I breathed in the aroma of the lovely Christmas cookie-scented candles that Georgie had chosen and placed along the aisle. Sarah's softly pungent purple and white flowers that adorned the ends of each pew looked gorgeous. I was already fighting tears, imagining my mum feeling as excited as I did as she walked up to meet my dad, without seeing the back of Miller's blond hair peeking out from under his top hat as he stood facing the altar. His broad back was rocking the fitted morning suit he was wearing, complete with tails and highly polished shoes, and that delectable muscular backside of his. He'd completely embraced the English traditional wedding attire, and I was so happy. I was a traditional girl at heart, a traditional country girl. I breathed a sigh of relief as I made it to stand next to him without incident. I looked up at him as he turned to face me, his eyes filling with tears as he drank me in while I did the same. Georgie had made sure that Miller, Dean, and the ushers all had purple cravats to match the girls' dresses. He was the epitome of my Prince Charming.
'Wow,' he breathed, shaking his head and looking stunned. I wanted to high-five Georgie for my dress and the way she'd done my hair, swept in cascading curls over one shoulder, the way Miller always found so sexy.
'Back at you,' I whispered before turning back to face Daphne, who was already crying. Georgie hurried forwards to help steady her as she lifted my veil back and kissed me on both cheeks.
'One of the happiest days of my life. Thank you for allowing me to be such a special part of it,' she said, her old eyes glistening.
'No, thank you. I'm so proud to have you be here for me,' I said sincerely, kissing her back. Georgie helped her to her seat on the front row, then came and took my bouquet from me and adjusted my veil again, tears in her eyes too. 'Don't,' I warned. 'I promised I wouldn't cry until the vows.'
'I'm just so happy for you, for both of you,' Georgie smiled.
'It will be you next,' I teased, making her blush and roll her eyes.
'He's fidgeting. Turn around and let him see you properly.'
I did as I was told, and Miller immediately clasped my face to give me a gentle kiss, which turned into a slightly longer and more passionate one that had the congregation laughing. Someone yelled in an American accent, 'Talk about jumping the gun. He hasn't said kiss the bride yet, Miller.'
'I haven't seen her for over two days,' he called back with a loving smile at me as he let me go and laced his fingers through my right hand, squeezing tightly.
'Trust me, after just one year of marriage, you'll be begging for two days away from her,' called someone else, causing another wave of laughter to ripple through the church.
'Hey!' I warned with a laugh myself. 'Don't put him off before I've even got the wedding ring on my finger.'
'You're stuck with me for life, ring or no ring, Abbie Carter,' Miller warned. 'Too late to back out now.'
'Never,' I confirmed, giving him an adoring smile. We were going to face all of those hurdles together, as one.
We exited the church, where the villagers were waiting to shower us with purple and white confetti, and James snapped away, getting lots of pictures. Miller led me under the arched gateway that took us onto the lane and I burst out laughing to find a pink scooter, the kind you'd see zipping around the streets of Italy, complete with a "Just Married" sign and pink and red cans tied to the back, matching coloured balloons tied to the handle bars, and two hot pink helmets on the seat.
'What the hell is that?' I giggled.
'I know I should have booked a Rolls Royce or something, but you made a fool of yourself for me in the Pooh bear costume, so I figured it was time I returned the favour,' he chuckled, exchanging his top hat for a very feminine helmet as his mates whooped in the background. 'Everyone told me brides normally go with pink bridesmaid dresses, so I organised this, and then I received a parcel this morning from Georgie with the purple cravats and it was too late to change it all.'
'You're crazy,' I laughed as he hopped on, James snapping away with his camera.
'I am, and it's too late for you to trade me in for a new model, Mrs. Davis, so hop on,' he ordered with a wink.
'Mrs. Davis!' I beamed at him. Abbie Davis. I felt so happy. And so relieved. I'd half expected Fi-Fi to barge in and shout an objection or start another cat fight, but it had gone without a hitch. I carefully put on the helmet he offered me, trying not to ruin my lovely hair, and Georgie helped scoop up my train and dress as I straddled the back behind Miller. It raised more whoops from the guys as I flashed off my blue garter and a large proportion of leg. Georgie giggled as she gently tucked the dress around me while I gripped hold of Miller's waist.
'And yet you're still showing less flesh than the other dress,' she winked.
'What other dress?' Miller called.
