Page 118 of The Day After Christmas
‘And secondly,’ he said, giving Felicity’s hand a squeeze. ‘Damn, I should have said this one first,’ he added as the volumeof the murmuring in the room went up considerably. ‘Never mention food first, rookie mistake.’
Sure enough, people were already drifting away into the next room. James and Felicity stood there for a moment wondering if anyone was even going to stay for the second thing. A few folk lingered at the back, but it was clear they were just being polite and secretly couldn’t wait for the buffet. James turned to Felicity and smiled down at her.
‘This one’s really for you anyway,’ he said, then leant and whispered in her ear. His breath made her whole body tingle.
‘I didn’t catch that,’ she said, mainly just to make him do it again.
‘I said, how would you feel if I said this was our new home?’ he whispered, a little louder this time. Felicity blinked at him.
‘I’m sorry, Mr Brooks, could you say that again?’
He let out a low chuckle.
‘“Mr Brooks”. I like that. I said, how would you feel if we lived here?’
Felicity let out a high-pitched squeal and threw herself into his arms.
‘Are you kidding me?’ she said, as he lifted her up and held her close.
‘No, I’m not kidding. I mean, unless you don’t like the idea in which case I am absolutely one hundred per cent kidding. Because, you know, I get that it might be weird.’
Felicity looked at him, looked deep in his blue eyes and wondered how she ever got so lucky.
‘It’s not weird. It’s perfect,’ she said. And she meant it. She hadn’t realised until now just how perfect it would be. Like her life had come full circle, but this time she intended to live it to the full.
‘Oh, thank God for that because I’ve already paid the deposit,’ said James, with a breathy laugh.
‘What? How the hell did you afford it?’
‘I had some savings. Okay, I had a lot of savings. Turns out it pays to be a very poor imitation James Bond.’
Felicity squealed again.
A polite cough came from someone in the doorway. ‘So sorry to interrupt but it’s time to cut the cake,’ said a man in an apron, presumably one of the caterers.
‘There’s a cake?’ said Felicity, impressed.
‘It’s made of doughnuts,’ said James, a little sheepishly.
‘Even better,’ said Felicity with a smile. ‘God, I’m going to get so fat being married to you. Get ready for Cankle City, Mr Cowley.’
At this, James beamed. ‘We’ll be there in a moment,’ he said, and the man nodded and backed away. James turned to Felicity, who was still in his arms. ‘Now excuse me while I kiss my wife,’ he said, and she threw her arms around his neck and he kissed her until she saw stars.
‘I love you, Mr Penguin Man,’ she said when she came back up for air, her entire body fizzing and popping with excitement and longing. She wondered vaguely if there were any beds upstairs. Perhaps James had sorted that too. Her face and neck flushed crimson at the thought.
‘I love you, Mrs Penguin Man,’ said James, brushing her hair from her face and placing her gently back down on the floor.
‘I’m Mrs Penguin Man,’ said Felicity, her eyes filling with tears.
‘You are. You always were,’ said James with a grin. ‘But you can still be Crazy Cat Lady too.’
‘That’s why Sophie couldn’t cat-sit for us,’ said Felicity, as realisation dawned.
‘That’s why. But don’t worry, we can bring them with us when we come. It’s all arranged.’
‘This is why you went away?’
‘This is why.’
