Paradise (32 page)

Alisha then wandered into the room. ‘Wow, I see Simone hasn’t got her hands on this room yet! D’you know, I counted twenty-five pictures of her, including one of her butt naked right above their bed when I sneaked in the bedroom to take a look.’

‘Where is their bedroom? I’ll have to check that out,’ Logan joked. ‘Not that Simone is my type, baby, way too skinny. But just for research. How about we get one of you for our bedroom?’ he added quickly.

‘Yeah, ’cos I would just love the boys seeing that!’

‘What about you just do the picture for me to have in my wallet, for my own personal use?’

‘And your team mates, when you get drunk and show them? Dream on. Anyway, I came to tell you guys that the happy couple are about to do a toast and cut the cake.’

Angel and Ethan had just walked back into the vast living room when they came face to face with Benny Sullivan.

‘Ethan, long time no see!’ Benny gave a fake smile, flashing his whiter-than-white teeth. He made to shake Ethan’s hand, but Ethan didn’t offer his.

‘Let’s not pretend to be friends, Benny.’

He dropped the pretence of being nice. ‘Fuck you, Ethan,’ he muttered, then moved away as Matthew clapped his hands together and called out, ‘Hey, guys, we’re going to do the cake thing now.’

Everyone stopped talking then and faced Matthew, who was red-faced with embarrassment. He certainly wasn’t good at public speaking but spluttered out his thanks to everyone for coming.

Simone took over then, saying smoothly, ‘I know some of you were probably surprised by our engagement, but all I can say is that when you meet the right person, you just know, don’t you?’ It was the same speech she’d delivered when she’d come round for dinner and she’d obviously been working on it since as she sounded very sweet and loving. Angel sensed that she was winning over the doubters. ‘I guess you all know that I’m slightly older than Matthew, and when I met him I’d almost lost my faith in love. He’s restored that. Now all I want to do is spend the rest of my life with this gorgeous man.’ Steady on! Angel thought. Gorgeous was surely pushing it? And as for
slightly
older . . . well, that really was a stretch. Simone was easily ten years older. But no one else seemed to share Angel’s cynicism. There was a collective ‘Ah’ from the audience and someone started the clapping.

Benny cut across the applause then to call out, ‘Let’s have a toast to the happy couple – Matthew and Simone!’ Everyone raised their glasses and dutifully repeated ‘Matthew and Simone’.

But Benny hadn’t finished. ‘There’s so much love in the room, I can almost feel it. I think we should have a toast to love!’

‘Can you pass me a bucket so I can throw up?’ Ethan whispered into Angel’s ear as everyone once more raised their glasses. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

ANGEL SAT UP
in bed. She’d had the dream again . . . the one about her wedding. She was walking up the aisle, Ethan was standing in front of her with his back to her, and then when she reached him he would turn round and she would see that his face was blank. It was the most disturbing sight.

Beside her he lay sleeping peacefully. She lay back down and curled her body round his, trying to feel reassured by his warmth, but couldn’t get back to sleep again. The wedding was now only three days away. Cal had left more messages, but as before Angel had ruthlessly deleted them. There was speculation in the UK press that he and Madeleine were to be married after the baby was born. And everyone will live happily ever after, Angel thought bitterly.

She had done her best to throw herself into the preparations for the wedding. Fortunately Ethan had hired a wedding planner, so that had taken away a lot of the pressure, and Angel just had to sign off the catering, flowers and music, and get Honey and Megan fitted in their flower girl dresses. She felt as if she was going through the motions. Everything she did took her further and further away from Cal. She forced herself not to think about the passionate time they had spent together in Brighton, but too
often the memories would flood her mind. She would be making love with Ethan and have her eyes closed, and when she opened them it would be a shock to see that it was him and not Cal. Maybe when she was married she would stop thinking of Cal. She could close the door on that part of her life. Somehow she doubted it.

She finally fell asleep around 6 a.m. and didn’t hear Ethan leave for training. When she woke at 9 she had a mad dash to get ready and pick up Gemma, Jez and Rufus from the airport.

‘You look more knackered than we do!’ Gemma exclaimed when she saw her friend at Arrivals.

‘Don’t say that!’

‘Ignore her, you don’t look so bad,’ Jez declared, giving Angel a welcome hug. They headed towards the exit. ‘Are you all right?’ he whispered while Gemma and Rufus walked ahead of them.

