The Guest List (30 page)

‘Well, if you did, surely you would be just as confident as I am that we were going to get through life together, without your trust fund or your inheritance or anything else from your parents. But you are thinking in reverse. You’re thinking about how you are going to get by either with me or by yourself.’

This was turning out horribly. Cara really wanted to throw up.

‘Cara, no. That’s not it, I’m just trying to look at things in a practical and sensible way—’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t want to hear it. It seems that the decision I was ready to make is not the one that you want me to make. I was going to rip this piece of paper up, throw it in the fireplace and torch it and then tell your parents that you and I don’t come with a price tag. At least I thought we didn’t.’

‘Cara—’

‘Don’t “Cara” me, Shane. All throughout our relationship you’ve misled me, and not only that but you made me look like a fool in front of your mother today, me spouting nonsense about how money wasn’t important to you, and that you’d soon tell her to where to stick her agreement. She clearly knows you better than I do,’ she added, resignation in her voice. She couldn’t believe that Shane was doing a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn about his attitude to money.

Now it seemed there was only one thing to say.

‘You know Shane, there is one way that we can get round this entire situation. No more stress, no more worry.’ Cara was surprised at the evenness in her tone; it was as if she was ordering a cup of tea.

‘What’s that?’ Shane asked hopefully.

‘Oh, I think you know.’

‘I don’t. Tell me, please. Honestly, if you can think of a way out of this—’

‘We forget the wedding.’

‘What?’

‘You heard me. We call it off, you don’t lose your inheritance and I don’t become the one responsible for taking it all away.’

‘You can’t be serious,’ Shane replied. The colour had drained from his face. Cara looked at him. Her heart was breaking and she felt as if she was in a dreamlike state, as if she was a third party in the room who was simply a casual observer, a fly on the wall to all that was happening.

She dropped her gaze to the floor. ‘It’s the only answer. Think about it. This engagement, all the wedding plans, have been a disaster from the very beginning. It’s been nothing but refusals, and pushiness, and disapproval, and that was just from our families. And now this, from you. I really thought that you and I were on the same page. Of course, I was mad about this all day, and really very sad that your parents feel that they have to take this route with us, try to and buy us – buy me.’ She sighed deeply. ‘And while I can forgive you not telling me about the contract, I can’t believe that you’re even considering going along with it and giving in to their whims, their need to control things. This is becoming less and less about us, and what we want and value, and all about other people. Shane, I am not for sale. I am not going to budge on this. And it’s not just about the wedding. It’s about the principle.’

She raised her eyes to look at him. ‘Maybe this is the universe’s way of trying to tell us something,’ she continued sadly. ‘Maybe not getting married is the smartest decision.’ She loved Shane, so much, but she was also willing to face the fact that maybe this situation wasn’t right, and they should just call it quits and move on.

‘Cara, I love you—’

‘I love you, too Shane. But I’m not sure if that’s enough any more. Think about if we go through with this. What kind of future relationship will you have with your parents if you refuse them now? How will I ever feel comfortable around your mother? I doubt she’s the forgiving type. She was so threatening today, you should have seen her. And then there’s the money. I honestly don’t think there is anything else I can say about that. You know how I feel about the subject. I don’t want it. But it seems that you do.’

Shane opened his mouth to say something but Cara put up a hand and continued. ‘Do I truly believe that you are as money-obsessed as your parents? No, I don’t. But you are concerned enough about that investment you made that went south to put a value on the money you would be receiving in a few years’ time. The rub is that you didn’t tell me about it. That I am only finding out about this now. Why wouldn’t you tell me something like that? I’m supposed to be your partner. Pretty soon, I’m supposed to be your wife – or
was
supposed to be,’ she added, looking away. ‘I just don’t know why you would leave me out of stuff like this. It makes me wonder what else I don’t know about.’

‘Cara, I’m sorry, I should have said something, but I didn’t think it was a big deal.’

‘Only because you knew you had your parents’ money behind you. But then this situation presented itself and you realised that of course I would have to be told.’

