After we'd eaten the most sumptuous five-course meal and drank copious amounts of champagne, making the laughter and chatter in the room completely infectious, it was time for the speeches, and Miller helped a very tipsy Daphne to her feet.
'For those that don't know me, I'm Daphne Jones and I've known Abbie Carter, no, no, Abbie Davis now, since she was this high,' she began, bending over to indicate how high off the floor and almost knocking herself out as she smacked her forehead on the table. I heard Georgie snort with laughter as the table shook and Miller quickly helped Daphne back up and checked she was ok. 'Crikey, who put that there? I just put my back out,' she giggled. 'The last time was when Mr. Jones and I tried the rowing boat position from the Karma Sutra!'
'Oh no,' I groaned, covering my eyes as I giggled and the rest of the guests joined in. She was hammered. This was about to get even more entertaining.
'Don't try the Catherine wheel one then,' someone called.
'Or the bridge. How do you think I got that double hernia last year?' came another voice that sounded just like Mr. Benson's.
'Must have been all that Viagra you took by mistake,' Daphne teased. 'Had you imagining you were fifty years younger. Now, where was I?' she asked, squinting at her speech cards. 'Ah yes, since she was this high.' She bent over again, and Miller caught her just before she head-butted the table for the second time.
'We get it, she was very young,' he said, straightening her up.
'Pretty as a picture and look at her now, the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. I tell you, I couldn't be more proud if it was my own son in that dress. Not that he's a cross dresser, I hasten to add, no, no, no,' she confirmed with a serious face and wagging finger, as other people startled chuckling. 'Just making the point that friendship, and good whisky, is thicker than blood. I love this girl as if she were my own. She's treated me like she was my own, been there for me when my son hasn't, or wouldn't. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for her,' she stated, with a so-there nod.
'Likewise, Daphne,' I replied, blotting my eyes with my napkin. Miller put a comforting hand on my shoulder as he remained standing, supporting Daphne with his other hand in the small of her back.
'If you ever hurt her, Miller Davis, I still have a shotgun licence and a twelve-bore hidden under the cushions of my sofa,' she warned.
'Oh my God,' Georgie exclaimed. 'I kept saying there was something hard in the sofa and no one believed me. It could have gone off, I could have ended up with bottom shrapnel!'
'I think we'll put that into safe keeping,' Miller advised, 'and as for using it on me, you'll never have to. It's that nephew of yours you need to worry about after I found him half-naked with my girl last year.' He shot a wink at Heath, who shook his head, an embarrassed pink hue settling on his cheeks at the reminder.
They'd actually become really good friends, which was excellent, as I'd be able to have him over for dinner at the same time as Quinn. I'd already spotted them eyeing each other up across the room, both quickly looking away if their gazes crossed. I was going to have to trade in balancing accounts and turn my skills to matching up pairs in the village if no one ever made the first move.
'So I want you all to raise your bottoms to Miller and Abbie, glasses up,' Daphne called, everyone laughing out loud as she got her words muddled up.
'Steady on,' I exclaimed as she downed her champagne, while the rest of us took a polite sip.
'Oh dear,' she giggled, settling her fingers on the table as she swayed. 'I do believe I'm a little tipsy.'
'Make that a lot tipsy. I think you ought to sit down,' I warned her, worried she was about to keel over.
'Oh no,' she moaned, closing her eyes as one hand clutched at her stomach. 'Oh, Abbie, I'm so … oh dear … I'm so … so sorry.'
'What, what's wrong?' I cried, shooting to my feet in a panic. I'd lost David on Christmas Day, surely I wasn't about to lose Daphne on my wedding day?
'Aunt Daphne?' Heath called as he leaped up from his seat nearby and started racing over. He was a few feet away when the most God-awful belch, the kind that rumbles up from deep in your stomach after guzzling a bottle of fizzy pop, came gurgling out of Daphne's mouth. Seconds later, her top set of dentures flew across the room and landed with a plop in Rachel's glass of champagne.
'Oh, I'm so verwy sorrwy, how wude,' Daphne giggled, her lack of teeth affecting her normally eloquent voice. Quinn burst out laughing as Daphne burped again, while Rachel just stared at the set of teeth floating in her glass with an unreadable expression. 'How wude,' Daphne repeated. 'Thank goodness it wasn't a bottom burp. At my age, you've got no chance of keeping in a five-course meal. We could have had a whole Mr. Sumo shart situation if the wrong end had blown.'
