Never The Bride(53)

'Gorgeous,' sighed Charlie.

'Stunning,' whispered Quinn.

'Beautiful, so beautiful,' sniffed Daphne.

'Perfect,' smiled Georgie. 'Oh, Abbie. Your mum and dad would have been so proud to see you looking so amazing. Are you happy with it?'

'It's the one, Georgie,' I confirmed, my voice breaking with emotion as I started crying again and Maggie clapped with tears in her eyes too. This time I wasn't settling. This was the dress.



Saturday



'Ok, I'm coming down,' I called as I stood at the top of the stairs, my hair and make-up having just been finished. I had my royal purple suede peep-toe shoes firmly in place, matching the luscious deep colour of my bridesmaids' dresses. I was getting married three days before Christmas, so I'd wanted a rich and festive feel to my theme. My only disappointment was waking up this morning to find that the snow I so desperately wanted hadn't arrived.

Instead it had been a cold, crisp day. It was already dark outside as we were having a late afternoon wedding at the church, followed by an evening reception up at Severn Manor. I dreaded to think what it had cost Miller to book them at such short notice, and at a time when they normally refused to do weddings, as they were focused on catering for people who liked to eat out at Christmas.

I was met with a chorus of gasps and exclamations as I came down to find my four friends waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. The three girls were all in purple satin dresses, with white belts to match my dress, and matching small round posies of white calla lilies and white and deep purple roses. How Sarah at Rosie Posie had managed to find ones that perfectly matched their dresses, I'd no idea. She was amazing, and I'd been thrilled when I'd gone to check the floral arrangements in the church last night. Quinn had even had her hair tips redone for the occasion, from multi-coloured to just purple, and Daphne was wearing an off-white dress with a purple jacket, with a purple and white buttonhole pinned to it. We'd finally convinced her to use a walking stick, as she was getting too wobbly on her feet to manage without, but she was doing amazingly well for her age. 

She was moving into her new apartment soon, and I'd been over the moon last night when Quinn shared her news with us. Miller had purchased Daphne's cottage for her, and she was moving to England, too. She had no family in the US, other than Miller, and as he was going to be living here most of the time, she wanted to be close to him. Plus, she'd fit in so well with Georgie, Charlie, and me, we had a really tightly knit circle now. We all stood together holding hands, smiling at each other with tears in our eyes as our photographer James continued to take the relaxed, casual shots I'd asked for.

'I'm getting married!' I whispered.

'The curse is well and truly lifted,' Georgie nodded, with a proud and happy smile on her face. 'You look just  …  wow, Abbie.'

'I've never seen you looking more radiant or beautiful, Abbie Carter,' Daphne agreed.

'Stunning,' added Charlie.

'I really don't want to imagine how my brother's going to react when he sees you, as it will scar me for life, but I've got a feeling he's going to be dragging you up to the hotel suite the second you arrive,' Quinn laughed, making me blush. 'I'm so happy, Abbie. I've been alone for so long, and now I have an amazing brother and a new sister too!'

'Hey, how about me, Daphne, and Charlie? Are you saying we're not much cop?' scolded Georgie.

'I have no idea what that means. You really need to give me a British expressions prep course,' Quinn stated, looking suitably confused.

'She's saying she sees herself as your sister as well. You've become part of this little family here too, Quinn,' I clarified.

'You are, you're a lovely girl, Quinn,' added Charlie.

'Even with that hair and the ring in your nose,' nodded Daphne, giving it another disapproving look that made us all laugh. She wasn't afraid about voicing her distaste for it. 'You need to watch Wayne Davies, the farmer's son. He'll be putting a rope through it and leading you to the farmers' market.'

'She'll be off the market soon if I have anything to do with it,' I added. 'I couldn't fix up poor Heath with Georgie or Charlie, so I've got high hopes of setting him up with Quinn.'

'Who is this guy that no one wants? Do I really want you trying to dump him on me?' she retorted. 'Does he look like a slapped ass?'

'Arse,' we all corrected with a laugh. She was trying so hard with our language and expressions.

'Hell no,' Georgie uttered. 'He's super hot, both Abbie and I quite fancied him at one point, but the timing was off and we're parked firmly in the friend zone now.'

'I'd already fallen for McFitty, Dr. Fitton, by the time I met him, but if my crush ever fades, Heath's one stallion I'll be attempting to ride,' Charlie giggled.

