The Guest List (8 page)

‘Oh my goodness . . .’ she said, staring at the ring.

‘You like it?’

‘Shane, it’s beautiful, it’s utterly perfect, I—’

‘You haven’t yet answered my question,’ he reminded her gently and Cara shook her head, still somewhat numb from the surprise of it all.

‘Yes, yes, yes!’ Finally she flung herself into his arms and laughed while he placed the ring on her finger. They kissed deeply and passionately and all of Cara’s insecurities and worries immediately left her mind. It was just them – her and Shane – and it would
always
be them; together, making their own way.

‘Are you really surprised?’ he asked, smiling. ‘Are you happy?’

‘Oh yes, very much so,’ she grinned, staring at her hand and the beautiful diamond that twinkled in the candlelight.

‘I thought you had figured it out, I really thought you did.’ Shane kissed her again, this time on the forehead. ‘After that guy beat me to the punch, I felt sick, I didn’t know what to do or how to recover from it. And then when you said that it was all so clichéd, I almost had to rush to the loo to throw up.’

She laughed, remembering. ‘I’m really sorry. I just thought that you’d been spooked, like you saw that proposal and felt pressured, especially after this morning.’

‘Not a chance. To be honest, I’ve been planning this for a while. And when that wedding invite came yesterday, and we got to talking about it, it seemed like the right moment.’

She kissed him again, and without another word, Shane picked her up and dramatically carried her back to their bedroom, crossing the threshold with her as if she were already a bride.

‘Then we’re
definitely
going to that wedding,’ Cara thought, realising she inadvertently had Audrey McCarthy to thank for what was the happiest moment of her life.

The following morning, Cara hustled out her front door, phone in hand, punching her mother’s number while at the same time sneaking a peek at her newly decorated ring finger. She was an engaged woman! She could hardly believe it. But of course her newly transformed state didn’t work towards improving her timekeeping; if anything her and Shane’s late-night, erm . . . celebrations meant that she’d be even later for work this morning. She prayed Conor would understand.

As per the norm, the phone in the Clancy household rang exactly once before Betty picked up; Cara was convinced that her mother carried the cordless handset around in her pocket from when she woke up in the morning to the time she went to bed at night.

‘Hello? Cara? Is that you?’

Cara smiled. Her mother knew very well who it was. In Betty’s eyes, caller ID was right up there with the discovery of electricity.

‘Yes Mum, you know it’s me, didn’t it just come up on the display?’ Cara said giddily.

‘Why are you calling so early? Is everything all right? Are you OK? Oh my goodness, has there been an accident? Is Shane OK?’

Cara shook her head indulgently. In Betty Clancy’s eyes, calling before ten o’clock in the morning meant that someone
must
have been in an car accident, fallen off a cliff or been run over by a lorry, and more than likely they weren’t wearing clean underwear when it happened.

‘Yes Mum, everything’s fine. I just wanted to tell you that . . . well, something has happened . . . I have some news.’ She grinned broadly.

‘What’s happened, Cara? Where are you, I’ll send your father to go and get you. Just stay where you are, don’t move and don’t talk to anyone.’

Cara chuckled. There was absolutely nothing in her tone that would suggest an emergency, but her mother had no ability whatsoever to read people. Betty would definitely never have made it as a police investigator, she thought fondly.

‘Mum, slow down for a minute. There’s nothing to worry about, quite the opposite actually. I’m just ringing to tell you that Shane and I are engaged – he asked me to marry him last night!’

A scream of happiness erupted at the other end of the line, so loud that Cara had to hold the phone away from her ear. She smiled delightedly.

‘Oh my goodness! Oh Cara, this is just brilliant news. Another wedding! I can hardly wait. Have you set a date yet? When are you going to go shopping for your dress? We can go today if you’d like. I presume you’ve taken the day off and . . . Oh where will we have it? I’ll give Father O’Brien a call about booking the church, and a hotel of course. We’ll need somewhere that could at least fit . . . oh I don’t know . . . three hundred, I suppose? And get going on the guest list of course. Oh I think a spring wedding is always much nicer than the summer, don’t you . . .?’

