if we were fashionably late, we might miss the sunset, which I’m told is one in a million today.’
‘OK, I’ll go get Max,’ Leonie said.
‘Max?’ Nicole echoed when Leonie disappeared. ‘Who’s Max?’
Kathryn smiled. ‘He’s on the board of directors at Parkinson Media. The only one Hugh likes. Hugh asked him if he would give me away and he agreed.’
‘How strange.’
‘Not really. He’s a nice man and I didn’t have anyone else.’
Nicole’s heart turned over at this sad state of affairs. She’d learned quite a bit about Kathryn over the last two months, though most of it had been from Hugh, not Kathryn herself.
Kathryn was not a girl who confided easily. She was a bit like Megan in that regard. Though Megan was more shy than wary.
From what Hugh had told Nicole, Kathryn had every reason to be less than trusting of people and friendship. But Nicole could see a big change in Hugh’s choice of wife over the past few weeks. She’d become much less uptight and a lot more open.
Max arrived, a tall, ruddy-faced, once-handsome gentleman in his late sixties. Nicole was glad when his attention was all for the bride, Max gushing and fussing over her before leading a beaming Kathryn out into the corridor.
Nicole exchanged wide smiles with Leonie. ‘This is going to be a very happy day,’ she said.
As Hugh stood on the deck, waiting for Kathryn to make an appearance, he wasn’t quite as calm as Russell presumed. He felt impatient and somewhat irritated, mostly with his father, whose announcement a short while ago that he was going to remarry Hugh’s mother as soon as it was legally allowed not sitting well with Hugh.