John and Rachel Carberry first met at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which was held in October, and fell head over heels for each other and following a whirlwind romance they were married in Copenhagen a few days before Christmas.
He was a
successful writer of children’s books, the Adventures of Geordie the Guardsman,
and she was an editor of nonfiction.
Their
decision to marry abroad, at short notice, was a purely selfish one, intended
to avoid the circus that surrounds weddings, they were both divorcees and had
been through the ordeal once already and had no appetite to go through it
again, but they were in love and wanted to legitimise that love before God.
However, the
good news of their union was not universally well received especially not by
her sister Julia, with whom she was particularly close, so some work was
required to rebuild bridges.
Rachel
thought that her sister would understand, as she was also a divorcee, but she
was clearly hurt at being excluded.
But from
John and Rachel’s point of view they had to exclude everyone or no one, so it
was a no brainer.
Julia’s
problem with their wedding wasn’t solely that she felt alienated, but rather
that she felt jealous that there was no special someone in her own life, and
she often sat alone contemplating her lot, and reviewing her options.
Because she
was not without her admirers, but none of them stirred feelings within her that
might cause her to run away to Denmark to wed.
She tried
not to dwell too much on her circumstances but sometimes she just couldn’t
fight it but on one April afternoon she was stirred from her torpor by the
telephone.
“Julia Lamiason”
“Hello
Julia, John Carberry”
“Oh” she
responded icily
“My
publisher is staying with us at the moment and I’m cooking dinner, so we
wondered if you’d make up the four”
“Oh, I see”
she said coldly “is Rachel with you?”
“Yes, she
is”
“Put her on”
she instructed so he complied
“Hello
Julia” Rachel said
“Can he
cook?” she asked abruptly
“Yes, he
can” she replied
“Better than
he writes I hope” Julia added
“We’ll see
you at 8 then?” Rachel said
Steven
Greenwood wasn’t just John’s publisher he was also his closest friend, they met
on their first day at University and hit it off immediately and their
friendship had become a very profitable one.
He dressed
like a successful man, in hand made suits, but he still managed to look like a
comprehensive school Geography teacher.
He and John
had spent much of the day going over his latest Geordie the Guardsman book and
discussing the timetable for publication and the artwork.
The latter
was a no brainer as John had always used the same artist, Kim Labuschagne, who
was always bang on the money with her interpretation.
They
continued chatting in the kitchen while John got on with the dinner, he’d done
most of the preparation before Steven arrived.
“So, what’s
this Juliana like then?” Steven asked
“Julia” John
corrected him “And she’s quite terrifying”
“And you
invited her, why?” he asked
“Because Rachel
says she has a heart of gold” John replied “And we’re bridge building”
“And does
she?” Steven asked
“Does she
what?”
“Have a
heart of gold” Steven clarified
“Well if she
does she certainly keeps it well hidden” John replied and laughed
Julia
arrived right on time and Rachel came down stairs let her in and John stood in
the kitchen doorway to greet her
“Wow you two
look lovely” he said
“Thank you” Julia
said slightly taken aback by the compliment
“Can you do the
drinks honey?” He said to Rachel and then added as he returned to the kitchen
“Steven will
be down in a minute he’s just changing”
After a
satisfying kiss Muriel returned from the kitchen carrying.
She set down
a tray, with glasses and a chilled bottle of wine in a bucket and poured the
wine just as John and Steven appeared.
“Hi Steven” Rachel
said and kissed his cheek “This is my sister Julia”
Steven was
tall and skinny, and Julia thought he looked in need of a good meal as he brushed
his sandy hair off his forehead and then she shook his hand.
“Pleased to
meet you Steven”
“Like wise”
he replied
As the two
sisters settled down in their seats, Steven whispered
“I thought
you said she was an ogre, I think she’s lovely”
“Really?” John
said
During the
course of the meal, with an Author, an Editor and a Publisher at the table the
subject naturally turned to writing.
“Julia
prefers Enid Blyton to modern children’s fiction” John said
“Me too”
Steven agreed
“Oh, that’s
nice” said John “You’re my publisher you at least should be singing my praises”
“Sorry mate”
Steven said
“I still
think you’re brilliant darling” Rachel said
“That
doesn’t count because you don’t like my books either”
“Who does
exactly?” Steven said unhelpfully
“Well you
need to find out, and when you do, keep them away from these two” John
suggested
“Well if it’s
any consolation you cook better than Enid Blyton at least” said Julie
“High praise
indeed” Rachel said
“Well thank
you” John said “For that you can have desert”
As John and
Steven were clearing the dishes to the kitchen Julia whispered to Rachel
“You have a
good man there, but don’t you dare tell him I said that, because I have my
reputation to protect”
“Your secret
is safe with me” Rachel said, “Now where’s that desert, it’s a boozy chocolate
tart?”
“I’ll just
take Steven and can of squirty cream” Julia said
“Julia!!”
“Oh, did I
say that out loud?” Julia said and blushed
Coffee and
liqueurs followed desert and then more liqueurs, and then more until the hour
got late.
John and
Rachel began clearing the table and looking back from the kitchen door John
said
“I think Steven
is smitten”
“It’s
mutual” Rach replied and smiled
It wasn’t
their intention to match-make they just wanted to make up a pleasant foursome,
the fact they were attracted to each other was an unexpected bonus.
“We must
breathe lightly on the embers then” John said enigmatically
“What does
that mean Mr Author?” Rachel slurred
“We have to
play cupid” he replied
“Or just
give her can of squirty cream” she said
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