He shook his head. ‘That makes me sound so devious – honestly, it wasn’t like that.’

She bit her lip. ‘In any case Shane, I can’t be responsible for making such a big decision. And I still want the St Lucian wedding – or I did.’

‘Then we’ll do it,’ Shane said, sitting forward determinedly. ‘We will tell my parents to just sod off.’

‘And then we will be right back at square one,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Worse, actually. Think of the long-term effects. If we had kids, would they ever know their grandparents? And then of course, you are apparently worried about a divorce somewhere down the line. Shane, that is not how I work. When I said I’d marry you, as far as I was concerned I was making a lifelong commitment. To me, marriage means that we would be pledging ourselves to each other, and if problems presented themselves in the future, then we’d just work them out together, not head straight for the divorce courts.’

Her eyes started to water as she thought of the beautiful vision she’d had in her mind about how a life with Shane would be. It seemed so elusive now, something that wasn’t hers and maybe had never been.

‘Cara, this can’t be it. I don’t want this to be it. I don’t want us to be over. I love you so much.’ Shane’s voice broke, a sob caught in his throat. ‘I want you to be my wife. Please, honey. Please, let’s just work this out.’ He reached out to her and Cara allowed herself to be pulled in to his embrace.

She felt his warmth and breathed in his scent; everything about him was so familiar but now felt so foreign. She felt as if all truly was lost, and this was the end. She clung to him, as if she could stop time from moving forward, as if she needed to memorise everything about him because soon she would no longer have him in her life. She let the tears in her eyes spill forth and sobbed openly.

This is what heartbreak feels like
, she thought. Every bone in her body wanted to forget about everything that had happened today, but the consequences weighed too heavily on her mind. She thought of the problems that would be caused if they just went ahead and did what they wanted. His parents had stripped them of that right, and she felt deep resentment flood through her body. If they got married, how on earth could she ever forgive his parents, his mother in particular? She would feel resentful of Lauren Richardson every day of her life. That wasn’t healthy, she couldn’t live that way.

Shane and Cara looked into each other’s eyes. He kissed her, tenderly and slowly. He tried to appeal to her, show how much he needed her and wanted her, but Cara couldn’t help but think that it felt like a goodbye kiss.

When the kiss ended, she pulled away slightly. She looked at her left hand and slowly removed her engagement ring.

‘You should take this,’ she said softly.

‘Cara . . . no.’

‘Shane, you know as well as I do that if we get married there are always going to be situations like this. One after another. I’m not trying to punish you, or make a statement, but I honestly don’t know if I can live with your parents acting this way. Yes, I was marrying you, but I was marrying into your family, too.’

‘Cara, I will tell my parents to mind their own business I swear—’

‘We have tried that and look where it got us. I’m not prepared to live my entire life that way, Shane. There are no boundaries. I mean, I realise my family can be crazy, too, but they would never try to make us do what they want us to do through the means of a chequebook.’

She placed the ring in his hand but he shook his head.

‘No, this is yours,’ he insisted, although his tone seemed ever so slightly resigned that this was happening. That this was the new reality.

Cara sighed and bit her lip, fighting off a new round of tears.

‘I’m going to go,’ she said softly.

‘No, no, I’ll go,’ Shane said, looking into her eyes, as if memorising every contour of her tear-stained face.

‘Please really, I’m going to go to my mum’s. You stay here. We’ll – well I guess, we will work out everything later, what with cancelling St Lucia and everything,’ she said, choking. She stood and looked around the room, the room in which, up to now, they had shared so many happy memories, and a stark realisation hit her. She and Shane weren’t just cancelling the wedding; they were cancelling their life together.

There was so much to figure out. As a couple in love it seemed effortless to acquire things, to plan and weave your life together with the other person. So much harder to go about separating it all.

‘I’ll give you a cheque to cover my half of the lost deposit at the resort,’ she offered sadly.

‘Please, no,’ Shane said. He held his head in his hands, his gaze firmly on the floor.

