I’ll be dammed! Zac Prescott, of all people!’ Leonie shook her head, apparently more taken aback than upset by the news. ‘Just goes to show the age of miracles isn’t yet past!’
‘You don’t mind then?’ Jessica ventured.
‘Mind? Oh, you mean because I had him first?’ She shook her head. ‘I won’t pretend I’ll not miss our occasional encounters, but we were neither of us under any illusions. You’ve more reason to resent me, in fact.’
‘I don’t,’ Jessica assured her, not entirely certain that that was the complete truth either. ‘As Zac said, anything that happened between the two of you was before he met me.’
‘Right enough. This is certainly going to be one in the eye for Paul! Not that he obviously means a thing to you any more.’
‘No.’ Jessica could say that much with total honesty. ‘I haven’t even thought about him in days.’
‘Hardly surprising. There’s absolutely no comparison between what you had with him and what you’ll have with Zac.’
‘It isn’t about material things!’
Leonie gave a sly grin. ‘A secondary consideration, I’ll grant you, but hardly to be sniffed at.’
‘Did you never meet with Zac here in London?’ Jessica asked after a moment.
‘No. We preferred to stick to the occasional fling out there. What can’t be altered must be endured,’ Leonie added candidly. ‘You’re the one he asked to marry him. The only one, by all accounts.’
Claiming that she had no feelings whatsoever about their past relationship would not only be a waste of breath but a further bending of the truth too, Jessica admitted. Leonie was one on her own in that respect. One on her own in most respects, in fact.
Her cousin proved that by refraining from any in-depth probing over the evening, prepared, it seemed, to take the situation at face value. Asked her opinion of the island where she’d spent the past week, Jessica was glad to be able to return a totally truthful answer for once.
‘I can understand why you bought there,’ she concluded. ‘It’s the perfect place to switch off after a hard week.’
Relaxed on a sofa, Leonie inclined her head. ‘Isn’t it just. Nice to get away from everything on occasion—including men! Zac excluded, of course,’ she tagged on blandly.
Jessica pulled a face at her, aware of being teased. The thought still reckoned, but she could handle it. She was going to be handling a whole lot more.
Leonie was out of the room when the phone rang at nine. Jessica answered it, heart leaping when she heard Zac’s voice. He wasted little time on greetings.
‘There was a message on the answering machine when I got in this morning,’ he said. ‘Grandfather wants to have the wedding down there. He’s already contacted the vicar. Apparently, it can be managed on Saturday.’
Head whirling, Jessica blurted out the first thing that came to mind. ‘I thought you said it took months to organise a church wedding? What about banns and such?’
‘With a common licence, and another from the bishop, it’s possible to do without banns being read. I’ve got everything in hand.’
‘But the time!’ she protested. ‘It simply can’t be done!’
‘No reason why not,’ came the measured response. ‘We can travel down on Friday. That gives you two clear days to do what you have to do. Time enough to contact your parents.’
Jessica made an effort to pull herself together. This week or next? What difference did it make?
‘You’ve obviously no objections yourself,’ she said.
‘No,’ he confirmed. ‘We can take a few days somewhere along the coast afterwards.’
To be on hand should the need arise, Jessica assumed. Understandable in the circumstances, of course.
‘Whatever you think,’ she said restrainedly.
His laugh was a reassurance in itself. ‘Practising subservience already?’
‘One swallow doth not a summer make,’ she responded.
‘Now who’s indulging in clichés?’ There was a pause, a change of tone. ‘How did Leonie take the news?’
The intimation that her cousin’s reactions were of any importance to him stirred an emotion becoming all too familiar.
‘Why don’t you ask her?’ she said. She held out the phone to her cousin, who had just returned to the room. ‘Zac would like a word.’
Leonie took the handset from her without comment. Her tone was easy as she addressed the man on the other end of the line. ‘I believe congratulations are in order.’
She listened for a moment to what Zac had to say, her expression giving little way. ‘Kismet, obviously. Well, sure. No reason at all. Saturday?’ Her brows lifted a fraction, her eyes seeking Jessica’s. ‘Can’t be done, I’m afraid. I’ll be away on business. My very best wishes to you both, anyway.’
She handed the instrument back, returning to her reclining position on the sofa. Jessica hoped she sounded as natural as she took up the call again.
‘So, when shall I see you?’
‘I’ll fetch you over here in the morning,’ Zac said. ‘You’ll be more central for shopping. Long or short, make it white, will you? Grandfather’s a traditionalist, as you might have gathered.’
‘He’s hardly likely to approve our cohabiting before the wedding then.’
‘He doesn’t have to know.’ There was a slight edge to his voice. ‘I take it you’ve no objection to premarital relations yourself?’
The irony stung. ‘Obviously not,’ she returned tartly.
His sigh was clearly audible. ‘Sorry, that was uncalled for. We’re both of us under pressure. I’ll see you in the morning.’
He cut the call before she could respond. She replaced the receiver in its rest feeling decidedly downbeat.
‘I get the feeling there’s rather more to this than meets the eye,’ Leonie observed. ‘Want to talk about it?’
Jessica’s hesitation was brief. Much as she needed to unload, she was too aware of how it would look. To marry in the throes of overpowering love was one thing, to do it for the reasons she and Zac were doing it was quite another. ‘Hardly likely to last very long’ would be the least of Leonie’s comments.
‘There’s nothing to talk about,’ she denied. ‘If I seem a bit distracted, it’s just that everything seems to be happening so fast! Zac’s grandfather wants us to get married from his home down in Dorset.’
‘So he said.’ It was obvious that Leonie wasn’t totally deceived. ‘Nice of him to indulge the old man. Afraid I won’t be able to make the
