squeeze of her knee. âYou will get past this, Suze. Archie isnât going to die. He wouldnât bloody dare, not till you give him the OK at a hundred and six, once his arthritis means heâs stopped being able to open bottles of cava for you.â
Suzy sniffed. âYou think?â
âI know. But I also know that itâs going to be a while before heâs back on his feet, so youâre going to be spending a lot of time around here for the foreseeable. What can I do to pick up the slack? Didnât you say your last brideâs getting married next Saturday?â
Suzy nodded. âTexted me at eleven thirty last night wanting to know if the scented candle wax had been poured into the garden urns yet because sheâd changed her mind on the patchouli.â
Cassie grimaced. âWhat did you do?â
âI didnât reply. I didnât trust myself not to tell her where to go. Who gives a fig aboutââ
âShe doesnât know what youâre going through. Itâs not her fault. Listen, Iâll speak to Marie, OK? She can take the reins, and anything she canât deal with, she can come to me and Iâll deal with it, yes?â
âAre you sure?â Suzy asked, without protest for once, as she handed over the phone.
âYou need to put your time and energy into helping Arch get better. Nothing else matters for the moment.â Cassie had become well versed in the dramas of Suzyâs business after sheâd worked for her during her first summer in London while the divorce was going through. She knew the contacts, protocols and drills for dealing with stressed brides and their mothers, and Suzy passed as many catering jobs over to Eat ânâ Mess as she could, so they often still worked together. âAnd what about Velvet? Do you want me to carry on staying at yours with her till Arch is discharged?â
âIf you can just carry on holding the fort till Mum gets here? Sheâs already on the way. She was in Scotland doing some, I dunno, herbaceous borders convention or something, but she should be here mid-morning. She might take Velvet back home to West Meadows with her for a bit. Or not. It depends on how long the docs think Arch will be in for.â Her lower lip trembled. âIt was so horrible in there last night.â
âI bet it was.â Cassie rubbed her hand soothingly.
âDid you know Iâve never spent a night apart from Velvet before?â
âI didnât,â Cassie smiled. âBut you both got through it. And she looks OK, doesnât she?â
âActually, itâs depressing how unbothered she appears to be,â Suzy replied with a sniff, a glimmer of her old fire flickering in her voice. âI think you could just take over from me and she wouldnât much notice.â
âThatâs not true. I can only buy her love and attention with food.â
The doors opened and they watched as a few nurses walked in â either on their coffee break or at the end of a shift. Suzy stiffened as though their watch may be over but hers wasnât. âWe should get back.â
Cassie glanced at the untouched food on the tray. âSure.â
They took the stairs. âThe lifts take too long,â Suzy said, as she walked straight past them, carrying Velvet in her arms, her body vibrating to the same nervous energy as Henryâs. Cassie hurried to keep up, already dreading the smothering synthetic quiet that was contained by the CCUâs locked glass doors.
The same nurse whoâd buzzed them in earlier came to the door again and Cassie knew from her surprised look at the fact that Cassie had actually come back that she wasnât going to be setting a foot over the threshold this time.
âIâd better, uh, leave you here,â Cassie said quietly, not wanting to alert Suzy to her âpersona non grataâ status; the poor woman had bigger things to worry