‘Not really,’ Angel admitted. ‘I just want this to be over and done with. But it’s only pre-wedding nerves, isn’t it?’

Jez sighed, ‘When I married Rufus it was the happiest day of my life. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but don’t you think that’s how you should be thinking of your wedding day? Not as something you need to get over and done with.’

Angel couldn’t bring herself to answer. Back at the house the friends chilled out by the pool. Fortunately Gemma was too jetlagged to notice that Angel seemed subdued, and Rufus was too discreet to say anything. In the early evening they all went out for a supper at Spago and met up with Ethan. But even with the company of her friends, Angel still felt flat. Jez seemed to sense this and compensated by being extra-flamboyant.

‘Should you two even be together so close to the wedding?’ he said at one point, in mock-horror. ‘Shouldn’t Ethan be staying in a bachelor pad and relishing his last few days of freedom? Some kind of James Bond-type luxe apartment with bikini-ed lovelies, wearing flowers in their hair – I’m thinking purple orchids or some kind of hibiscus – tending to his every whim, but obviously not crossing the line.’

Ethan smiled. ‘It’s an interesting thought. I was considering spending the night before the wedding away from Angel, but at a hotel. I was thinking more along the lines of me and Logan having a steak, shooting some pool and watching a movie. Logan doesn’t look good in a bikini, and his hair is way too short to have flowers in it.’ He turned to Angel. ‘What do you say? I just thought it might make the wedding night feel even more special if we’d been apart.’

Angel, who could only get through the nights knowing that Ethan was beside her, felt her spirits plummet at the prospect. ‘I’ll miss you,’ she said quietly.

‘It’ll be for one night,’ he said. ‘And just think, you can hang out with Gemma, Jez and Rufus. Knock yourself out on Marmite sandwiches and watch a rom com.’

‘Perlease!’ said Jez, outraged. ‘We’ll watch something French and sophisticated.’

‘Yeah, right.’ Ethan had Jez’s number now. ‘I know for a fact that it will be a rom com, something with Sarah Jessica Parker or Sandra Bullock in it, so don’t pretend otherwise.’

‘Oh, all right,’ Jez muttered, and turned to Angel. ‘So can we?’

She felt that a horror film was probably more suited to her mood right now. It would at least take her mind off her own worries. ‘Sure, Jez, so long as you promise not to blub.’

‘And don’t forget, you need to pack for the honeymoon.’ Ethan reminded her.

After the reception he was whisking her away for four days, while Angel’s mum and dad looked after Honey. He hadn’t yet told her where. ‘Though you won’t need any clothes for what I’ve got planned,’ he said flirtatiously.

Angel forced a smile. Perhaps by the time they went on honeymoon she wouldn’t have this sick feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Back at the house the marquees had been put up in the garden along with the fairy lights in the trees. The following day the flowers would arrive, along with the champagne and wine. Plus her mum, dad and Tony had arrived and checked into their hotel.

‘Only one more day to go before you’re Mrs Turner,’ Ethan said as they snuggled up in bed later that night. ‘I cannot wait!’ He sounded blissfully happy. Not for Ethan the pre-wedding jitters, the niggling worry that he was signing away his freedom.

‘Nor can I,’ Angel said, knowing that was what was expected. I do love this man, she reminded herself as she lay awake for the next few hours, listening to Ethan’s even breathing while he slept. But when she finally fell asleep once again her dreams were full of Cal. She was running after him and never quite able to catch up with him. He remained out of reach.

‘Just as well we’re going to the spa today, you look like shit!’ Gemma exclaimed when she saw Angel at breakfast by the pool.

Angel groaned. She could do without Gemma being quite so plain-speaking for once. ‘Do I really look that bad? I just haven’t been sleeping lately.’

Gemma took pity on her. ‘Well, obviously, you still look gorgeous . . . just shit by your standards. But I’m
sure today will sort you out.’ She picked up the brochure for One Spa at Shutters on the Beach, which was supposed to be one of the best in LA. ‘I can’t wait to go here! It looks amazing, and it will be so nice to be pampered for a change.’

Angel managed a smile. Today was her treat for her friends and her mum, and usually she’d have been as up for the pampering as they were, but right now she wasn’t bothered if she went or not. It was almost as if she didn’t think she deserved it.

