She ate little at lunch. At two, she went up to shower and put on the sleeveless silk sheath that lightly skimmed her body down to the ankles. The pearl strand and studs Zac had bought her as a wedding present, plus a simple silver bracelet she already owned, were to be her only jewellery.
Missing companionship, she felt her spirits lift when Sarah popped her head round the bedroom door to ask if she would like a little help.
‘You could put my hair up for me,’ she said. ‘It takes ages to do it on my own.’
‘Glad to,’ the younger girl agreed. ‘Have a seat.’
Jessica did so, viewing the other through the mirror as she piled the chestnut thickness into a knot of curls with enviable dexterity.
‘Gorgeous hair,’ Sarah commented. ‘Gorgeous altogether, in fact. Zac’s a lucky man!’
‘I’m the lucky one,’ Jessica answered lightly.
‘Oh, I’ll agree there too. I could fancy him myself!’ She gave a gamine grin. ‘Not that I’d want Brady to hear me say that. You might have gathered they’re not all that close.’
‘They certainly look alike,’ Jessica commented.
The expression that crossed Sarah’s face was come and gone too quickly for analysis. ‘Quite different in character though,’ she said.
Taking up the spray of lilies of the valley, she attached it with a couple of hairpins across the front of the topknot, standing back to view the result with a satisfied nod. ‘Perfect! You’ll knock ‘em all dead!’
A rather unfortunate way of putting it, considering the circumstances, Jessica thought, but if Sarah was aware of any gaffe, she didn’t show it.
‘I’d better get off,’ she declared. ‘Zac and Brady are going ahead, so I’m to drive Aunt Isabel and Grandmama to the church.’ She bent impulsively and pressed a swift kiss to Jessica’s cheek. ‘Glad to have you on board!’
The gesture warmed Jessica’s heart, making her feel not quite so alone. In Sarah, she sensed a friend.
Henry had elected, in the absence of her father, to give her away. He was waiting for her when she came downstairs, the others having already left for the church. He nodded approval of her appearance.
‘Very nice, my dear. A credit to the family!’
‘Are you going to be all right?’ Jessica asked anxiously, searching the thin features.
Just for a moment he seemed to hesitate, an odd expression in his eyes, then he shook his head as if in dismissal of some thought. ‘I’ll be perfectly all right. That sounds like the car arriving. Shall we go.’
It took them only ten minutes to the little village church. Jessica was surprised, and somewhat disconcerted, to find many locals occupying the pews. Tall, dark and devastating in a charcoal suit, Zac gave her an encouraging smile as she joined him before the altar.
‘You look wonderful!’ he murmured.
The service went by in a flash. Signing her maiden name in the registry for the last time, Jessica allowed herself no regrets. She was starting a new life. One she intended making the very best she could of.
Sarah came to press another kiss to her cheek as they emerged into sunshine again, her pretty face aglow. ‘All the happiness in the world!’ she said. ‘You too, of course, Zac.’
Her husband echoed the sentiments, if with rather less ebullience. Jessica doubted if there would be many family get-togethers once this was over. She wondered what had drawn a girl of Sarah’s vivacity to a man like Brady, who so seldom let go with a smile, much less a laugh.
It took her mother-in-law to make her feel really at home. ‘I’m glad Zac waited till now,’ was all she said, but it was enough.
Dulcie had prepared a quite superb buffet back at the house. There was Champagne too, although Zac drank no more than sufficed for the toasts. His grandfather showed no such forbearance. Watching him toss back his third glass, Jessica took it that he’d decided to live his life to the full in his final days. All the same, she was surprised that no one made any attempt to stop him.
‘The old man always did like a tipple,’ said Brady, misreading her expression. ‘He can hold it.’
‘I suppose it doesn’t really matter any more,’ Jessica returned wryly.
Dark brows drew together. ‘Meaning what?’
His tone flustered her. ‘Well, it isn’t going to make much difference to the outcome, is it?’ she said uncertainly. ‘If I only had a short time to live, I’d probably do the same.’
‘A short time to live?’ Brady’s frown deepened. ‘What gave you that idea? Apart from a touch of angina, he’s as strong as an ox!’
He hadn’t been told, thought Jessica in dismay. Why on earth hadn’t Esther warned her? She wondered if she and Zac were the only ones who did know—and if so, why?
She looked back to the man in his chair by the window, fighting a creeping suspicion as she studied him. He had never looked like a man all that close to death. Supposing, just supposing, it was all a fabrication: a ruse to force Zac not only into proving that the girl he’d ostensibly fallen for really existed, but to marrying her into the bargain. Zac had said himself that he could be ruthless.
It couldn’t be true! she told herself. Surely no man would consider putting his own flesh and blood through such an ordeal just to get his own way? Surely no wife would consent to go along with it?
Esther was looking her way when she glanced across. The plea in the older eyes was all the verification needed. Jessica found her voice with an effort.
‘I must have misunderstood.’
Brady viewed her with cynicism. ‘So it seems. Is Zac labouring under the same misunderstanding?’
‘I’m…not sure.’
‘Oh, I think you are,’ he said. ‘It explains all this. He thought there was a chance of the old man cutting him off if he didn’t show willing in the marital stakes.’ He smiled sourly. ‘I’ll give him top marks for effort! Pity it was for nothing.’
Jessica’s eyes blazed sudden green fire. ‘This might have happened a bit sooner than it would have done, but it certainly isn’t for nothing!’
‘Not for you, maybe. Although I wouldn’t count on holding his interest for too long. A regular Don Juan, is Zac. He’s had more women than I’ve had hot dinners!’
He was getting a real kick out of this, Jessica realised. A wholly malicious one too. What she wasn’t about to do was give him the satisfaction of seeing her true feelings at this moment.
‘Understandable,’ she said. ‘He’s every woman’s dream of a man!’
The point went home, bringing a nasty glint to the grey eyes. ‘Only till they wake up.’
Isabel appeared at Jessica’s