‘Mum, we haven’t even considered any of that yet,’ Cara said, laughing at her mother’s excitable ramblings but at the same time slightly taken aback. What was it she had she said . . . church wedding? Three hundred people on the guest list? Just because Heidi’s marriage to Paul last year had been a colossal, pompous affair didn’t mean that she and Shane wanted the same thing. The opposite in fact, she thought, remembering how much of a bridezilla her little sister had been. And given both her and Shane’s reaction to Audrey McCarthy’s wedding invitation, she guessed he felt the same way.

They’d both want something small and simple, nothing overblown.

‘The proposal only happened last night,’ she replied, laughing easily. ‘We haven’t had a chance to even think about any of those things, let alone start planning anything.’

‘Well, you have to start making plans soon. All the good hotels in Dublin get taken up quickly, so we need to get a date set and a deposit put down straight away,’ Betty insisted.

‘Mum, honestly, there’s plenty of time,’ Cara said, trying to keep her voice casual, although inwardly she was a little unnerved. She’d been so looking forward to sharing the news with her mother, but hadn’t anticipated that Betty would actually be
that
excited about everything. ‘And there’s no point in booking anything just yet, as Shane and I aren’t really sure what we want. As for three hundred guests . . . I really don’t think so. We were thinking along of the lines of something smaller, something intimate.’

‘But how small, Cara? Think about Shane’s people alone – all that fancy developer crowd, sure there must be hundreds of them. Never mind the crew on our side, especially your father’s. The list of Clancy relations alone would probably have over eighty on it. Really, I don’t see how you can make this wedding small. Not without excluding tonnes of people,’ she said matter-of-factly.

‘But we don’t even know all that many of Dad’s family,’ Cara protested nervously. True enough, outside of her uncle and a couple of her aunts and immediate cousins, she didn’t know the bulk of the Clancy cohort, and she certainly didn’t understand why she should have to invite all of them to her wedding.

As for Shane’s side, well yes of course, by the nature of his father’s business his parents were connected to many important people, but Cara didn’t know those people, and it was very likely Shane didn’t either. Therefore, why would they need to be invited?

‘Really Mum, Shane and I haven’t decided anything yet,’ she repeated, trying to be diplomatic. ‘But I really don’t think some big affair is our style. We like the idea of keeping it nice and simple, and having just people we love and who are important to us there. We don’t need lots of show.’

There was silence on the other end of the line and Cara’s heart sank as she hoped she hadn’t disappointed her mother.

‘Really Mum, let’s not worry about it just now,’ she continued, ‘there’ll be lots of time to decide. Now is the time to celebrate. We can talk about everything on Sunday, at dinner?’

Betty routinely had the family over for Sunday dinner at the Clancy home in Greygates, so Cara figured this would be the perfect time to talk about it all. It would also be a great excuse for her and Shane to share their news with the rest of the family and celebrate.

‘You know, that lovely church that Heidi got married in – Saint Joseph’s – would be perfect, wouldn’t it?’ Betty said, as if Cara hadn’t even spoken.

She’d hoped that her protestations might have bought her some time, but it seemed that her mother was determined to get her commitment to the aforementioned church wedding while on the phone, right now.

At the mention of her sister’s nuptials the year before, she couldn’t help but feel her hackles rise. ‘Well, I’m not sure if Heidi and I have the same style or taste when it comes to things like this,’ she managed to say tactfully. The very
last
thing she and Shane wanted was a wedding like Heidi and Paul’s.

She remembered the ice swans that Heidi had insisted upon – to match the real swans she’d had Betty and Mick rent for the day as accessories on the pond on the grounds of the lavish, five-star hotel at which the wedding reception had been held. She recalled the flowers, which had cost her parents just shy of ten grand (ten grand!) that had decorated every surface at the church and the hotel, as well as a litany of other pointless embellishments that Heidi had insisted upon. It was utter craziness, and she knew that her parents were still paying for it.

‘Well, I suppose I will have to go back to the bank with your father soon. We still have some of the equity release left from Heidi's, but we could always try for another top-up . . .’

‘No Mum, no way,’ Cara interjected vehemently, horrified at the very thought. ‘Shane and I will be taking care of this ourselves – we don’t want anyone else paying for anything to do with our wedding. It’s not your responsibility—’

‘What do you mean it’s not my responsibility?’ Betty gasped, as if the very notion was insulting. ‘I am the mother of the bride. Your father and I are the parents of the bride. It’s what we do.’

