The arm about Caryn’s shoulders increased pressure for a fleeting moment, then was removed. ‘I think the best thing is for me to leave now and give you all chance to talk in private. Tomorrow will be time enough to start discussing arrangements.’ To Caryn herself, he added on a softer note, ‘Come and see me off.’
She accompanied him wordlessly, reluctant to have him go so soon, even while she recognised the motive behind his departure. She had to face her family alone some time, so why prolong the agony?
‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ he said at the door. ‘You have to get to know your future home.’
‘I’m at work tomorrow,’ she reminded him, and saw his expression alter.
‘I’d forgotten about your job. Are you monthly or weekly salaried?’
‘Weekly,’ she acknowledged. ‘But—’
‘Then you only need give a week’s notice. I’d propose that we arrange the wedding for the twenty-ninth. That’s a week from Wednesday. I can only spare a few days for a honeymoon, but we can take a longer break later.’
Caryn’s head was reeling. He had it all planned. Every last detail! And why not? came the thought. Wasn’t it better to have a man who knew exactly what he wanted and did something about it than one who left everything to others? She had always known him for a forceful character; she wouldn’t want him any different. And hadn’t she been saying only yesterday that she found her job boring? Life as Logan’s wife would be infinitely more exciting!
‘I’ll hand my notice in first thing,’ she promised. She gave a sudden laugh. ‘It’s going to cause quite a furore when I tell them the reason!’
Logan smiled and shrugged. ‘A nine-day wonder. They’ll get over it.’ Bending his head, he placed a brief and unsatisfying kiss on her mouth, leaving her aching for more. ‘You’d better go on back and face the music,’ he said. ‘I’ll be here tomorrow evening.’
He was gone before she could protest, pulling the door closed behind him. Caryn stood for a moment or two gathering herself before returning to the living room. Nothing anyone could say or do was going to change her mind, she vowed. She would marry Logan come what may! As he had said, it was her life, her choice.
All the same, facing the two of them was one of the hardest things she had ever done in her life. Looking from one accusing face to another, she sought defence in a direct frontal attack.
‘I do know what I’m doing, and I’m of age to do it,’ she declared, ‘so please don’t try telling me any different. I was in love with Logan two years ago, and I am still.’
‘You were too young to be in love with anybody two years ago,’ said her mother flatly. ‘You were infatuated with an older man.’
‘Call it what you like,’ Caryn returned defiantly. ‘I know how I felt then, and I know how I feel now.’
‘And what about Bannister?’ asked her father without raising his voice. ‘Are you as sure of his feelings?’
‘Of course. Why else would he want to marry me?’
Susan made a helpless little gesture. ‘I still can’t take it all in. You never even mentioned his name before!’
Caryn felt the defiance crumble. She crossed swiftly to her mother and pressed a kiss on her cheek. ‘It’s going to be all right. It really is. I love him.’
‘A man nearly twice your age!’
‘I’d feel the same way whatever age he was.’ She tried to lighten the atmosphere with a joke. ‘And you have to admit, he’s an awfully good catch!’
‘There’s a great deal more to marriage than money,’ said her mother sharply, taking the remark at face value. ‘How do you know you can trust him? He had quite a reputation in the past.’
‘If he had, it’s in the past,’ Caryn responded, refusing to allow the intimation to bother her. ‘I’d be far more worried if he hadn’t already sown his wild oats, as the saying goes.’ She made an appealing gesture to her father. ‘I’m sorry for springing it on you this way, but please try to understand. I love Logan, I’m going to marry him, and I want you to be happy for me.’
‘If he cares enough for you,’ said John Gregory slowly, ‘he’ll be prepared to wait a while.’
‘Regardless of his mother’s condition?’ Caryn shook her head. ‘It wouldn’t make any difference, anyway.’ She paused, looking from one to the other of her parents. ‘You won’t refuse to have anything to do with the wedding, will you?’
‘Meaning you’ll be going ahead with it whether we do or not.’ Her father’s tone was wry. ‘No, we won’t refuse. How could we turn our backs on our own daughter?’
‘Thanks.’ Caryn hardly knew what else to say. ‘I think I’ll have another early night,’ she tagged on, anxious to escape any further discussion. ‘I’ll be giving in my notice tomorrow, by the way. Logan doesn’t want a working wife.’
She made her escape before any comment could be made, and went straight upstairs to her room, sitting down on the end of bed to contemplate her reflection in the dressing-table mirror. Love not only made the world go round, it also improved one’s looks, she decided, viewing her bright eyes and glowing skin. Confidence, that was the key. With Logan to inspire it in her, she could handle any situation that came along.
ON THE face of it, the wedding went off without a hitch. Susan would have preferred that it take place in church, but with no dates available until well into August, Logan had refused to wait.
He had made the arrangements himself, and insisted on paying the bills. With personal savings at a low ebb, and an utter dread of being in any kind of debt, John Gregory had been forced to pocket his pride and let matters take their course.
Despite every precaution, news of the impending nuptials had spread through the town like greased lightening. Emerging from the register office to find a whole crowd of well-wishers hanging around the doorstep, Caryn put on a brave face and tried to ignore the fact that most of them were here out of curiosity alone, not through any genuine interest.
Apart from Jane, she had invited no one outside her own immediate family. Logan, however, had extended his list to include several friends. It had been quite a shock to see Margot and Duncan Ashley among them, although the former appeared happy enough to be there. Wearing apricot silk, she outshone every other woman in the place—including the bride herself in Caryn’s own estimation.
In place of a formal reception, they were to eat a buffet luncheon out at Whitegates. Later, she and Logan would leave for the Cotswolds, where they were to spend what she knew would be an idyllic few days at a small but exclusive country hotel he knew of. Caryn could well understand his reluctance to leave his mother alone for any longer time under the circumstances. Less than a year, the medics had said, but that could mean more or less any time.
‘Happy?’ he asked, when they gained the comparative privacy of the hired limousine at last.
‘Totally,’ she said, closing her mind on the image of her parents standing there so forlornly on the pavement. They were to follow on in one of the other cars.
‘They’ll get used to it,’ Logan advised, taking an accurate guess at her thoughts as her face clouded a little. ‘It isn’t as if you’re going to be far away.’
Caryn summoned a smile, a shake