As Noah climbs in, Rachel wills him not to sit next to her. Even though it would normally be the most natural thing in the world, Jack’s now made it feel the exact opposite. As if reading her mind, Noah takes the seat in front of hers.
“Who are we waiting for?” asks Will into the dark van.
“Jack just went to grab his jacket,” says Rachel.
“And Ali,” adds Paige, making Rachel’s jaw spasm involuntarily.
It’s ridiculous, but when Jack gets in less than a minute later, Rachel wishes the light was on so she could check for any signs that he’s been doing something he shouldn’t. Though, how she expects that to manifest itself, she doesn’t know. Perhaps an untucked shirt, a wipe of his lips, a hair out of place …
“Stop!” she silently screams as the internal monologue threatens to drive her insane.
“Ooh, you smell nice, Jack,” says Paige. “What have you got on?”
“Erm, it’s Creed,” he says, patting down his hair. “Aventus.”
“That’s the same one Ali bought me for my birthday,” says Will. “How funny is that?”
Rachel can sense Paige’s head turn toward her, but she doesn’t need to look at her to know what her expression will be saying.
“Right, let’s get this party started,” shrills Ali as she climbs on board with a bottle of champagne in her hand. She pops the cork and invites everyone to take a swig.
If she were eighteen, Rachel supposes she’d be the first to knock one back, but as a forty-two-year-old mother, she can’t help but feel it’s all a little tawdry and, if she is honest, a bit beneath her.
“Rach, you’re first up,” Ali calls out as she passes the foaming bottle back to her.
“No, no,” says Rachel. “I’m good, thanks.”
“Aw, come on, loosen up,” whines Ali. “It’s the night before my wedding.”
Rachel is still shaking her head as Noah holds out the bottle, the effervescent bubbles forming a froth on his hand. Perhaps she is too “up herself.” Maybe if she didn’t take life so seriously and had a more devil-may-care approach like Ali, her husband wouldn’t feel the need to …
She pulls herself back from going down that road. God, this is going to be a long night if she’s going to question her husband’s fidelity every time he looks at his brother’s wife-to-be.
“Down in one, down in one, down in one,” Ali sings, encouraging Rachel to be reckless for once in her life and dare to enjoy herself.
Rachel looks around the expectant faces, all of them no doubt wanting her to have a drink for different reasons. An inebriated version of herself means Paige will have a dancing partner, Jack will have a willing participant in whatever roleplay he wants to engage in later, while Will and Ali will be happy under the misapprehension that she is having a better time if she’s drunk. She briefly wonders why any of them bother with her at all if she’s that dull when she’s sober. Or is it that they’re the boring ones and see her as good entertainment value when she’s had a drink? It’s only Noah, she notices, who turns to look at her with no selfish intentions at all. He smiles with kind eyes, asking nothing of her and expecting even less.
The bubbles go up her nose as she shows willing, but as the warm fizziness trails down her throat she’s reminded that she’s doing this for everyone but herself.
“Woo-hoo!” shrieks Ali, taking the bottle back as Rachel coughs and splutters. “That’s my girl. Oh, Jack, I saw this in town earlier and thought of you.” Ali rummages around in her clutch bag.
She produces a three-inch wooden figurine and hands it to Jack, who takes it before examining it.
“What is it?” says Paige, leaning in to take a closer look.
Jack turns it over in his hands before shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s the Rooster of Barcelos,” says Ali. “Haven’t you seen him? He’s the Portuguese national symbol; he’s everywhere—you can’t miss him.”
“What did you buy him that for?” asks a bemused Will.
“Just as a little souvenir of the wedding and to thank him for being our best man,” says Ali, with a smile on her face.
“I think you’ll find he would have preferred an IWC watch as a Portuguese memento,” says Will, laughing.
Ali slaps him playfully. “This is slightly more meaningful.” She tuts. “It’s a symbol from medieval times.”
“What does it represent?” asks Rachel, because nobody else does.
“It’s a fascinating story,” says Ali. “When a landowner’s silver was found to be missing, the authorities arrested and charged a Spanish pilgrim who happened to be passing through the town of Barcelos. He protested his innocence, but with no other suspects, he was sentenced to be hanged.”
Rachel rubs at her head, unable to see the relevance of the preening bird Jack’s holding in his hand.
“But, just before his death,” Ali goes on, “he went to see the judge one last time to plead his innocence. He pointed to the roasted rooster on the dinner table in front of him and said it would come back to life to sing his innocence. The judge banished him to the gallows, but, just as the noose was being put around his neck, the rooster sprang to life.”
“Did it save the pilgrim?” asks Rachel.
“Yes, he was set free,” says Ali. “So, the moral of the story is that if you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear.”
Rachel looks at Jack, who smiles tightly before putting the figure, which she can now see has red love hearts painted all over its plumage, into his inside pocket.
“We’re here!” exclaims Ali, a few minutes later, jumping up and down in her seat excitedly, the low cut of her dress edging dangerously close to revealing a nipple.
“What the hell was that all about?” asks Paige as they clamber out of the minibus.
“It’s just a rooster,” says Rachel wearily, not wanting to hear any more of Paige’s theories, especially where Jack is concerned. “There’s no hidden meaning.”
Paige snorts derisorily. “It’s a cock,” she says. “There’s all kinds of hidden meanings.”
9
It’s funny how just a couple of nights ago, the only thing Rachel had to worry about was how they were going to be spending their weekend. To the point that even when a text had popped up on Jack’s phone, she’d thought little of it, preferring instead to fixate on whether she was going to be subjected to a rowdy nightclub to celebrate Will and Ali’s nuptials or not. But now, all sorts of incidents are flashing up in her brain as she remembers them, suddenly conscious of what they might mean.
“Who’s that?” she’d asked, when “Can’t wait to see you” had flashed up on the screen from where it lay upturned on the vanity unit as she and Jack brushed their teeth the night before they left.
“Er, Will,” he said, picking it up and taking it into the bedroom with his toothbrush still in his mouth.
“Why doesn’t it say Will, then?” she’d asked, not because she was suspicious, but because she’d thought there might be something wrong with Jack’s phone.
“He’s got a new number,” Jack had said from the other room. “And I haven’t got round to saving it under his name yet.”
“So, what do you think the venue will be like?” she’d asked, thinking nothing more of it. “I’m hopeful that he’ll want to get married somewhere your parents will be proud of.”
“Do you honestly think Will’s had a say in it?” Jack had asked incredulously.
“Well, I’m banking on his good taste prevailing,” she’d replied, in between spitting out toothpaste.
Jack had laughed. “Well, I’m afraid you’re going to be bitterly disappointed, because if you think he’s had any control over what’s happening, dare I say, you’re being a little naive.”
She’d taken his comment with a pinch of salt, but a lot can change in forty-eight hours and now she’s wondering if that’s exactly what she’s being. Who else would automatically believe that a text message sent to their husband saying “Can’t wait to see you” would be from his brother?
Paige wouldn’t have, for sure. She would have strung Noah up by his testicles until he told her the truth.