Free Lost Angel by Mandasue Heller Page A

as she laid her head on his arm again. Mercifully, she stayed quiet for the rest of the journey.
    The other guests had already made their way inside by the time they reached the hotel, but Frankie was pacing around at the foot of the steps and he rushed forward to open the door when the car stopped.
    ‘Thought you’d changed your minds and gone straight off on honeymoon,’ he joked, offering his hand to Ruth to help her out.
    ‘As if,’ she grunted, puffing for breath as she struggled to drag her skirts out behind her. She gave Johnny a disapproving look when he strolled around from the other side. ‘You should have helped me out. You’re my husband. It’s your job, not my dad’s.’
    ‘Well, that’s you told,’ chuckled Frankie, nudging Johnny with his elbow. ‘Lesson one – don’t argue with a Hynes woman, ’cos you’ll never win.’
    ‘I’m a Conroy now,’ Ruth reminded him.
    ‘Only in name,’ said Frankie, still smiling.
    As Ruth gathered up her skirts and started hauling herself up the steps, Frankie clapped a hand down on Johnny’s shoulder.
    ‘I want to talk to you later, so don’t get too happy with the fizz.’
    ‘Don’t worry, he won’t,’ Ruth called back. ‘I’m not having my new husband too drunk to remember our wedding night.’ She glanced back over her shoulder now and flicked Johnny a conspiratorial little smile.
    Grimacing, Frankie hurried inside and marched across the foyer to a set of double doors outside which a sign stood on an easel, directing people to the reception of ‘Mr and Mrs Johnny Conroy’.
    Ruth bit her lip when she saw it and traced the embossed lettering with her fingertips. ‘That’s us,’ she told Johnny quietly. ‘Doesn’t it look beautiful?’ She reached for his hand now and squeezed it, whispering, ‘I think I’ll make my excuses after dinner and go up to the room to get changed. You can come with me.’
    ‘You’re going nowhere,’ Frankie informed her sternly. ‘And you definitely ain’t getting changed. I paid thousands for that dress, so you’ll bloody well get some wear out of it.’
    ‘I already have, when I got married,’ Ruth reminded him, a sulky little pout appearing on her lips. ‘Now I want to put my other dress on.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘But, Dad . . .’
    ‘Don’t make me say it again.’
    Ruth tutted, put her hands on her hips and looked at Johnny as if to say tell him . But Johnny wasn’t stupid enough to think he would get away with disagreeing with Frankie, so he just shrugged, and said, ‘Your dad’s right. And at least everyone knows who the bride is if you keep it on. If you get changed, you’ll look like the rest of them, won’t you?’
    Ruth sighed. The wedding dress was ridiculously heavy, and her shoulders were aching where the straps were digging in. She’d spent ages finding the perfect dress for the reception, and she’d been really looking forward to showing it off. But she supposed Johnny was right.
    ‘You’re so clever,’ she murmured, giving him an adoring smile.
    Frankie pushed open the doors and stepped into the reception room.
    ‘All rise to welcome the happy couple.’
    Embarrassed when everybody stood up and started clapping, Johnny kept his head down and followed Ruth across the floor to the top table. Holding out her chair, he waited until she was seated before sitting down beside her.
    The next couple of hours passed in a blur of food, alcohol, speeches, and more alcohol. Buffered by the triple vodka Dave had slipped into the Coke that Ruth had ordered him to stick to, Johnny got through the first dance without making too much of a fool of himself. But he’d barely sat down again before Frankie summoned him to one of the hotel’s public bars for a chat.
    ‘So, you’re officially part of the family,’ Frankie said when they were seated and had ordered their drinks. ‘How’s it feel?’
    ‘Fine,’ Johnny answered cautiously, wondering where this was leading.
    ‘Hope you got all the