Bittersweet Love - Cathy Williams [65]
None of them heard the door being pushed open until the registrar spoke, his voice sharp into the tense silence.
‘Am I in the right room?’ he asked sternly, and Eric nodded and began speaking with overdone enthusiasm. He was clearly relieved to have someone else on the scene. He was shaking the registrar’s hand vigorously. At any minute, Natalie thought, he’ll embrace the poor man, who obviously didn’t have a clue as to what was going on.
‘Well, I’m running behind schedule,’ he said to everyone at large, extracting his hand from Eric’s and placing it safely behind his back. He took his place behind the desk in the front of the room and slipped on a pair of glasses. ‘I do apologise for the delay, but are we all ready now?’
He didn’t look up. These things always went according to plan, no doubt. His words were just a formality. He hardly expected an interruption. None of them did.
Natalie was still looking at Kane out of the corner of her eyes, but she was quite prepared to let the ceremony take place, and then try and figure out what was going on here with him. She looked directly ahead of her, at the registrar’s downbent head. It would be extremely short, she knew. There would be no long sermon or elaborate blessings, just the few simple words necessary to marrying two people. They began to move into their positions, when Kane spoke, his voice harsh.
‘There is not going to be a marriage.’
All four froze and the registrar looked up, startled. Natalie had an insane desire to burst out laughing, which she controlled by looking down at her feet and keeping a perfectly straight face.
‘I beg your pardon, young man?’ the registrar said, shocked. He looked around at the gathering of people and said sharply, ‘Is this some kind of joke?’
‘No, sir.’ Eric moved towards the registrar, placating, while he glared sideways at Kane with hatred. ‘I have no idea what this man is doing here, sir. I barely know him.’
Out of the five of them, Kane appeared to be the only one still in control. He had folded his arms across his chest, and Natalie could feel his eyes boring into her, willing her to look up, something which she had no intention of doing.
‘Would someone mind explaining just what is going on here?’ the registrar asked. ‘I’m a busy man. I don’t have time for these sorts of games.’
‘No games.’ Kane moved forward. ‘There is to be no marriage.’
For the first time since Kane’s entrance, Anna stepped forward and spoke, her voice hard. ‘Kane, what the hell is going on?’
Kane threw her a disdainful look. ‘A witness, Anna? I had no idea you were that friendly with Natalie.’
‘I’m not,’ Anna said, and in a flash Natalie understood what was going on. It should have been obvious from the very start, but things had happened so quickly and so unexpectedly that her brain had hardly had time to put two and two together.
Kane had said that he had found out where she was from Tony. Dear, vague Tony. Had he thought that she and Eric were about to tie the knot? He must have, and this must have been the message he had conveyed to Kane.
So why, she asked herself with an excitement which she tried to staunch, had he rushed over here?
‘I think you’ve made a mistake,’ she said softly, turning to Kane, and he glared at her.
‘I think you are the one who has made the mistake,’ he said harshly. He moved towards her, taking her elbow in his hand, but before he could elaborate Natalie said quickly,
‘I’m not getting married. Not that it would have been any of your business if I had been. No, I’m not marrying Eric’ Her eyes flitted across to Anna. ‘Anna is.’
It didn’t take Kane long to catch on that he had made a mistake on a huge scale. A split second, in fact By this time, Anna had approached the desk by Eric and had linked her hand defensively through his arm. She really loves him, Natalie thought, before her attention once more refocused on the man looming over her.
‘You could have told me from the start,’ Kane muttered under his breath, ‘and spared us all this scene.’ He looked so utterly sheepish that Natalie smiled, and he threw