Read Online Secrets by Debbie Viggiano - Free Book Online Page B

me under your spell. You’re hypnotic, Janey. Mesmerising. No other woman has had that effect on me. Ever. You bewitched me from the word go and transported me to a place of insanity.’
    ‘Wow, I like this talk, my darling,’ Janey giggled throatily. ‘Flattery will get you everywhere.’
    ‘It’s not flattery. It’s the truth.’
    ‘Tell me more. I like it,’ Janey whispered and kissed Jake on the lips.
    ‘I have a better idea,’ Jake murmured. ‘Let me show you exactly how you make me feel.’
    It was almost an hour later when Jake finally left for Orchard House to get ready with Joe and Sanjay. When Janey kissed her fiancé good-bye, little did she know it would be for the last time.

 
    Chapter Sixteen
     
    ‘As wedding dresses go,’ said Susie as she helped Janey into her gown, ‘this is quite nice.’
    Quit e nice. Only Susie could take two words and try to make Janey doubt her choice of gown. Janey knew Susie was majorly hacked off at being excluded from the trip to London. Janey didn’t expect gushing comments from Susie, but if her friend could muster one decent compliment it would be most welcome. Ah well. Janey mentally shrugged. She didn’t need Susie’s lip service, negative or otherwise, to know she looked a million dollars. Regarding herself in the bedroom’s full length mirror, she encountered a poised and elegant bride gazing back. Her make-up was perfect. Natural with a hint of glam. Her hair fell in soft curls over creamy-white shoulders. The floaty veil, flecked in tiny pearls, gave her an almost ethereal quality.
    ‘Yeah, not bad.’ Susie nodded her head. It was the closest Janey would get to approval. Susie then spoilt it by adding, ‘Shame the veil is on the short side.’
    ‘I like it this length,’ Janey said quietly. She glanced at her wrist to see what the time was, but encountered bare skin.
    ‘Are you looking for your watch?’
    ‘It’s just habit. I’m not wearing it today. There’s something about watches and bridal gowns that don’t go. I have a pearl bracelet my mother wore on her own wedding day. It’s over there, on the dressing table. Would you pass it to me, please?’
    Susie scooped up the pearls. ‘Here,’ she said, and chucked them at Janey.
    ‘Careful,’ Janey admonished. ‘They’re pretty old.’
    ‘Like you,’ Susie mocked. ‘You’re not exactly a spring chicken. You know, I think you should have bought a short dress. You’re over thirty now. Long dresses like yours are better on twenty-somethings.’
    Janey ignored her. ‘What’s the time, Suze?’
    ‘Ten past. The car will be here in twenty minutes.’
    At that moment the phone rang.
    ‘I’ll get it,’ said Susie.
    She hurried downstairs to take the call while Janey fastened the pearl bracelet around her wrist. Picking up her bouquet, she hitched up the front of the dress and began to carefully make her way out onto the landing towards the staircase. Below, Janey could hear Susie on the telephone.
    ‘No, Violet. He’s not here. What time were you expecting him?’
    Janey’s brow furrowed. Why was her mother on the phone? Making sure her wedding shoes were nowhere near the hem of the gown, Janey kicked a foot out swishing the fabric away from sharp satin heels. Cautiously, she began to descend the narrow staircase. Her concentration fragmented when the doorbell rang. That would be Joe, ready to pick up Susie. Janey would have a few last moments by herself until her own car arrived. It was a vintage roller, firstly collecting her father from Orchard House, then Janey from Rose Cottage, before finally setting off to St Paul’s Church. She hoped her father wouldn’t cry when he saw her. Derek had a tendency to get very emotional, and Janey didn’t want her father’s tears setting her off. At least her make-up was waterproof. She’d spent a fortune on it ensuring it wouldn’t streak or run.
    And then two things happened at once. Susie put the phone down and looked anxiously at