Page 117 of The Day After Christmas
‘Really.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Just wish me good luck,’ she said.
‘Good luck, my darling girl. Thanks for letting me be part of your day.’
It wasn’t everything. But it was a start.
‘You look unbelievable,’ said James as Felicity moved to stand beside him, glowing with pride and excitement. ‘Is this okay? Tell me this is okay?’
Was she okay?Her face felt hot and her palms were sweating but she couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy.
‘This is incredible,’ she breathed, taking his hand in hers. ‘I mean, officially I’m mad with you but wow. You’ve blown my mind.’
James looked like he’d won the lottery, which only made her heart swell even more.
‘You understand, there’s no pressure, right? Sophie told you? I mean, I know there’s a lot of pressure but you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, okay?’
‘I think you mean, will you marry me?’ said Felicity calmly.
James smiled a huge smile then, his dimple dimpling away to full effect.
‘You’re right. Or should I say,I do.’
‘I do too,’ she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
He winked at her, turning to the crowd who were all on their feet now, breaths held. Only Jessica the donkey looked like she couldn’t care less that it was Boxing Day and a wedding day all rolled into one.
James took a deep breath. ‘On behalf of Felicity and myself, I’d like to thank everyone for coming, especially for giving up your Boxing Day for us. We are so grateful and we love you all.’
Rita started sobbing in the front row while the rest of the crowd cheered and jumped up and down and then realised there were donkeys in the room and toned it down a little. But the donkeys thought this was a great game and decided to join in, putting in some deafening hee-haws to the amusement of them all. James had to wait an awkwardly long time before he could make himself heard again.
‘I realise,’ he went on when things had quietened down, ‘that this was a risk. Felicity is not good with crowds and she doesn’t like a big fuss so I nearly gave up on this whole idea but I can’t think of anyone who deserves to have a big fuss made of her as much as she does. So, basically I thought, screw it.’ The crowd tittered. ‘Screw it, let’s damn well make a fuss of her and give her a surprise she’ll never forget and she’ll just have to lump it and deal with it and it was only this morning that I wondered what the hell I had done. Bit late to stop it all by then.’ More titters.
‘But I’m delighted to say that the future Mrs Cowley has forgiven me for all my conniving, and – I hope – will consent to be my wife. Willingly, I hasten to add.’
He turned to Felicity. All eyes were on her and she knew her face was burning. But as she looked up into the face of her Penguin Man, she realised something extraordinary. As he looked down at her, his eyes wide, and full of hope, it occurred to her that no one in her whole life had ever known her or loved her like this. And this was how he was showing her. James knew she would have hated the planning. He knew her so well that he knew she would have detested trying to choose a dress or having people poke and prod at her, just as he knew Christmas was a really difficult time for her. He knew all that, so he’d tried to find a way to give her new memories. To give her hope. From now on, this day would not just be the source of the biggest trauma in her life, Christmas would also be a point of hope, of a future, of pure joy. Forever her wedding anniversary. Something that couldn’t be taken from her. And what was Christmas all about if it wasn’t joy? Hell, maybe James was also coming round to the season too.
As her eyes roved the room, something caught her eye, and she took a deep breath. In the corner of the room was an empty chair with a jar of white lilies on the seat. Balanced above it was a framed photograph of her mother. There was Jocelyn. Beautiful, complicated Jocelyn. Looking down on her. Giving approval in absentia.
Felicity’s heart gave a lurch. It was so incredibly sad – beyond sad, really – that her mother wasn’t here to see this, had missed so much of Felicity’s life, but the fact that James and Harry had thought to include a tribute to her, it meant such a lot. She sent up a silent prayer for Jocelyn, wherever she may be.
James took her hands between his, gently bringing her back to the present. She blinked up at him.
‘Felicity Brooks. Will you marry me?’ whispered James, his face pale.
Felicity looked up into his eyes and beamed, eyes glistening. ‘I will,’ she said.
The crowd went wild and even Jessica and Eeyore began to join in again which sent them all into fits of giggles. As she watched them all howling with laughter, Felicity wondered if her heart would burst.
CHAPTER 56
Thankfully, her heart didn’t give out, and twenty minutes later it was done. Felicity and James were husband and wife. It felt like a dream. Perhaps it always would feel that way. Perhaps that was always the intention.
As the registrar declared their knot officially tied, Rita and Jim wrapped their arms around them, and the rest of the guests leapt from their seats, cheering and shouting with joy. Felicity’s heart swelled in her chest at the sound. As Felicity and James turned to walk back down the makeshift aisle, avoiding the discreet pile of donkey droppings on the way, James held up a hand. He was fighting a losing battle but eventually… eventually they began to quieten down enough for him to speak.
‘I have one more announcement. Well, two announcements really. One is that there’s absolutely loads of food and drink in the next room, Christmas-themed of course and no, not made by me, you’ll be pleased to hear, but by a wonderful catering company who didn’t seem to mind coming out on Boxing Day – so please be nice to them, everyone. And help yourselves.’