'Then let's get to the church and meet this stud, it's been a while since I had a ride,' grinned Quinn.

'Girls, this is my nephew we're talking about,' groaned Daphne with a despairing shake of her head. The small smile on her lips gave away how much she loved being a part of our group and banter though. She was the most amazing octogenarian I'd ever met. 'Come on, before poor Miller thinks Abbie has changed her mind. The curse isn't lifted until she says the words "I do,"' she reminded us.



       
         
       
        

We all headed out into the star-filled night, Quinn taking Daphne's arm as she balanced herself with her cane and Georgie carrying my train, as Charlie locked up and put the key back under the plant pot. As we headed out of the gate onto the lane, I nearly cried again as I saw that it had been lined with lit candles in special bags with perforated snowflakes on them. They cast pretty shadows up the hedges, the flickering light guiding us all the way up to the church's front door. The carved beams of the outer porch had twinkling fairy lights wrapped around them, and there were more candle bags on the stone mullion window ledges outside. It all looked magical. Reverend Potter was waiting, Bible held firmly in his hands with a warm smile on his face.

'You look beautiful, Abbie. So like your mum on her wedding day in this very church. Did I ever tell you that your parents were the first couple I ever married?'

'No!' I exclaimed. 'Really?' My God, what were the chances, and how much more perfect could today get for reminding me that they were still here with me?

'She walked from that very cottage up the lane in that dress, just like you,' he confirmed, making me choke up as Daphne looped her arm through mine and squeezed my hand. 'Right, we have a very impatient groom waiting inside. Shall we get this show on the road?' he asked.

'Yes, please,' I nodded, full of excitement. I hadn't seen him for two nights, the girls had insisted on it. So he'd been staying up at Severn Manor with his best man Dean, Rachel's husband. I was still in that madly-in-love phase, so even two nights apart had me missing him like crazy. Reverend Potter opened the heavy old oak church door and disappeared inside. A few minutes later, after making sure my veil was in place and my train was suitably draped, Georgie blew me a kiss, wished me good luck, and stepped inside, followed by Charlie, then Quinn. The organ started up immediately, and the butterflies in my tummy went wild with anticipation.

'Now you're sure about this, Abbie?' Daphne asked seriously. 'You youngsters don't seem to see marriage as the serious commitment that it is, giving up at the first hurdle. David and I had plenty of hurdles in our time, but we worked at it, and each one we overcame only made our love stronger.'

'I'm sure,' I nodded, squeezing her hand in return. 'I've never been more sure of anything, even my love for maths, and you know how much I love a good spreadsheet,' I stated earnestly, making her nod her head and laugh. 'I'd rather jump hurdles with him than run a flat race with anyone else, Daphne.'

'Then what are we waiting for? Let's get you married, my darling girl,' she beamed, then coughed and wheezed slightly as we took our first steps towards the open church door. 'Crap!' she exclaimed, making me giggle. She was spending too much time around us, picking up our bad habits. 'My pelvic floor isn't what it used to be, and I'm really wishing I'd taken you up on that electric scooter suggestion right about now. That walk up the lane has damn near killed me!' 

'Miller and I got you one for Christmas, it's wrapped up in our garage. Let me run and get it,' I suggested, giving her a concerned look.

'Over my dead body,' she scoffed. 'I promised to walk you up the aisle and I will, however slowly. Though if he wants to get it out after the service, I wouldn't say no. You're too good to me, Abbie. I do love you, you and Miller. I really think you've found a good one there.'

'Don't start me crying already, Daphne,' I warned. 'We have plenty of time for all that afterwards.'

'Just saying, don't let him go. If I've got an electric scooter, I'll be able to chase him down if you do. He's quite the dish.'

'He certainly is,' I laughed, and held her arm steady as we entered the church.

We did a very slow walk up the aisle, passing the small congregation who were all cooing as they watched me pass, making me blush.

I'd been accustomed to being the centre of attention at the last few weddings, for all of the wrong reasons, and I was just praying nothing would go wrong this time. I tried to use our slow pace as a chance to take it all in. I'd told the villagers they were all welcome to come in after the guests had taken their seats, and the small church was crammed to the rafters. Even Lord Kirkland was there, flashing me a dazzling smile and dipping his head in greeting. I really did need to meddle. He still hadn't asked out Isla Smith, and seeing how lovely he was, never once reminding me or making me feel embarrassed about the whole turdgate incident, I wanted to do something nice by way of an apology.