Page 86 of Hook, Line and Single

‘You’ve been counting down.’

‘Haven’t you?’

He smiles. ‘Maybe.’

The vicarage door is open when we pull onto the drive, so we walk straight through to the kitchen, where we find Sam sitting at the table with a cup of tea. As soon as she spots us, she starts to heave herself to her feet.

‘Stay sitting,’ I order her as I walk round the table to give her a kiss. ‘Pregnant woman’s prerogative.’

‘Thank you.’ She grimaces. ‘The little bastard has been kicking me all morning.’

‘Do you need a hand with anything? Just shout and I’ll fetch and carry.’

‘Nice try, but you’re strictly punters today. Robin’s been very strict with me about it. I’ve got a couple of ladies from the church coming to help out, don’t worry.’

‘And where is the vicar?’

‘In his study, just making sure he’s got everything he needs.’

As if knowing that we’re talking about him, Robin wanders in to join us.

‘Ruby, Cameron. Lovely to see you as always. You’re the first to arrive. Are you ready for a day of wedding preparation?’

‘As we’ll ever be,’ I reply. ‘Although I’m still not sure what to expect.’

‘Don’t worry, it’s nothing too intense. In the morning, we look at various common areas of marital conflict – money, sex, communication styles and all that. Then we’ll look at the service itself this afternoon.’

‘I’m not talking to complete strangers about sex,’ I tell him firmly.

‘You won’t be,’ he assures me. ‘Nobody’s marking your homework. We’re just giving you space to think about different aspects of your relationship before you tie the knot.’

‘Did you do this before you and Sam got married?’ I ask him.

‘We did a version of it, yes. Relax, it’ll be fine.’

‘There’s nothing less fine than talking about sex with a vicar,’ I remark.

‘I don’t know,’ Sam pipes up from her seat at the table. ‘You could be talking about it with your parents.’ She winks at Robin. ‘Or even doing it with a vicar.’

‘That’s true.’

‘Anyway.’ She strokes her baby bump affectionately. ‘I think we can assume this particular vicar knows a thing or two where sex is concerned.’

‘What’s worse?’ Cameron asks me quietly. ‘Talking to a vicar about sex or thinking about a vicar having sex?’

‘Something tells me today is going to be a long day,’ I murmur back.

‘It’s not too late. We could cancel and book the registry office instead.’

‘Apart from the fact that I don’t think Sam would ever forgive us, we’ve put so much effort into this, what with all the back and forth to attend Sunday services to get our qualifying connection. Plus, I quite like the idea of Robin marrying us. It’s more personal somehow.’

‘You’re right. And it’s totally worth it if I get to marry you at the end.’

I smile and lean against him, giving him a surreptitious kiss. ‘You say all the right things. I’m pretty excited about marrying you too.’

‘Have you two sorted out your honeymoon yet?’ Sam asks, breaking into our private moment.

‘We have, actually,’ I tell her. ‘Despite my favourite travel agent moving to Dorking, it turns out it’s still possible to book holidays. Your colleague Janet helped us out.’

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