Page 128 of Merrily Ever After
I looked at my two friends and felt my heart race. This was it. The day I’d dreamed about for so long. I thought about all the times in the past when I had longed to be loved, when I had wanted, more than anything, to belong. And I thought about the wonderful man who’d be waiting for me at the registry office, offering me all that and more.
‘IknowI’m ready,’ I replied and together we stepped out into the snowy day and into Cesca’s waiting car.
Chapter Forty
Emily
The snow had all but stopped by the time Will pulled into the car park of Wetherley’s registry office. Snow covered the ground, but the flakes were now so tiny that they were no more than diamond specks in the air.
Emily looked at the covered porch of the registry office. The pillars had been decorated with Christmas lights, bunches of mistletoe tied with pale pink ribbon hung from the underside of the roof and a forest of Christmas trees of varying heights were trimmed with silver, white and pink baubles. It was beautiful. Her sister was a creative genius.
A crowd had already gathered, dressed in their wedding finery, and Emily’s stomach pitched with nerves.
‘Look at all those people,’ she murmured.
‘It’ll all be good,’ Will reassured her, giving her that smile that already felt like home.
She took a calming breath. He was right. Today was shaping up to be a day she’d remember forever. Everything was going to plan, and they were on time. Ray had dropped off to sleep as soon as they’d got in Will’s car and the drive through the snow had been surprisingly stress-free and beautiful. They’d chatted, telling each other random facts that the other didn’t yet know. At times, Emily felt as if she’d known Will forever, and it came as a surprisewhen he told her something new about himself: like how he’d got the scar on the back of his hand, about the band he’d been in with his mates when he was sixteen and how he’d once turned up his jeans while he was still in them using superglue and managed to stick the denim to his ankles. Each new story felt like a jewel for her to store away to treasure when they were apart.
‘Thanks for doing this with me,’ she said, turning to Will. ‘I mean, not just any old “meet the family” gig, but a wedding. A lot of men would have found this too intense.’
‘Not me.’ He grinned at her. ‘I’m just a little orphan kid, remember. Days like this are the stuff of dreams.’
‘Even so,’ she said, ‘itisChristmas Eve and I’m monopolising you. I hope your friends don’t mind.’
‘My friends are happy for me. And probably pleased that I’m not crashing their family Christmases for once.’
‘Not as pleased as I am.’ She looked at her father asleep in the back of the car, at peace. ‘I’m so glad I’ve got you to help me.’
Will turned the engine off and took the keys from the ignition. In the back of the car, Ray shifted position but didn’t wake up. ‘There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.’ He reached for her hand. It was cold and he rubbed it between his warm ones. ‘That day we met, I saw you crossing the car park with your dad, I knew just how it felt to be in your shoes, to be moving a loved one into residential care. And then when I offered to help you unload the car …’ He shrugged. ‘I looked at you and it felt as if I was waking up from a long sleep. And I know it’s not cool to admit it, because we haven’t known each other very long, but I care about you, Emily.’
Emily’s stomach did a loop the loop. ‘I don’t care whether it’s cool or not, because I feel the same,’ she said softly.
‘I hoped you’d say something like that.’ He pretended to wipe his brow. ‘Because I’ve got a surprise booked for you for New Year. A trip.’
‘Really?’ She touched his face, he’d been growing a beard, it defined his jaw, and her skin tingled with the rough sensation of the stubble against her fingertips. She might not be brave enough to say it yet, but she loved this man. ‘I love surprises.’
He grinned nervously. ‘I hope you like this one, I mean, you should, you did promise you’d show me round one day.’
Emily gave him a quizzical look. ‘Wysedale?’
He laughed. ‘No, Jersey. I organised it with Izzy.’
She laughed in disbelief. ‘No way!’
‘Yep.’ He looked proud of himself. ‘And I checked with Cole too, to make sure there’d be someone around to pop in and see your dad.’
Emily shook her head and let out a sigh of happiness. ‘New Year in Jersey. I can’t believe it. Just you and me and …’
‘Don’t include me,’ came a voice from the back. ‘I’m off on a cruise soon. Down the Nile with Arthur.’
Emily and Will grinned at each other.
‘Right you are, Dad, I’ll bear that in mind,’ said Emily brightly. ‘Are you ready for the wedding?’
‘In this weather? Who’s getting married, a flippin’ Eskimo?’
Emily giggled. ‘Merry’s getting married, Dad.’