Angel had offered to book places for Tony and her dad, too, but the men had declined and instead were going to play golf with Ethan. He had asked Jez and Rufus along, but Jez looked at him as if he had gone stark raving bonkers. As if he would want to hit a little white ball with a stick when he could be having a Beach Buff!

‘That’s a Swedish Massage and Scrub and Buff with Re-texturising Sea Mineral Scrub followed by Tropical Rain Rinse to you,’ he declared, reading from the brochure. ‘And then I’m having a facial which is an “anti-gravity complexion treatment, a firming oxygenating anti-wrinkle hydrating treatment”, followed by a manicure, and rounding it all off with a pedicure.’

‘You’re going to look so hot after that that I’ll probably fancy you as much as my wife-to-be!’ Ethan teased. ‘Sure you won’t change your mind?’

Jez and Rufus both shook their heads and, after kissing Angel, Ethan set off to pick up Tony and Frank from their hotel and take them to the exclusive golf course where he was a member.

While Jez, Rufus and Gemma tucked into scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, Angel just picked at some fruit salad. She had no appetite.

‘You should eat more than that,’ Gemma told her,
noticing how little Angel had eaten. ‘At this rate Kaz is going to need to alter your dress again! You’ve lost weight since I last saw you.’

Angel grabbed a cup of tea and went upstairs. After her shower she put on a pale pink Juicy Couture tracksuit and the largest pair of sunglasses she owned. Gemma was right, she really did look like shit; she just hoped her friend could work her make-up artist magic on her tomorrow.

Michelle was already at the spa waiting for them. Angel almost cried when she saw her mum. She wished she could tell her what had happened with Cal and ask her if she thought she was doing the right thing marrying Ethan. But she felt that it wouldn’t be fair to burden her so soon after Frank’s illness, and she knew that only she could make up her mind.

Everyone went off happily to get changed into fluffy white robes ready for their various treatments. Angel spent the next couple of hours having a facial that she hoped would make even her tired complexion look peachy again. The therapist knew she was getting married and was so perky and relentlessly cheerful, asking her questions about the wedding, that Angel had to tell her that she had a headache and would she mind not talking. And then it was lunch at One Pico, the lovely outside restaurant with its stunning views of the beach. ‘If only I could have those treatments every single day!’ Jez exclaimed over his shellfish and avocado salad. ‘No wonder celebs look so bloody good if they get pampered like that on a weekly basis.’

‘That was so gorgeous, Angel, thank you so much,’ Michelle said, looking radiant and a good ten years younger. ‘I wish I could have got your dad to come along, it would have done him the world of good.’

Gemma snorted with laughter. ‘I really can’t see
Frank agreeing to that! Can you imagine him stretched out on a massage couch. He’d be so embarrassed he’d probably have to make conversation all the way through and completely ruin the experience.’

‘Yeah, he’d probably start trying to explain the offside rule to the therapist,’ Angel put in. She had ordered the seared tuna Niçoise salad, but yet again found she could barely eat anything and was just pushing the food round on her plate. She hoped Gemma didn’t notice.

Talk turned to the wedding and to speculation about where Ethan was going to take Angel for the honeymoon. Her friends and mum were so happy for her, though Jez would give her an occasional sympathetic look when no one else was looking, guessing that she was obsessing over Cal.

‘Oh, hiya!’ Angel’s party swivelled round to see Simone standing by their table, looking slimmer than ever in white skinny jeans and white halterneck, with a diamond necklace spelling out her name. Angel had one just like it. She hadn’t seen Simone since the party and it definitely wasn’t a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. She remembered their last run in only too clearly.

‘Excited about tomorrow?’ Simone flashed a smile at Angel that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘And Gemma, Jez and Rufus! How lovely to see you!’ She sauntered round the table to treat the three of them to air kisses. She didn’t dare do that with Angel. ‘Did you see the story about Cal and Madeleine planning to get married? It’s wedding bonanza! Soon we’ll all have our own happy ever after, won’t we?’

Angel just looked at her. How could she be so insensitive?

‘So how’s it going with Matthew?’ Gemma asked, diplomatically trying to change the subject and avert a
cat fight. She had noticed the dangerous glint in Angel’s eye, which said she wanted to inflict some serious damage on Simone bitch-face Fraser.