'It's a long story. Let's just say this isn't the dress that you actually paid for, thank God.'
After asking Georgie to make sure that someone accessed the garage to get Daphne's electric scooter, we set off up Church Lane at a slow pace, amidst much cheering from the guests and hooting of the scooter horn by Miller. Most of the villagers had now lined the lane, waving us off, and I even spotted Paige Taylor in the crowd, our very own world-famous supermodel.
I rested my head on Miller's back, never feeling happier. Getting married in New York just wouldn't have been the same. The moped was so slow that virtually everyone had overtaken us by the time we made it to the private tree-lined drive that led to Severn Manor. I was half expecting to see Daphne whizzing past us on her new chair, too.
'Close your eyes,' yelled Miller. 'I don't want you to see the surprise yet.'
'What surprise?' I called, doing as I was told.
'You do know the meaning of the word, right? Or is it an American word you Brits don't use?'
'You've moved here, Miller Davis, and married one, you're as good as a Brit now,' I reminded him as I tickled his ribs, making him squirm and laugh, and I clung tighter as the scooter wobbled. 'And when were you going to tell me about Quinn moving next door?'
'Remind me that she's useless at keeping secrets, if ever I decide to share one with her again,' he huffed as he pulled to a stop and cut the engine. 'You don't mind?'
'Of course I don't!' I exclaimed, reaching blindly behind me to clutch the seat as Miller kicked down the stand and started to get off the scooter. 'I was dreading having a neighbour we didn't like moving next door. Daphne even turned down two offers from people we didn't think would fit in. I'm thrilled, it will be so nice for you to have your sister, your family, next door.' Not to mention three of my four best friends living next door to me. At least Daphne was only across the village.
'You're my family now too, Abbie Davis,' he reminded me. 'And seeing you in this sexy dress makes me want to forget the evening reception and drag you up to one of the suites to carry on trying to make a family of our own.'
'I'm sure no one would notice if we snuck away to your suite for an hour,' I suggested as he lifted me up into his arms. I quickly clung to him, feeling disorientated with my eyes shut.
'Much as I'd love to, I think they would, star attractions of this whole event and all,' he laughed. 'Besides, I don't have the suite any more. We're leaving for our honeymoon later tonight, the jet's fuelled and ready to go.'
'We are?' Well, that was a surprise that Quinn hadn't ruined, I had no idea. And worse, I had no idea where we were even going. I'd had to pack for arctic conditions, as well as tropical climates, before Dean came down this morning to whisk my cases away.
'Mmmm-hmmm,' he confirmed. 'Damn, have I told you how beautiful you look, wife?' he asked, planting a kiss on my forehead.
'Yes, but I won't tire of hearing it, husband,' I grinned. I was stunned at what greeted me when he set me down and told me that I could open my eyes. The entire front of Severn Manor looked like a scene from Narnia. There was snow everywhere. On the roof, the windowsills, on the twinkling Christmas tree outside, all over the grass. In fact, I was even standing in it, but it wasn't cold. I looked up at Miller, completely confused. Delighted, but confused. 'I don't understand, there's so much and it wasn't snowing.'
'You wanted a snowy Christmas wedding, so I made it happen with a few industrial fake snow machines, and when the guests walk out of the patio doors onto the back terrace, they'll find an ice skating rink, too.'
'I think I'll keep you,' I squealed, throwing my arms around him as I gave him a grateful kiss. It was just how I'd pictured my perfect reception.
Even Miller gasped as we finally entered the reception hall. I'd gone for an icy silver and warm purple theme. Large pillar candles with a garland of fairy lights circling them stood on frosted-glass stands in the centre of each of the guests' tables. We had silver-sprayed twigs and fir cones, the same coloured lighting scheme and draped panes of material forming a canopy above us, and there was a roaring fire in the gorgeous inglenook fireplace. The scent of the hot mulled wine the guests were drinking permeated the air. It was everything I'd hoped it would be and more.
They all stood to applaud us as we entered and took our seats at the top table, passing the cake table that I'd asked the staff to make doubly sure was secure after the disaster at poor Tracey's wedding. Jess had outdone herself with purple, white, and silver macaron croquembouches on silver stands, resembling Christmas trees, the largest of which had edible silver-leaf snowflakes hanging from its base. Dad would have just loved this, he'd have been so happy for me. And me? I was just ecstatic.