'Oh my God, she's completely wasted,' I laughed.
'I've never seen her this bad,' Georgie agreed as she struggled to compose herself. The rest of the guests either sniggered or looked completely mortified to see an eighty-year-old acting like a teenager. But that's part of what I loved about her. She could be sage and wise old Daphne, or one of the girls that had us all in fits of hysteria. I'd never met anyone like her.
'Heath, grab her teeth back off Rachel, who looks about to pass out, and help Miller carry Daphne up to her bedroom,' I ordered. We'd treated her to a night at the hotel so she could enjoy herself, I just didn't know how much she already had enjoyed herself. I'd never seen her so drunk. 'She needs to sleep this off for a while.'
'So, Mrs. Davis, was your day everything you'd hoped it would be?' Miller asked as he undid his jacket buttons after laying me down on the bed in his private plane.
'Everything and more,' I nodded, propping myself up on my elbows to watch him strip off his jacket. 'And if August, lead stripper of AMD, is about to make an appearance, it would just make the perfect day even better.'
'Then sit back and enjoy the show, August aims to please,' he advised with a waggle of his eyebrows. I giggled and sat up, reaching behind me to undo my dress. 'What are you doing, baby?'
'Taking off my dress.'
'Oh no you don't,' he warned. 'You're keeping it on. You look amazing in it. Don't worry, I'll work around it,' he winked.
'Dress on, got it,' I nodded, palming the mattress below me instead as he kicked off his shoes, and one flew into one of the wall lights and smashed it. 'Hmmm, I think you might need a bit more practice at this.'
'Practice makes perfect, and I'm planning on doing a lot of practicing. That dress might not be coming off the entire honeymoon, you look so damn sexy in it.'
'Fine with me,' I confirmed with a smile and a blossoming of my heart. I'd done it, I'd finally done it. I'd broken the curse and found the man, and the dress. This was the best day ever!
Chapter Eighteen
Mr. Barker
February
'WHERE ARE WE GOING?' I asked Miller as he shot down some country lanes in Oxfordshire, enjoying testing out his new Mercedes GLE. We'd just had a romantic Valentine's weekend at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Raymond Blanc's famous hotel and gourmet restaurant, and I'd assumed we were heading home.
'To get your Valentine's present,' he replied, flashing me a smile.
'I've just had my Valentine's present, and a very lovely one at that,' I reminded him.
'That was just a getaway, for both of us, not your actual present.'
'You don't need to spoil me so much, Miller. We're married, you've already got me.'
'I know, but I really wanted to get you this. Plus it will make me feel better to know you have this when I'm not at home. You know I worry when I'm in New York.'
'Is this about the whole "key under the plant pot" thing again?' I asked with a roll of my eyes. He just didn't get how safe Dilbury was compared to New York. 'Are you taking me to get one of those rocks for the garden that's really a secret key hideaway? As that's as much use as a chocolate teapot, all the burglars know they exist. I bet they look at all the rock gardens first now, rather than under the plant pots or front door mats.'
'Actually no, it's not, but I have asked Heath to install a wall-mounted combination key safe while we're on the topic,' he advised, as the Sat Nav told him to turn left and we pulled into a large private gravelled drive. 'It's more important to be security conscious, especially now that the work on the rear extension is about to begin.'
'Honestly,' I muttered under my breath as he got out and came around to open my door. I'd never felt safer than I did in the cottage. He was blowing it all out of proportion. I'd half expected him to suggest we have a team of his security guards patrolling the lane at night.
I shrugged it off, as I knew he was just being protective. It was quite endearing most of the time, but lately I was finding it annoying. In fact, I was incredibly irritable this week. I wasn't sure what had me so grumpy. I was really tired at the moment and was having to make a concerted effort not to snap at people, which wasn't like me.
'Come on,' he said, helping me out and pulling me against him for a quick kiss. I winced as he crushed my chest against his, my breasts feeling really tender. Of course, I was due on, that's why I was tired and moody. What with the wedding, the honeymoon, and catching up with everyone when we got back, it was no wonder I'd lost track and forgotten.
'What's here?' I asked as he led me to the front door of a large old stone house, set substantial and beautifully kept grounds.