“How are you feeling?”
“Annoyed, frustrated, resentful.”
“Mum says she’s sorry, if that’s any consolation.” Sal handed me my drink.
I sneered. “Sorry I’m not grateful?”
My sister chuckled. “For the upset she’s caused.”
“Bet she still doesn’t know why I feel the way I do though, eh?”
Sal shook her head. “Not really, no. But she did try to understand.”
“I suppose that’s something.” I sighed. “Why does she do these things, Sal?”
“I’m not going to even try to figure out how that woman’s brain works.”
I sipped on my tea. “Leo thinks she’s trying to help.”
“For what it’s worth, so do I.”
I looked at Sal, aghast. “Really?”
“As much as she’s a pain in the ass and I’m convinced would like nothing more than to compete with the likes of Louise Patterson, she isn’t vindictive. There’s more to it. She genuinely thinks she’s being supportive and making sure you have the best of everything. And once she gets an idea in her head…”
“There’s no stopping her?”
“Exactly.”
“To be fair, she said as much herself. After introducing me to her wedding planner friend.” As I pictured Gregbrook Manor’s beautiful orangery, packed with people I barely knew, I wondered what it was about small and intimate that Mum didn’t get? “It’s just not the wedding we want, Sal. And now she’s paid out a fortune, how can we say no? Even if she only handed over a deposit, it’ll be a sum and a half, and I bet it’s non-refundable.”
“Simply thank her for the offer and tell her it’s not for you.”
“Is that what you’d do?”
“If I could afford to pay her outlay back, then yes.”
“And if you couldn’t?”
Sal fell quiet for a moment. “On another note, it was good to see you stick up for yourself for once.”
“It didn’t feel good. Why do you think I walked out?”
My sister smiled. “Between the two of us, you’ve always been the lover. I’m the fighter.”
I pondered over our differences. “Why is that? Why do you get to be stubborn and defiant, while I’m anything but?”
“Because I’m the oldest, maybe?”
“I hope you’re not suggesting I’ve been babied. We share the same mother, remember.”
Sal laughed. “You definitely take after Dad.”
“Does that mean you take after…?”
“Don’t even say it.”
With my thoughts returning to the matter at hand, I took a deep breath and exhaled. “Well, it looks like our little church ceremony is off.”
