The Guest List (16 page)

‘Well, I wasn’t sure if Mum had called you yet . . .’

Danielle’s breath caught. Oh no, was it her dad? Was there something wrong with him? Danielle adored Mick; he was the only one in the family who understood her, and the only one who’d stood up for her and considered her feelings back then . . .

‘No, she hasn’t,’ she interrupted quickly, her heart racing, wishing Cara would just get the news over and done with.

‘Oh, well, right. Well, I didn’t think she had rung you about it, but I just wanted to check.’

‘Rung me about what?’ Danielle was getting seriously agitated. She hated to have her aura poisoned by negative thoughts, which funnily enough is what any contact with her family usually provoked.

‘Well, I have some news,’ Cara sang happily. ‘I’m engaged!’

Engaged . . . Automatically, Danielle felt herself exhale. There was no bad news, nothing to get upset about. Cara was getting married to . . . yes, Shane. That was his name, she thought. Her sister was getting married to Shane, which probably meant some big affair back home. She recalled that his parents were big cheeses of some kind.

Then she felt her anxiety rise once again. Cara would probably want her there, like Heidi had wanted her for her wedding a year before. But of course, that couldn’t happen. Danielle had promptly brushed the invitation off with a long, confusing saga about work commitments. And like it or not, there was no way she would be able to attend this wedding either.

She quickly struggled to think of an excuse to have ready before Cara got the chance to ask. ‘Well, congratulations,’ she said, meaning it and feeling some of her normal control and confidence reassert itself. Of course she could manage this. Nothing to worry about here. ‘So I guess the wedding plans are well under way then? Mum in the middle of it all again, I suppose, bossing everyone around and foisting her ideas on you,’ she added, trying to keep some of the bitterness out of her voice.

Deflect the conversation, keep Cara talking, signal in advance how busy you are, then she might not ask you to be a bridesmaid
, she mentored herself.

‘You know her too well!’ Cara laughed. ‘Truthfully, she has been a little bit . . . bossy,’ she added reluctantly, and Danielle recalled how close Betty and Cara were. Clearly her mother’s true colours were showing through now though. ‘I’ve never seen this side to her before. Talking about this dress and that centrepiece, and who would look best in whichever colour . . . it’s all a bit crazy.’

Danielle couldn’t help but smile. To be fair, Cara was great. There was no pretentiousness with her (compared to the dreadful Heidi) and she supposed, in another life, it would have been nice to have had a closer relationship with her, but so much time had passed . . .

‘So have you set a date?’ she asked, wheedling. ‘I’m assuming . . . Shane just asked you . . .’ Danielle winced, sorely hoping she’d remembered Cara’s boyfriend’s name correctly.

‘Yes, he proposed a couple of weeks ago. I’m actually really surprised Mum didn’t call you,’ Cara said, and a touch of regret entered her voice. ‘I would have myself otherwise . . .’

Well, I’m not surprised in the least,
Danielle thought sourly.

‘I guess she just forgot about it in the midst of all the celebrations—’

‘But didn’t she call about you Heidi’s engagement that time?’ Cara pressed. ‘Oh and speaking of Heidi, I’m sure that if Mum didn’t phone about me, she hardly phoned about that either. Our little sister has a baby on the way, can you believe it? Heidi as a mum. I don’t know about you but she’s been the baby herself in the family for so long I find it hard to imagine,’ she added conversationally. ‘And so is Kim for that matter, pregnant I mean. So there you go; all the news.’

Despite herself, Danielle felt wounded.
A wedding and two babies, and not a single phone call?
Wow, it was pretty obvious where she stood in the family dynamic.

‘Sounds like you’ve all been very busy,’ she said, injecting some enthusiasm into her tone. She supposed she should feel upset about her disintegrated relationship with her family, and the fact that she was clearly the black sheep of the bunch, barely even deserving of a phone call these days, but in all honesty, she wasn’t upset at all. In a way, she was relieved. Happy even. If they couldn’t be bothered to tell her this kind of news then surely no one would expect her to be an active participant in what was happening. Which was why she felt confident about her next question. ‘So when’s the big day,
your
big day I mean?’

