Page 30

CHAPTER 30

HEL

H el stared at herself in the full-length mirror and swished her skirt around. The bridesmaid’s dress was the most fantastic thing she had ever worn. It was pale green—which complimented her hair perfectly—fitted in the bodice, with cap sleeves, and a gauzy skirt which moved beautifully as she walked. She took her phone out and took a mirror selfie, sending it to her mum.

Sadie was dressed in an identical style, but her’s was a pale blue. She stood next to Hel, examining her face in the mirror.

“This makeup is incredible.” Sadie reached up to poke at her cheek when the makeup artist, who was standing on the other side of the room, packing up her brushes, called out.

“Don’t you dare touch your face!”

“Sorry.” Sadie dropped her hand. “You’re a real artist. Thank you so much. I feel amazing.”

The woman waved. “Thanks. Now ladies, I’ll be around all day, so if you need any touch-ups, come and find me.”

“Thanks,” Hel called out as the woman left. “She is a wizard. We both look amazing.”

“Hey,” Sadie said in a mock-angry voice. “Are you saying we usually look bad?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m saying we don’t usually look like this.” She gestured to the mirror.

“True,” Sadie agreed. “But Clara would not have been impressed if we’d turned up in scrubs.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t have been impressed. But it would have been comfortable.” Clara floated into the room in a gown which stole both of their breaths away.

“Holy shit,” Hel exclaimed. Neither of them had seen the dress before; because of work and with the short timeline, they hadn’t been able to go to any fittings with their friend.

“I know, right!” Clara’s eyes sparkled.

Her hair was plaited in a glossy braid, woven with flowers, which snaked down her back. Her makeup was subtle, like theirs, but enhanced all her features. And the dress, the dress was exquisite. The bodice was the same style as the bridesmaids, fitted with cap sleeves and a V-neck, but while theirs was plain, hers shimmered with what looked like a million pinpoints of light.

When Hel bent forward for a better look, she saw each one was a tiny sparkling bead placed individually.

“They’re crystals.” Clara bounced with excitement.

“I can see that,” Hel said dryly.

“Sorry, I’m excited.” Clara bounced some more on the spot. Her flowing skirt, which was also decorated with beads and had a short train, swirled around her legs. “And guess what shoes I have?”

Hel assumed Dior or Louboutin’s. But when Clara pulled up her skirt to show them, she barked in surprise.

“You have not!” Sadie cackled.

“I totally have.” Clara danced some more, showing off her silver crystal-encrusted baseball boots.

“Those are amazing.” Hel bent to examine them, feeling slightly envious as she had boring green sandals.

“I’m glad you said that. I got you both a present.” Clara dashed out of the room for a moment before she came back in, clutching two shoeboxes. “I hope they’re the right size.” She handed one box to each of her bridesmaids.

Hel opened the lid of hers, beamed in excitement, and joined Clara in her bouncing. Nestled inside were crystal-encrusted baseball boots, but while Clara’s were silver, hers were green to match her dress. Glancing over, she saw Sadie had a blue pair and looked as delighted as she did.

“These are fabulous. I love them. Thank you so much.” Hel leaned forward and gave Clara a hug, then sat down to put them on.

She began laughing when she put her hand in one of the shoes and pulled out a pair of socks.

Sadie had found her socks and was giggling too. “You thought of everything!” she exclaimed.

“You needed socks.” Clara shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You have unlimited money to spend on this wedding, and you choose to buy blinged-up booties rather than real shoes, and you give them to your bridesmaids. You’re all grown women, not teenage boys,” Clara’s mum complained as she walked into the room.

“Don’t grumble, Julia. No one’s going to see them,” Gloria chided her gently as she followed along behind her, subtly picking up her skirt from the floor to show off her own pair of crystal baseball boots. They were gold to match the gold swirls on her gown. “And when your feet start hurting in those shoes.” She pointed to Julia’s pumps, which were silk-dyed to match her blue silk dress. “We have a pair for you as well.”

Julia’s eyes bulged a little bit, and Hel bit her lip so she didn’t laugh at Clara’s poor mum, who was clearly overwhelmed by Gloria and the whole event.

The wedding planner flew into the room, talking rapidly into her headset as she walked, stopping any more discussion about shoes.

“Okay, ladies. We’re running six minutes behind schedule, so I’m going to need you to hustle. Gloria, you need to get in place ready to walk Taylor to the front. Julia, you should already be in your position in the front row.” The wedding planner didn’t wait for the women to reply, assuming they would obey her orders. “Bridal party. I need you in position at the end of the aisle. We have T-minus ten minutes until you walk down the aisle.”

“Yes, Monica,” Clara agreed, and the wedding planner swept back out of the room. As soon as the door was safely closed she said, “She’s terrifying. Can you see why I was scared?”

“Yup!” Hel really could. That was a woman who didn’t take no for an answer.

At work, there were a few of the in-charge nurses she was secretly a little terrified of and one of them not so secretly. But the wedding planner took it to a whole other level.

“Come on, Gloria, she said we had to go.” Julie linked arms with Gloria and began to tug.

“We won’t be late. The wedding will wait for us.” Gloria wafted her arm through the air and strolled along, not one to be rushed.

Clara laughed at the two older women as her mum nearly dragged Gloria out the door.

“Dad’s outside waiting,” Julia called before the door shut.

“Thanks, Mum. I’ll be out in a minute, Dad,” Clara yelled.

Clara took a deep breath and then another. Sadie put her hand on her arm, concern clouding her face.

“Are you okay? Don’t cry. Your makeup is spectacular. Do not ruin it before the photos,” Sadie chided.

