Two Weddings and a Baby Read Online Free Page B

their native tongue, in their capital city, utterly hilarious and mimicked anyone they met with the bravado that only four-year-old boys can muster. Thank God they hadn’t met Bernard, who was so French he was almost like a parody of himself, as they would have had a field day with him, and Bernard, for all his famous ego, was also rather sensitive.
    ‘Are you coming to sleep with us tonight in the lighthouse?’ Jamie asked her, his eyes big and round. ‘The waves are so big they are coming almost to the top of the cliff! But Uncle Ruan says the lighthouse probably won’t fall in the sea.’
    ‘I said, if it falls in the sea we could say it was a submarine,’ Joe said. ‘Uncle Ruan says we have to keep a watch out for pirates!’
    ‘You can share my sleeping bag if you like,’ Jamie assured her, as if he were offering her the rarest of treats.
    ‘To be honest,’ Tamsyn told him, ‘I’d rather wear something nylon and with an elasticated waist than go anywhere near your sleeping bag. You have the personal hygiene habits of, well, a four-year-old boy, to be fair.’
    ‘Aunty Tam, we love you,’ Jamie told her sweetly.
    ‘And I can tolerate you in small bursts if I’ve had wine,’ Tamsyn told him back, patting him on the head.
    ‘Go and play with that dog,’ Keira told them. ‘Let Aunty Tam have a rest and get warm. I’m sure she’ll play with you in a bit.’
    ‘I won’t,’ Tamsyn assured the boys, but as ever they refused to believe that she didn’t totally adore them. ‘Definitely don’t come back and expect me to play with you. I won’t!’
    ‘It’s good to see you, sis.’ Keira hugged her as their mother bustled about at the bar ordering Tamsyn food that she no doubt hoped would make her the proper weight for her height.
    ‘You too,’ Tamsyn whispered into her ear as they hugged. ‘I wasn’t exactly expecting this to be such a big deal, you know.’
    ‘I think Mum thought that the more people there were here, the less we would actually have to talk to each other,’ Keira whispered back. ‘Ruan and Alex went out the back half an hour ago, and we haven’t seen them since. Maybe they’ve done a runner.’
    ‘I wouldn’t blame them. Where’s Pete?’ Tamsyn looked around for her brother-in-law.
    ‘Couldn’t make it,’ Keira said, the corners of her smile drooping just a little. ‘Work. Again. Japan, this time. Couldn’t get out of it. You know what it’s like with futures.’
    ‘I really don’t,’ Tamsyn said. Her brother-in-law’s job had always been a mystery to her; she only knew it had something to do with making quite a lot of money. ‘He couldn’t rearrange, or find someone else to step in for a family wedding?’ Tamsyn asked.
    ‘He would have if he could,’ Keira said, dropping her gaze for a moment, and she twisted the wedding band on her finger. ‘He works so hard, and anyway, I don’t mind. In a way it’s more relaxing that he’s not here. You know what he’s like; always on email, hates wearing a suit when he’s not at work, always telling the boys to keep the noise down to a dull roar … This way, we can relax and enjoy ourselves.’
    ‘Enjoy … It’s a subjective term,’ Tamsyn said, returning the wink that Jago, Poldore’s oldest, grumpiest and often drunkest working fisherman sent her down the table, and raising her glass to him. ‘Anyway, you’re here, and I’m here, and …’
    ‘I’m here,’ Cordelia appeared at her side.
    ‘And we are in a pub, with alcohol, and we are all old enough to get served, so it will all be fine,’ Tamsyn said, grinning at her little sister. ‘Cordy, my, how you’ve grown. Which vampire bit you? Do you want me to stake him?’
    ‘You’re just jealous that I have my own sense of identity,’ Cordy said, tossing her black glossy hair off her shoulders, and Tamsyn had to admit that she really did stand out in her black skinny jeans and black fishnet t-shirt over a scarlet vest, all topped off with what