Tomorrow's Blues

21. Resolution

For a second there was silence. In that short second, my gaze darted back to Ellie, whose expression was filled with cold fury.

The first person to react was Catherine, who exclaimed in happy surprise, "Wow, Jennifer, that's... great! I'm so happy for you guys!"

Mark quickly echoed his wife's statement, giving congratulations to Jennifer and Michael.

Ellie stood up from the table suddenly, causing her cutlery to clatter. Everybody turned to look at her. She said nothing, but turned and fiercely walked out of the room, her angry footsteps echoing from the hall.

Jennifer's face was crestfallen as she looked after her daughter. The rest of us just sat there, not knowing what to do or say. I glanced at Joseph whose expression was confused and uncomfortable. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. I just shook my head.

Michael put his hand on Jennifer's shoulder. "I can go talk to her, if you want. It's better that she takes her anger out on me."

Jennifer frowned, placing her hand over his. "No, no, I should go–"

"I'll go," Sam offered, already standing up. "I'll get her to calm down."

I could imagine that Ellie would much rather talk to Sam than her mother right now, and it looked like Jennifer was thinking the same thing, so she just nodded, still holding Michael's hand. Sam left the room. I took a long sip of my Pimm's.

"Well." Catherine clasped her hands together, smiling at Jennifer. "I think that's great. When will the wedding be?"

Jennifer exchanged a look with Michael. "Well... October 1st."

"Oh wow." Catherine tried not to look shocked. "That's soon."

"We know, but the place we want to get married in had a cancellation on that day, so we took it," Michael explained. "It's Helryn Manor in South Buives."

My eyebrows lifted, and I saw my expression mirrored on others' faces. Helryn Manor was this incredible, extravagant building about an hour from here, part of a luxury hotel that overlooked the sea. Alice had said that Michael was rich, but he must have been extremely rich to be able to afford to get married in a place like that.

"Wow," Catherine said again.

"Well, that'll be just incredible," Mark said. "Helryn Manor. God knows I've wanted to go there many times myself..."

The parents started chatting about the manor and its history. I looked over at Alice, who looked... excited. She saw me watching her – slightly judgementally – and held up her hands in innocence. "What? Can't I be excited? Helryn Manor!"

"Yeah, but imagine how Ellie's feeling," Ryan said quietly enough that Jennifer wouldn't hear. "Her mum just sprung this news on her in front of all of us. I get why she's upset."

"Me too, obviously," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "But come on Ry – a big fancy wedding! With lots of fancy champagne!"

I definitely understood why Ellie was upset, but I couldn't help but latch onto Alice's excitement a little bit. Assuming everything all worked out, it would be an incredible wedding – that is, if we were all invited. I didn't think Jennifer would tell us all she was getting married and then not invite us.

But I tried not to be too enthusiastic, and instead cast my mind to Ellie and how she must have been feeling. Her relationship with her mum had never been good, and now she was bringing somebody new into their home. I glanced at Blaine, who was looking pretty cheerful as he chatted animatedly to Michael about the wedding and how many friends he could invite. At least he was happy about it.