‘Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about,’ Cara said, sounding excited. ‘We haven’t set a date or anything and actually you’re the first person I’ve spoken to about this, because I’m kinda nervous about how everyone will react when we tell them. You see, it hasn’t been easy lately. Not at all.’

‘Spoken to about what?’ Danielle asked, intrigued even as her instincts were urging her to back away and just stay out of it, whatever it was. However, she couldn’t help but wonder what role she could possibly play in all of this, and was even more curious as to why Cara would be turning to her, instead of Betty or indeed Kim. Over the years she’d always got the impression Ben’s wife and Cara were close.

‘Well, like you said, Mum is all set on the notion of a big traditional white wedding along the lines of Heidi’s; the church, humongous dress, a guest list in the hundreds, you know yourself. And really Shane and I aren’t interested in any of that. What’s more, his parents are barely speaking to us – strike that, they aren’t talking to us
at all
because when we told them about our engagement, they immediately offered to pay for the wedding because they wanted to invite all of their society friends and have their own version of a shindig.’ She sighed deeply. ‘So it’s all a bit mad really. But at the end of the day, Shane and I realise now that we just want a small wedding, something intimate with just family and close friends. You know, the people we love.’

Danielle still wasn’t sure how any of this could possibly involve her. ‘So, if you want a small wedding just have a small wedding, sweetheart,’ she advised warmly. She quite liked the notion that Cara had sought her out for advice and that things weren’t always so rosy with Betty.

‘Well, that’s just the thing,’ Cara said. ‘We don’t know how we could possibly make that happen without loads more interference, and people trying to take control. So we’ve decided that we should look away from Ireland and just take off, preferably somewhere warm, and have a beach wedding.’

Danielle paused, as she immediately began to see the pieces fall into place. She knew where people usually had beach weddings – on paradise islands like Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, all of which were practically in her backyard.

Cara continued. ‘So we’ve picked up some brochures and information on various locations that might be suitable, but I was wondering if maybe you could give me a little insight as we’ve never been to any of these places, and really, it seems like you’ve been
everywhere
.’

Danielle breathed deeply. OK, that sounded harmless enough. Cara was just looking for travel advice. She could do travel advice.

‘Well,’ she said lightly, hoping that she could manipulate the conversation a little. ‘Where were you thinking? Barcelona? Sicily? Lake Garda? Maybe Capri?’ Best to try and keep them on that side of the pond, definitely.

‘Oh!’ Cara exclaimed, as if she hadn’t thought of those places before. ‘Well, actually, we were thinking somewhere tropical. For a real beach wedding—’

‘Yes, but there are beaches in France and Italy too.’

‘Yes, I suppose there are,’ Cara agreed. ‘But we’re thinking October, and the weather isn’t great in the Med round then. Actually, we have our hearts set on the Caribbean to be honest. White sands, turquoise waters . . . the whole paradise island thing; what do you think?’

Danielle felt her heart race. The last thing she wanted was her entire family coming over in this direction. Most of the Caribbean islands were barely a couple of hours’ plane ride away. If they were all here, she would
have
to see them, Betty too. And that would be a recipe for disaster.

She had to think fast.

‘I get your thinking but I doubt there’s any way Mum will go for that. I take it she’s still never been abroad? Actually, are you sure she even has a passport?’ she added jokingly. She bit her lip, hating having to play on Cara’s insecurities, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

She heard Cara sigh heavily. ‘To be honest, I never really considered that . . .’ The poor thing’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Danielle knew that whether she liked it or not, she was being sucked further into this. She knew she needed to change Cara’s mind, and try and prevent her from getting married in this part of the world, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt her feelings either. Cara had never done anything wrong and she wouldn’t remember all that had gone on between Danielle and Betty back then.

Still Danielle’s fight or flight response was winning out.

‘And what about Heidi?’ she pointed out. ‘As she’s pregnant, she might not want to fly, nor Kim for that matter. And if they didn’t want to go all the way to the Caribbean, then have you considered that you and . . . Shane might have nobody at all at your wedding?’

‘Well, you’d come, surely?’ Cara said in a small voice.

Oh shit. How to answer that?

