Midsummer Magic. Julia Williams
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was just a shock to see him,’ mumbled Diana. ‘It was years ago.’
‘Spill,’ said Josie, looking accusatory.
‘There is nothing to spill,’ protested Diana. ‘I worked with him one Christmas when I was doing the ski chalet thing. I barely know him. There is nothing to tell.’
‘Oh my God!’ Recognition suddenly dawned on Josie’s face. ‘Ant’s Teflon Tone, isn’t he?’
Diana felt the bottom fall out of her world. She really didn’t want to have this conversation.
‘No,’ she said unconvincingly.
‘You don’t fool me,’ continued Josie mercilessly. ‘Ant, Teflon Tone. No way.’
‘Yes, way,’ said Diana, realising there was no point denying it any longer. ‘Now can you see why I’m so freaked?’
‘He’s the one who —?’
‘Yes,’ said Diana. ‘That’s him. The bastard of all bastards.’
‘Oh bloody hell,’ said Josie. ‘If I’d had any idea, I’d have told Harry not to have him as best man, and I certainly wouldn’t have invited him for the weekend. God, Di, I’m so sorry. I’ll tell Harry he has to get another best man. It’s not as if Ant’s even that interested in the job.’
‘Not your fault. You weren’t to know,’ said Diana. ‘Just my godawful luck, as usual. Besides, whatever’s happened between Tony and me, it’s nothing to do with you two. Harry has to choose his own best man. I’ll cope.’
Josie sat looking thoughtful.
‘I still can’t get over Ant being Teflon Tone. What on earth possessed you? Or was he different when he was out there? At uni he always had a terrible reputation with women.’
‘Youth, stupidity, vodka?’ said Di. There’d been more to it than that of course. But she couldn’t bear to let her friend know quite how foolish she’d been. She’d heard Josie rant often enough about the idiocy of women who’d fallen for Ant’s charms and didn’t want to admit quite how easily she had done the same. It had all seemed so different back then …
‘Anyway, it was ages ago. All forgotten now.’ Diana looked round, desperate to change the subject; when talking to Josie about Tony in the past, she’d always played up the bad stuff, never mentioned any of the good, but there had been a reason why she was in love.‘Where are the boys with those drinks? The bar isn’t that packed.’
‘Oh,’ said Josie. ‘Look. Seems like we’ve got more than one local celebrity.’
Di looked to where Josie was pointing, to see Harry and Ant standing on the patio, deep in conversation with none other than Freddie Puck, the famous TV illusionist.
‘So go on,’ Ant was saying, clearly puppishly in awe of his childhood hero. ‘Spill the beans. How does the candle trick work? Is it sleight of hand, a false candle, what?’
‘You should know by now that I never speak of how the show works,’ said Freddie with a mischievous smile. ‘Shh, it will spoil the magic.’
‘He said it!’ Ant roared in delight.
‘Shh, it will spoil the magic,’ had been Freddie Puck’s catchphrase back in the day, solemnly chanted in playgrounds up and down the country every Monday morning after the show was aired the previous Saturday.
‘Yes, brilliant,’ said Harry, feeling somewhat embarrassed by his friend. He was beginning to wonder if he’d made a big mistake bringing Ant with him this weekend. He’d forgotten in the two years that Ant had been away, just how loud, how forward, how full of hot air, how thrusting, his best friend could be. They’d been mates a long, long time, and Harry had always felt slightly overshadowed by his funnier, more confident, better-looking friend. And today, as Ant grew more expansive, Harry felt himself shrivel a bit, partly from embarrassment (Ant would insist on talking to Freddie Puck), partly from an old and familiar feeling that in Ant’s presence no one was interested in what he had to say. Luckily Freddie seemed to have an ego to match Ant’s and was revelling in the attention.
‘I’ll just get the drinks to the girls, shall I?’ Harry muttered as Ant went into an interminable discussion about how he’d watched Illusions week after week, and tried to work out how they did the tricks. Freddie just smiled enigmatically as Ant came up with ever more outlandish theories about how they were done.
Sensing they didn’t really need him, Harry took the tray of drinks over to the girls.
‘Sorry about that,’ he said, sliding gratefully into his seat. ‘Ant would insist on holding court with Freddie Puck. Honestly, he’s incorrigible.’
‘That’s one word for him,’ Diana said pointedly.
‘Look, Di,’ Harry felt even more embarrassed, ‘I’m sorry. I had no idea that you and Ant knew each other. I’d never have brought him if I’d known.’
‘It’s okay,’ said Diana, with a grateful smile. It almost made her look vulnerable, and he noticed with slight surprise how pretty she was. ‘Past history. Done and dealt with a long time ago. Now let’s get onto something far more interesting. Like you two getting hitched.’
Harry tried to smile with enthusiasm. He wasn’t sure ssssshe wanted to talk about the wedding either. For reasons he felt uncomfortable dwelling on , the thought of the wedding was making him feel more and more uneasy. But he’d do anything to avoid a row, so he smiled again and said, ‘Yes, it’s going to be great, isn’t it?’
‘I know,’ said Josie grabbing his hand. ‘We’re so excited, aren’t we, Harry?’
‘Yes,’ said Harry, with more enthusiasm than he felt. ‘We can’t wait.’
He felt mean then. He squeezed Josie’s hand and kissed her on the lips. Of course she was excited. They were getting married; they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. The thought of spending the rest of his life with Josie made him tingle all over. She was so gorgeous and she was his; he was very, very fortunate.
Diana was looking at her texts, and frowning.
‘Shit, first signal I’ve managed to get all day, and apparently I need to ring work. Will you excuse me for a moment? You two can keep wedding planning in peace.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Harry, trying very hard to feel it was wonderful.
The afternoon was turning out better than expected. Ant still hadn’t come to join them, as soon after Harry had sat down with Josie and Di, Freddie had been joined by none other than Auberon Fanshawe, the star turn in the Illusions show. While Freddie’s act had been all about the art of illusion and the power of the mind, Auberon Fanshawe had been everyone’s favourite TV magician. They’d made a formidable duo, and a formidable fortune in the process. Ant looked like all his Christmases had come at once, sitting between them; a small puppy trying to please two masters.
‘Look at that,’ Diana smirked, having sat back down after being unable to get a signal. ‘It makes a change to see Tony, I mean Ant, looking overawed. That is something positive to take from this weekend, at any rate.’
Josie laughed. ‘I know what you mean,’ she said, ‘Ant is always so much in control. Hilarious. Anyway, back to the wedding; let’s talk table plans …’
Josie was feeling a little out of sorts, and she couldn’t work out why. The sun was still really warm, and the beer she was drinking was making her feel ever so light-headed. She didn’t often drink in the day. It was pleasant sitting basking in the sun, and watching the seagulls whirl above the cliffs, and dive down to catch fish. Part of her wished she could stay here always. She missed Cornwall when she was up in London. It should have been a perfect afternoon, but somehow she felt that Diana and even Harry just weren’t as interested in talking about wedding plans as she was. Diana kept drifting off, looking across at the bay,