Which had the desired effect, as instead of crying, Clara giggled and squealed. “Oh my! This is it! I am going to be Doctor Clara Anderson.”

“You’re changing your name?” Hel asked in surprise. She was sure Clara had said she wasn’t going to.

“Nope! It’s just fun to say. I’m keeping Doctor Upford. I earned it, and it’s mine.”

Hel wondered for a moment what she would do if she got married, would she keep her name or change it, and her heart sank at the thought. She was single, as a pringle, and couldn’t imagine meeting anyone she would like enough to marry.

A very inconvenient part of her brain chose that moment to remind her of a certain hockey player it liked. In fact, it really liked. So much that it chose to think about him roughly every five minutes when she was awake and dreamt about him most nights.

That part of her brain wished she could push the sensible bit of her that stopped her from saying yes to dating him, even though he was leaving, out of the window. Why couldn’t she be the person who said, so what if he was going? So what if she got her heart broken? She should go for it. But she wasn’t that person, and even if she wanted to say them, the words would never come out.

“Tick-tock, ladies,” the wedding planner yelled through the door.

“Terrifying,” Clara whispered before the three of them dutifully filed out of the room.

Hel stood shoulder to shoulder with Sadie, ready to proceed Clara down the aisle, which was set up outside Clara and Taylor’s house. The chairs were in the shade of the gum trees, and a gentle breeze blew the guests’ hair as they sat waiting for Clara on the beautiful spring afternoon.

Taylor had his back to them, having been instructed by the—definitely terrifying—wedding planner that he wasn’t allowed to turn around to face the bridal party until the music started.

The night before, when they rehearsed, every time he turned around, he had something stuck to his face. The first time, it was Bruce the beard, then he had a clown nose, and then stupid glasses. Every time Hel, Clara and Sadie fell about laughing, and the wedding coordinator made them start again until she finally got sick of them and said they could skip rehearsing that bit.

Hel stiffened when her eyes caught on the back of a man’s head. He had broad shoulders and sandy hair. For a moment, she thought it was Frost, which was ridiculous wishful thinking on her part.

The music started, and all the guests turned to face the bridal party, where they stood at the back of the aisle. Hel took one step forward, then froze when a pair of emerald eyes caught her gaze, and Frost gave her a lop-sided smile.

He was here? How was he here?

Sadie must have realised Hel wasn’t next to her and stopped, stepping back so she was level with the other bridesmaid.

“Are you okay?” Sadie whispered.

“Frost’s here,” Hel murmured back.

“Oh, yeah. That was her. She told me not to tell you.” Sadie pointed her thumb over her shoulder at Clara.

Hel turned to look at Clara, who smiled. “This is your one perfect date.”

Could she? Did she want this to be real? Glancing back at Frost, she saw his eyebrows lift in question, and she couldn’t think of anything she wanted more. One perfect date with him.

She smiled at him and gave him a small nod. His face lit up with a grin in return, and Hel turned back to Clara, blinking back the tears that had sprung into her eyes.

“Thank you,” she murmured to her friend.

“You’re welcome.” Clara grinned broadly. “Now, if you could get walking. I’m pretty keen to marry the man standing looking incredible in a suit at the front.” She made a shooing gesture.

Hel turned back around, took a deep breath and made her feet move. Somehow, as she walked down the aisle, she managed not to look over at Frost as she passed him, but she knew his gaze didn’t leave her the whole time.

Standing beside Clara as she married the love of her life, Hel marvelled at the situation her friend found herself in. Marrying one of Hollywood’s leading men in the Australian bush.

While they took their vows, to avoid staring at Frost—which is what she wanted to do—she surveyed the crowd. The whole pub quiz team was there, a few doctors and nurses from work. A group of what she assumed were Clara’s more distant relatives.

And then there were Taylor’s friends, who were a very glamorous bunch. She saw a heap of faces she recognised, including Devon LaSalle, who was the lead actress from Dreamless Sleep, the movie Taylor had been shadowing Clara to research.

Even though she tried so hard, her eyes kept finding their way back to Frost’s, and in the end, she stopped trying to avoid his gaze and stared back at him.

The sensible part of her brain attempted to make a comment, to tell her he was leaving, but the words Clara had said rang around in her head. This was her chance to have one perfect date with him, and she wanted it too badly to refuse it now.

Hel tuned back in when the celebrant said, “You may now kiss the bride.”

She joined in the clapping and cheering when Taylor took hold of Clara and dipped her backwards before he kissed her. Clara clutched onto his shoulders and kissed him back with enthusiasm.

Oh no, Hel knew it was their wedding, but she did not need to witness this amount of ‘public displays of affection’ between the two of them, and neither did the guests. After thirty seconds, she leaned forward and tapped Clara on the shoulder.

Clara opened her eyes, realisation dawning in them, and she pulled away from Taylor, a blush rising up her cheeks. He turned his head to look at their guests and began to laugh, straightening them both back up again. Smoothing down Clara’s hair, he lifted the hand with the ring on it and kissed her knuckles.

And swoon . Hel froze mentally. Had she said, swoon, in her head? She really should get a grip. Her eyes found Frost’s, and she heard herself think it again. Swoon.

Giving herself an internal eye-roll, she managed to only look at Frost twice for the rest of the ceremony. Okay, maybe it was six times. Okay, she stared at him constantly and wasn’t even ashamed to admit it.

And the best bit was that he stared straight back at her. He was surrounded by Hollywood glamour, and he seemed to only have eyes for her. Swoon.

That time, the eye-roll made it to the outside, and when she finished rolling her eyes, she blushed when she noticed the photographer taking photos in her direction, she hoped her very unattractive face-pulling hadn’t been caught on camera.