Danielle tried to dodge the point-blank question. ‘That’s not really the point I’m trying to make, Cara. You said that it was important that the people who matter most are there to share the day with you – Mum and Dad and the rest of the family of course. So, at least if you get married back home, they would definitely be there, no questions asked.’

She hoped that alluding to the fact that herself and Cara were not all that close might hit home a little.

‘Besides, how do you even begin to plan a wedding from an ocean away? Oh, I’m sure all the brochures look great and they say they have wedding planners on site, and all of that stuff, but have either of you actually ever been to the Caribbean, Cara? Really, it’s horrible. Humid as hell, bugs everywhere . . . plus too many damn tourists.’

‘But you go there all the time, don’t you? I think the last time we spoke, you and Zack had just come back from St Lucia and you said it was amazing. That you couldn’t wait to go back, and that you were even considering buying property there. We have a brochure here for St Lucia . . . we could maybe do it there?’ Cara suggested hopefully.

It was true, Danielle did love St Lucia. But she loved it with Zack, or on her own. Not with the Irish crew in tow. She couldn’t even begin to imagine that brood in her vacation paradise.

‘Well, St Lucia is one of the more expensive islands. I mean, yes, it’s lovely, but it is
very
expensive. I’m not sure if you could afford it if you are trying to keep prices reasonable. Dominican Republic is cheap, so is Jamaica, but unfortunately you can’t leave the resorts without seeing armed soldiers everywhere. Not the most romantic backdrop for a wedding.’

Cara sighed again, and when she finally spoke her voice was thick, as if she was trying to hold back tears. ‘I’m sorry, maybe you’re right. I just thought . . . I just hoped that maybe I could get some advice from someone who wasn’t so invested in all of this – someone objective – but this is just turning into a nightmare.’ She breathed heavily. ‘I’m just trying to do something that will be good for me and Shane, while also involving the people I love most, my family. But I don’t want to disappoint Mum and Dad either. I just don’t see how I’m going to make anyone happy. There are so many roadblocks. And it just seems that every possible solution I consider turns out to be a dead end and now I feel like an idiot for considering this too. Sorry to rant by the way, I’ll let you go.’

Danielle felt terrible. She was being a complete cow in her attempt at self-preservation, and completely discounting poor Cara’s feelings. ‘Cara, I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have been so blunt. St Lucia is really lovely, it’s a beautiful place and you know, maybe it might be affordable after all. Now, I can’t make any promises, but I know some people who run resorts on the island, and maybe I could, you know, maybe put you in touch with a couple of them, see if you can’t get some specials? I mean, again, no promises.’

At this, Cara’s mood changed immediately and Danielle could almost feel her excitement surge through the phone. ‘Oh Danielle, would you really? Oh that would be wonderful! I would so appreciate it. As I said, we really just want something simple for our wedding, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy. Just somewhere warm, some white sand and a pretty spot on the beach.’ She laughed. ‘I honestly think everyone will be excited once they hear about what we have planned – it’ll be like a big family holiday after all!’

Danielle nodded and looked towards her patio windows. The hot Florida sun was high over the ocean – her ocean. That’s how she had thought of it since buying this wonderful beachfront property in Fort Lauderdale almost fifteen years ago.

Sure, she could put Cara in touch with some people on the island, people who might know the best resort in which to host a wedding. No big deal, right? It didn’t mean it was a
done
deal. Plus, she was banking on the fact that her mother would explode in a fit of rage at the prospect of her favourite daughter, her precious Cara, getting married on some beach in a foreign country.

‘Oh Danielle, it would just be perfect,’ Cara enthused. ‘And it would be so close for you too. And the perfect excuse for us all get to meet Zack too!’

Danielle’s eyes widened.
Zack, meeting her family? That was so not gonna happen.
No, absolutely not.

‘Let’s take it one step at a time, shall we?’ she said, trying to keep her voice even.

‘Oh yes, yes, of course. Danielle, thank you so much for your help. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate you putting me in touch with the people you know.’

‘I’ll email you the information later, OK?’

‘Today?’

‘Sure.’

‘Oh, fantastic,’ Cara gushed happily. ‘Thank you so much. I feel so positive now that things will just all work out – and as soon as I know anything, I’ll be sure to let you know. And I can’t wait to see you either! It’s been way too long.’