Page 151 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“There has to be something we can do,” Joanna said, rubbing Hazel’s back.
“But how?” Nana said. “Even if it weren’t Christmas, nobody can organise a wedding in three days. And even if such a miracle could occur, there’s no chance of getting a venue, especially given this time of year.”
I cleared my throat to cut through the murmurs of agreement. “I might be able to provide you with a miracle.”
Everyone froze and looked at me.
“What do you mean?” Julian asked as Hazel peered out at me from between her fingers.
I grabbed the folder I’d stashed down by the side of my chair and pulled out a sheet of paper.
“Thomas! Is that—” Mum stopped, pressing her fingers to her lips. “I thought you didn’t renew it.”
“So did I,” I answered. “But I checked just in case. It’s dated not long after Dad died, so the administrative staff must have done it automatically when I was swept away in all the inheritance paperwork.”
“But what is it?” Richard asked, leaning forwards.
“A marriage venue license.”
Hazel stilled. “For where?”
“For here.” My lips twitched to one side. “It might not be the wedding you both dreamt of, but the ballroom has hosted weddings before, so I don’t see why we can’t do it again.”
Mum clasped her hand to her neck. “This is true. We haven’t booked one since before Michael’s diagnosis, but we still have everything that’s needed to host one. How many guests were there?”
“I, uh—” Julian paused.
“One hundred and three,” Hazel replied, slowly sitting up.
“We can easily accommodate it.” I slipped the license certificate back into the folder. “You were having a buffet over a sit-down meal, right?”
She nodded. “There was to be a break after the ceremony for photos, but…”
“Easy. You can take them all here, and your guests will be more than comfortable.” I shrugged. “It’s going to be a lot of work getting everything switched over to here, and we’ll all need to put the work in, but I don’t think it’s impossible. It’s up to you two, though.”
Hazel and Julian looked at each other. “It’s your choice,” he said to her. “You know I’d marry you in an alleyway if it was the only option.”
“I feel the same. And I—” she paused. “I just can’t let all Sylvie’s work go to waste, either. Not after everything.”
“She did get herself into a bit of a state,” Nana said, tapping her nails against her teacup. “And we really shouldn’t impose this work onto her now. Where would we even begin?”
“Divide and conquer,” Cassandra said, clapping her hands together as she looked at me. “There’s more than enough of us here, and we’re all capable adults.”
“Exactly,” I repeated. “Between us all, we can do it. We have both sides of the family to contact the guests. We have a household full of staff who can prepare with the set up,” I said, looking at Hazel and Julian. “Your florist over there still has all your flowers.”
“It’s true.” Beth nodded. “And it’s not an issue to change the delivery location. It’s actually easier—I can get started sooner, especially on the archway. I can put it together here instead, in fact.”
“And Mum has planned more than one large event in her life, so I’m confident she can help co-ordinate with Sylvie to take some of the pressure off.”
Mum nodded. “I can also make sure there’s no issue with the registrar’s office. I can handle all that for you.”
“And as for your decorations, the tree farm owner happens to be right here.” I grinned, pointing to myself. “I can’t decorate for shit, but I can get trees here this evening.”
Just like that, Hazel crumbled.
Her tears were no longer silent, but they weren’t sad anymore, either.
“Thank you,” she gasped out between her sobs. “Thank you so much.”
