The Unexpected Consequences of Love by Mansell Jill

Author:Mansell, Jill [Mansell, Jill]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2014-11-18T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

It was no good; like a dentist’s appointment you’d been trying hard not to think about, the date of the wedding was almost upon them, and the time had come for Tula to do something about it.

She found Dot working behind the reception desk. “Hi, I’ve asked Carol and she’s fine with it, so is it okay if we swap shifts this weekend?”

“No problem, my darling.” Dot reached for a pen and pulled the shift planner across the desk toward her. “So she’ll be working on Saturday, yes? And you’ll do Sunday.”

“That’s it.” Tula watched as the schedule was altered accordingly.

“Off somewhere nice?”

“Yes. Well, kind of. It’s an old friend’s wedding.”

“Ooh, nothing lovelier than a wedding.” Dot looked sideways at her. “Except I can’t help noticing you’re not looking that enthralled.”

“I know. And it will be lovely.” Hesitating, Tula pulled a face. “It’s this girl I used to work with. She was always better than everyone else, you know what I mean? The kind who makes you feel a bit inferior?”

“Oh no!” Dot looked appalled. “Really? How mean.”

“She’s actually really nice. It’s the thing about her being so pretty and lovely that probably makes me feel second best. I was thrilled she included me as one of her friends,” Tula explained. “She didn’t have to. Some of the others were a bit iffy like that, but Imi never was.”

“And who’s she marrying?”

“Someone equally perfect in every way. Of course. Good-looking, heaps of money, adores her. They’re getting married in the middle of Wales at this amazing hotel.”

“Well, I think it sounds wonderful,” said Dot. “But there’s still something not quite right. Are you going to tell me what it is?”

Honestly, was she a witch?

“It’s all my own fault.” Tula heaved a gusty sigh and began unwinding a paper clip. “I’ve always been a bit rubbish when it comes to boyfriends. Imi and her crowd used to joke about it. Her best friend said it was like a sum that didn’t add up; I was pretty enough to get someone decent but somehow it never happened.”

“Well, she definitely sounds mean,” Dot announced.

Tula bit her lip; the comments had always been made in such a way that if she’d gotten upset, everyone would have said, But we didn’t mean it like that. It was just a bit of fun!

Even though the implication had been that there must be some deep-down attribute she was lacking in, something she was getting badly wrong.

“Anyway, so I kind of hinted that I was seeing someone gorgeous now and Imi said I must bring him along with me to the wedding. Which made things kind of tricky, but it was a while back. I kind of hoped that by the time the day came around, I might have found myself a gorgeous boyfriend,” said Tula. “Except now it has. And I haven’t.”

“Ah.” Dot nodded sagely. “The perennial single-girl problem. Well, you’ll just have to say he can’t make it; he’s had to fly off to Amsterdam on some hugely important business trip.

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