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another girl.
    â€œWhat did she say to you?”
    Evie shrugged. “It wasn’t always easy to tell. She was crying so much. Enough to get the gist, though.”
    He exhaled audibly, raking his fingers through his dark-blond hair. “OK, I’ll tell you. There was a bit of a thing. It was never meant to happen, and I swear to God it didn’t mean anything, OK? And it’s over. That’s why she was crying. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t want this to happen…”
    â€œBut it did.” Evie’s disastrously blow-dried hair was wilting in the strong sunlight, sticking to the back of her neck. Perspiration was trickling down her spine. There were tissues in her bag but her bag was still in the car…
    â€œI finished with her. I told her last week. It was just a stupid fling. Bloody hell, she knew I was getting married! She promised she wouldn’t cause any trouble.”
    â€œOh dear,” said Evie. “She lied.”
    â€œI know.” Joel nodded miserably. “I know. But we mustn’t let her win.” He clutched her elbows. “That’s what she wants, isn’t it? We can’t let that happen! Evie, we have to do this. I love you so much. I want to marry you. Please ,” he begged in desperation. “This is our wedding. Everyone’s waiting …”

Chapter 6
    The whispers had started up the minute Nick and Joel left the church. For Lara, it was weirdly reminiscent of the last time she’d sat in an uncomfortable wooden pew, only this time she wasn’t the focus of attention.
    At first the remarks had been jokey, along the lines of, “That’s it, Evie’s stood him up; she’s found someone else and gone off with them instead.”
    But as the minutes ticked by, laughter gave way to curiosity and puzzlement. Before long, a couple of Joel’s friends sneaked down the aisle and slipped outside to see what was causing the delay. Moments later they reappeared in the doorway, shaking their heads with barely disguised elation. “Something’s up. Don’t know what’s happened, but it looks serious.”
    After that there was no holding the rest of them back. The prospect of drama was too big a temptation to keep everyone in their seats. What could possibly be going on? It was no good, they had to know.
    Oh well, if everyone else was doing it, she wasn’t going to sit here like an idiot on her own. Following everyone else outside, Lara shielded her eyes from the dazzling sunlight and zoned in on Evie and the man she was presumably meant to be marrying. They were standing a short distance away from the church, among the Gothic headstones in the graveyard, and were locked in an intense discussion.
    Oh dear. One thing was for sure, it didn’t look to be a cheerful one. There wasn’t a lot of laughter going on.
    Things weren’t looking good.
    Nor, for that matter, was Evie. Her hair was bizarre, not remotely bridal, and appeared to have been styled by an enthusiastic chimpanzee. Was that the reason for the delay? Surely Evie wasn’t so upset by the state of her hair that she was refusing to walk up the aisle?
    The next moment a taxi came barreling up the tree-lined drive. Like Wimbledon spectators, all eyes swiveled avidly from Evie and Joel to the black cab as it screeched to a halt. Had the taxi been ordered by Evie to whisk her away?
    But no, it was here to deliver a late arrival rather than remove an unhappy bride. The back door of the cab was flung open and a tall figure emerged. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if it could be Vidal Sassoon, appearing like a hairdressing knight in shining armor, turning up in the nick of time to pluck triumph from disaster?
    Then the late arrival finished paying the driver and turned to gaze at the congregation gathered around the entrance to the church.
    And Lara felt as if a medicine ball had landed on her chest.
    The thud was that unexpected,