Three Amazing Things About You(88)

‘You shut up,’ said Carmel. ‘Come on, just let him get on and do it.’

‘Tash, you’ve changed my life. I’m so glad I saw you digging around in that rubbish bin on Christmas Eve. If you hadn’t thrown away your credit card, we’d never have met.’ Rory shook his head. ‘And that just doesn’t bear thinking about. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So would you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife?’

Tasha broke into a slow, unstoppable smile. ‘Oh yes please. Yes, yes, yes.’ She sank to her knees so that she could throw her arms around him. ‘Absolutely yes!’

Between kisses, as assorted bystanders whooped and applauded, Rory said, ‘And just so you know, I’m not doing this because you jumped out of the plane. It was always going to happen anyway.’ He unzipped the top pocket of his blue jumpsuit and took out a small jewellery box tied with white ribbon. When Tasha saw the colour of the box – that distinctive shade of duck-egg blue – her mouth went dry.

Then he opened the lid and she started to laugh, because inside was a ring-shaped Haribo sweet nestled on the bed of white satin.

‘Here.’ Joe came forward and dropped something into Rory’s free hand. ‘I made him do that in case his parachute didn’t open.’ He winked at Tasha. ‘Didn’t want it getting messy.’

‘Good thinking,’ said Tasha.

Rory removed the Haribo from the box – predictably, Joe took it and ate it – and replaced it with the real ring. He held it up to show Tasha, then clasped her hand and slid it on to her finger.

Well, not slid exactly. The ring was a slightly tight fit, but after a couple of awkward seconds it went over her knuckle. Phew.

‘I don’t believe this. How did you do it?’ The diamond glittered in the sunlight, surely more brightly than any diamond had ever glittered before. The ring was simple and exquisite, exactly what she would have chosen for herself.

‘I took Joe along with me to the store on Old Bond Street.’

‘They gave us champagne.’ Joe was smug. ‘At ten o’clock in the morning. It was brilliant!’

‘And he tried to chat up the sales girl,’ said Rory. ‘Without success.’

‘Ah, but it was fun trying.’

‘Anyway,’ Rory went on, ‘you can exchange it if there’s another style you’d prefer. I don’t mind at all – I just want you to be wearing something you love.’

Touched beyond belief by the mental image of Rory and Joe venturing into Tiffany’s and setting about choosing a ring for her, Tasha shook her head. ‘I love this one, more than anything. I don’t want any other style. I’m never taking it off.’ She kissed Rory again, then said, ‘And I love you too. Right now, I’m the happiest girl in the world.’

Carmel’s hands were clasped together against her chest. ‘This is so perfect, I think I’m going to cry. Why can’t something like this happen to me?’

‘Want me to propose to you?’ said Joe.

Amused, Carmel rolled her eyes. ‘Funny you should ask that. No.’

‘OK, that’s enough filming.’ Joe pressed the stop button on his phone. ‘We’ll delete that last bit.’

‘Good,’ said Carmel.

‘But one day you’ll say yes, I know you will.’

‘I won’t.’ She shook her head and pointed to Tasha and Rory. ‘See them? They have it. I want what they have.’

Helping Tasha to her feet, Rory kept his arm around her waist and murmured, ‘Hear that? We have it.’

The words felt like chocolate melting through her veins, because he was right. Miraculously, they did. Tasha whispered, ‘I want us to always have it.’

‘Oh we will, trust me.’ Rory gave her a squeeze and she felt his breath against her hair. ‘This is it now, for better or worse. Till death us do part.’

At midnight, they were in their favourite bar in Belsize Park, still celebrating the events of the day. Friends had joined them, champagne corks had been popped and the videos of Tasha’s skydive and Rory’s subsequent proposal had been playing on a loop up on the big screen behind the bar.

The Tiffany diamond ring was still glittering away on Tasha’s finger. She just couldn’t stop looking at it. Every time someone congratulated her, she felt the euphoria bubble up all over again. Asked when the wedding might be, Rory had said, ‘Whenever Tash wants it to happen. The sooner the better, if it’s up to me.’

It had been such an incredible day. Tasha wanted it to go on for ever. She’d jumped out of a plane and raised over eight thousand pounds for her favourite charity. She’d got herself a fiancé, and not any old fiancé either. Rory McAndrew was everything she’d ever wanted and more. Which meant she was the luckiest girl in the world. Life simply didn’t get any better than this.