Page 52 of Wedding Games
Another ten minutes passed, and Arnold was detailing Zoe’s GCSE results.
Zoe eyeballed her mother and circled her hand to try and get her to stop her dad talking.
‘Not yet,’ Charlie whispered. ‘Hang on a bit.’
‘And that was when Zoe decided to do A-level maths, and we thought accountancy might be a sensible career for her to pursue,’ Arnold continued.
Mary tugged her husband’s hand, and he glanced at her. She hissed something at him.
Charlie leaned forward in his seat.
‘Er,’ said Arnold. ‘I do believe I have gone on rather a bit. Erm, let me wrap this up by saying how proud I am of our incredible daughter and by welcoming Rory into our family. He is a wonderful man and I know he will look after our precious girl with every fibre of his splendid being.’
Charlie stood, his hand hovering over the cloth covered clock.
‘So, please raise your glasses to the bride and groom. To Zoe and Rory,’ said Arnold.
Charlie whipped the fabric off and stopped the clock with a triumphant grin. His expression was a contrast to the relieved looks on everyone’s faces as they clapped to celebrate the end of Arnold’s speech.
Charlie strode across the room to the table at the back, a top hat in his hand.
Zoe watched as his army friends begrudgingly took notes from their wallets and chucked them into the hat.
‘I told you,’ Valentina said to Zoe. ‘Dickhead.’
‘Arnold, my dude!’ Brad whooped into the microphone. ‘Let’s hear it again for my blood brother!’
‘Woohoo!’ cried Charlie, encouraging the crowds as he made his way back to their table.
Rory ran his hands through his hair.
Zoe leaned in and kissed him. ‘You’ll be brilliant.’
‘And now it’s time to hear from the main man,’ Brad continued. ‘Put your hands together for the Earl of Kinloch, Rory MacGinley!’
Rory slowly got to his feet as if it was a herculean effort just to stand. He waved the offer of the mic away and took a piece of paper from his sporran.
Out of the corner of her eye, Zoe saw Charlie standing with his hand suspended over the clock, a shit-eating grin on his face.
Rory swallowed. ‘Thank you, Arnold,’ he began.
Charlie started the timer.
‘Thank you all for coming,’ Rory continued. ‘Thank you, Mary, Mum, and—’ He cleared his throat. ‘Brad. Thank you to the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and most of all, to Zoe for marrying me.’
He sat down. Charlie slapped the top of the clock to stop it at fifteen seconds.
There was a stunned silence.
‘A toast!’ cried Brad. ‘To the woman who was not only Countess of Kinloch in a past life but is Countess of Kinloch in this one! To Zoe!’
As everyone cheered, Charlie carried the top hat back across the room to collect more money from his friends.
‘Well done,’ Zoe said to Rory. ‘I think you’ve got at least twenty-five years before you have to do that again.’
‘Huh?’
‘When Shona grows up and gets married, you’ll probably want to do a speech.’