No, it’s what Heidi brainwashed you into doing
, Cara wanted to say, but she held her tongue.

‘Honestly Mum, it’s very generous of you to offer, and I do appreciate it. But I just don’t believe in going into all sorts of debt for one day, and I know Shane doesn’t either, OK?’

‘Oh Cara, you are just so practical, sometimes. All the time, actually. We’re talking about your wedding, pet – your big day. Just understand that your father and I will do everything we can to make it wonderful. You just don’t worry yourself about the costs, we’ll sort something out.’

Cara felt tears in her eyes, unable to believe what she was hearing. Here her parents were, in their late fifties and nearing retirement, and still willing to go into more debt over their children’s weddings. They were way too kind-hearted. But Cara knew that such generosity came with a price.

The family house Betty and Mick had been close to owning outright a couple of years ago was now, thanks to Heidi, another good ten years away from being paid for. And now her mother was talking about a third top-up? Well, maybe it didn’t play on her sister’s conscience, but there was no way Cara was going to drive her lovely parents – who’d ensured she’d never wanted for anything – into further debt in their advancing years

‘Look, Mum, let’s just talk about it all on Sunday over dinner. We still need to tell Shane’s folks about the engagement – we’re doing that tonight. So just hold off on anything until then, OK?’

‘Of course, of course. And give the Richardsons my regards, won’t you? I suppose this means we’ll get to meet them soon – the lord and lady of the manor,’ Betty added in the feigned haughty tone she used when referring to Shane’s parents.

‘Of course I will.’

It was true that the two sets of parents had never met, and Cara knew that privately Betty was foaming at the mouth to meet with the Richardsons. She guessed that would be happening soon. While she’d hoped to have introduced both couples before now, Shane’s folks were so always so busy there had never seemed to be an opportunity.

‘Anyway, congratulations again love, I am so happy for you,’ Betty went on. She suddenly sounded teary and Cara felt her own eyes well up. ‘You’re going to be such a beautiful bride. Now, go on and have a great day,’ she went on, before adding ominously, ‘I have a few calls to make.’

‘Well, you can make calls, but no deposits Mum, OK?’ Cara had to laugh at her mother’s irrepressible nature. ‘Don’t pay for anything and definitely don’t make any big decisions without consulting us. Not yet.’

‘Oh I really don’t see why you are being so serious about it all, Cara. It’s your wedding!’

‘Mum, I know what it is. But you will talk to me before you start putting down deposits, yes? Promise?’

Again, silence from the other end of the line and Cara knew her reticence had put a spanner in the works as Betty had no doubt decided on having the whole shebang organised by five o’clock that afternoon.

‘I’m serious Mum,’ she scolded. ‘If you book anything, if you place any money on anything wedding-related, Shane and I will . . .’ Cara quickly considered what could be the worst thing they could do and yesterday’s conversation with Kim popped into her head. ‘Shane and I will elope to Las Vegas some time without telling anyone,’ she finished wickedly.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

Trump card! Cara grinned, knowing she’d hit the jackpot. Nothing would horrify her mother more than her daughter eloping without her, not to mention the idea of her eloping and being walked down the aisle to Elvis singing ‘Love Me Tender.’

‘Oh Cara, you wouldn’t . . .!’ Betty cried.

‘You know I would. Married by Elvis in the Little Chapel of Love. Who knows, maybe we could even do a drive-thru wedding. Can you imagine it?’ she teased, unable to resist. She heard her mother breathing hard. Finally, Betty spoke. ‘Fine, fine,’ she conceded.

Cara breathed a sigh of relief. She might have won the battle, but she knew she hadn’t won the war.

As she and her mother said their goodbyes, she wondered how she was going to get out of a huge wedding at St Joseph’s, in a big Cinderella dress (the type her mother favoured) and indeed have to face the prospect of mingling with three hundred-odd people she didn’t even know. While she was sure that type of thing was fine for some people, she knew by the way her stomach felt at that moment that it was certainly not what she and Shane wanted for themselves.