As Cara went round the room gathering clothes and fetching toiletries from the bathroom, Shane didn’t make a sound. He couldn’t watch her, feeling that that would make it all real. As it was, he pretended to himself that she was just packing to go on a trip, something temporary, something she would be returning from. But as each minute passed, it started to sink in that this was it, Cara was leaving, they were finished. Their relationship was over.

A thousand thoughts ran through his head. He considered getting on his knees, grabbing her legs and holding on to her, or blocking the door, refusing to let her leave. But he didn’t.

When the moment came, she simply said, ‘Shane?’

He looked up. She held a small suitcase and her handbag. She had washed her face, scrubbing the mascara off, leaving her skin red and raw.

‘I’m going now,’ she said. There was no malice, no anger. Just sadness. Regret.

‘There’s nothing that I can say that can make you stay. Is there?’ he asked, hoping she would provide him with a solution to this problem.

Instead, she just shook her head.

‘You know I love you,’ he said, searching her face.

‘I know, and I love you. But I don’t think it’s enough any more.’ She turned towards the door.

‘Cara?’

She turned around. ‘Yes?’

‘I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.’

‘I know you are, Shane. So am I. I never would have thought that this would have happened to us,’ she said. ‘I would have never thought it in a million years.’

The phone rang in his study, and somehow Gene Richardson knew that nothing good was to come from the call.

‘Hello?’ he answered warily.

There was a brief silence on the other end on the line. Finally, Shane spoke.

‘I hope you are happy.’

‘Shane? his father said, surprised by his son’s tone. It comprised equal amounts of sadness, bitterness and vitriol. And all of those components were directed firmly at him.

‘She left me.’

Gene felt something cold and hard sink down into his stomach. Without another word being said, he knew exactly what had happened and what his son was referring to.

‘Cara?’ he questioned dumbly. He liked Cara, always had.

‘Yes, she left. Because of that despicable contract. Because of your interference. Thank you. Really, thank you, you have done such a good job. The wedding is off. Cara wouldn’t sign it, but more to the point, she also wouldn’t put me in a position where my relationship with you was ruined because of her. But really, she was wrong there, it didn’t matter. Because our relationship is ruined anyway. I want you to know that. From now on, I want
nothing
to do with you or Mother.’

Gene had never been spoken to by his son in such a manner, and it disturbed him. He knew at that moment that he and Lauren had overplayed their hand. In their attempt to get their own way, they had set in chain a series of events that not only caused grief and hurt in Shane’s life, but also very effectively turned their son against them. This was all their fault. They deserved this. Their interference had backfired on them spectacularly.

He should never have gone along with Lauren’s idea. Of course he would have preferred to have his son get married here, in a big shindig at the K-Club and all that. But now there was no wedding, and he was lucky if he didn’t lose – if he hadn’t already lost – his only son for ever. Everything was falling to pieces.

‘Son, I’m sorry,’ he said weakly.

‘I don’t accept that. Why did you have to do this? Why couldn’t you just leave it alone? I warned you not to interfere. I told you that this was about us, about what Cara and I wanted, but that wasn’t good enough, was it? It seems Cara has proved herself to be much more genuine and nobler than you and Mother – better than any of us. But now she’s gone. And it’s your doing. Remember that.’

The line went dead. Shane had hung up on him.

Gene stared at the phone in his hand, feeling sick to his stomach. He placed the handset back on the desk and thought the entire situation through. This really was their fault. There was no denying that.

At that moment Lauren swept into the room, resplendently dressed for business in an Armani suit, even though it was eight in the evening.

‘Who was that?’ she inquired, taking note of her husband’s drawn expression.

‘It was Shane.’

She smiled. ‘Ah, then I take it the decision has been made? When are they bringing the paperwork over?

‘There is no paperwork,’ Gene stated, still lost in his own thoughts.

Lauren frowned. ‘What? What do you mean?’ she demanded. ‘Surely the girl couldn’t be that stupid.’

Gene snapped to attention, coming out of his reverie and focusing on his wife.