Lynne Marshall - Hollywood Hills Collection

Or not!

Happy reading!

Carol x

CAROL MARINELLIrecently filled in a form asking for her job title. Thrilled to be able to put down her answer, she put ‘writer’. Then it asked what Carol did for relaxation, and she put down the truth—’writing’. The third question asked for her hobbies. Well, not wanting to look obsessed, she crossed her fingers and answered ‘swimming’. But, given that the chlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights, I’m sure you can guess the real answer!

CHAPTER ONE

‘YOU ALREADY KNOW, don’t you, Freya?’

‘Know what?’ Freya frowned as she attempted to pull up the zipper on her friend Beth’s wedding dress. It had slipped up easily at the final fitting just last week so Freya gave it another tug but it refused to budge. ‘Have you...?’

Freya stopped herself from continuing with the question. She, more than most, knew just how much damage that a throwaway comment about weight could cause and she certainly didn’t want to inflict that pain on Beth. Especially not on her wedding day, but, hell, the dress was tight.

Then it dawned on Freya why she was having so much trouble getting Beth into her wedding dress. Beth had declined Freya’s offer of champagne as they prepared for her late afternoon wedding and the girls’ night in at Freya’s apartment last week had been a very tame affair.

Freya worked it out just a split second before her friend said it.

‘I’m pregnant!’

Oh, Freya was very grateful for that split second because her eyes had screwed closed as yet another friend revealed their happy news, but by the time Beth had turned around, Freya had composed herself and was smiling.

‘That’s fantastic news, Beth.’

‘Don’t pretend that you didn’t know.’

‘I honestly had no idea,’ Freya admitted.

‘I didn’t have even one of the cocktails you’d made!’

‘I thought it was a bit odd,’ Freya admitted, because Beth loved a drink. ‘I just believed you when you said that you were detoxing for the wedding.’

Oh, it had been a tame night. Two of the women were pregnant, one was breastfeeding and now Freya understood why Beth had also declined the cocktails that Freya had prepared. For Freya, it had been a long night of being told, It will be your turn soon, and asked, Are you still not seeing anyone? Her friends didn’t know about her fertility issues, so they hadn’t been deliberately insensitive. She could have told them that day that she’d had blood work done and when Hilary was back from her trip she would be having some further tests to see if she might be a candidate for IVF through an egg donor.

Freya didn’t really open up to anyone, though, not fully.

‘So when did you find out?’ Freya asked Beth.

‘Two weeks ago. I was devastated at first, I have to admit.’

‘Devastated?’ Freya checked. She knew very well that Beth and Neil both wanted a family and so she wondered if they had found out that there was something wrong with the baby.

‘Well, I was very upset,’ Beth clarified. ‘We’ve been saving up for the honeymoon for ages and had paid for all drinks to be included...’ Beth rolled her eyes at the perceived inconvenience. ‘I’m fine about it now.’

Fine!

Freya did her best not to dwell on that word.

Finally the zip was up and she arranged the huge bow on Beth’s dress.

Freya knew that she overthought everything but, really, to use the word fine to describe the news that you were pregnant irked her!

‘Have you told your parents?’ Freya asked once she had unclenched her jaw.

‘Not yet. Neil’s going to reveal the news during the speeches, so we can capture everyone’s expressions. Can you warn the cameraman?’

‘Sure.’

‘You won’t forget?’

‘I never forget,’ Freya said. ‘That’s why you’ve got me planning your wedding, remember!’

Oh, Freya was on edge and trying not to be but Beth really was a bridezilla.

‘Okay, done. Wow. You look amazing!’ Freya said. ‘Simply stunning.’

No one could ever tell when Freya was lying. It was why she was so successful in PR.

The dress that Beth had chosen was a long sheath of ivory tulle, tied in the middle with a huge satin bow.

Like an oddly wrapped parcel, Freya thought.

Worse, Beth had chosen similar for Freya to wear. Hers was knee-length, though, and the shade of Freya’s dress was Antique White. Freya felt as if she was wearing an old teabag. Her brunette hair had been teased into curls and Beth had insisted on red lips for them both. The only saving grace was that the bow on Freya’s dress was smaller.

They looked like two poodles who’d been badly clipped, Freya thought as she stared at their reflections.

‘Are you wearing a bra?’ Beth checked.

‘It didn’t work with the dress,’ Freya said.

‘Well, put some plasters on them,’ Beth said. ‘I don’t want your nipples in my photos.’

There was a knock at the door and, of course, brides didn’t answer doors, so Freya opened it and smiled when she saw Beth’s father, realising it was time for her to head down and check the last-minute details.

‘Right, I’m going to go down and make sure everything is in place,’ Freya said. ‘Enjoy every moment and leave all the worrying to me.’

‘I shall.’ Beth nodded. ‘It’s all set for midnight?’

‘It is.’

‘I want everyone watching us kiss as we ring in the New Year.’

‘They shall be.’

‘Thanks for organising everything.’

‘Well, it’s been a lot more fun sorting out flowers and table plans than getting everyone at The Hills to glam up for the new brochure...’

‘They’re already a glam lot.’

‘I know they are.’ That hadn’t been what Freya had meant but there wasn’t time for all that now. ‘I’ll see you down in the hotel chapel.’

‘Don’t forget the plasters,’ Beth reminded her. Freya smiled and picked up her posy of red flowers to match her red lips then stepped out of the room and let out a very long breath.

Again she had lied. This wedding had been hell to organise.

Two of the hotels that Beth and Neil had chosen as potential venues had explained that their stairways and escalators were for all of their guests, especially on New Year’s Eve. It had been difficult to find somewhere to accommodate all their demands but Freya had achieved it.

The wedding was at five, then dinner and speeches, but instead of being able to relax afterwards she had to keep the cameraman and photographer sober, as well as get two hundred guests out of the ballroom and onto the main staircase. Oh, and her ex, Edward, was going to be there.

As he had been at three other weddings she’d attended this year.

Freya was so over weddings!

She knew that her PR skills were a very large reason that Beth had chosen her to be bridesmaid.

It didn’t offend Freya.

To survive as top PR consultant in LA, you needed to keep in with your contacts. Beth was a journalist, and the many hours that Freya had spent organising the wedding would be returned in kind.

It was called networking and Freya was very good at that.

Freya got to her hotel room to freshen up. She checked her make-up and wished she hadn’t—it was far too much.

She really didn’t like this dress and how much it revealed of her shoulders. Her upper back was bare too and she felt exposed. Freya turned and craned her neck and told herself that everyone in the chapel would be looking at the bride rather than the bridesmaid’s spinal column.

As always, she checked her phone and saw that there were several messages and missed calls from her brother, James.

Work.

Freya knew that it would be.