You're the One That I Want(97)

‘Yeees,’ he smiled.

‘What? When I went to the loo?’

‘Do you seriously still think we came here by accident?’ He leaned his head backwards as laughter spilled from his opened mouth.

‘What?’ I asked. ‘What is it?’

It suddenly dawned on me that the whole night had been planned – our feet hadn’t just automatically walked up towards the Louvre, Robert had guided us.

‘But you didn’t even want to come in!’

‘Yes, I did.’

‘It didn’t look like it.’

‘I knew that if I’d told you I’d booked us in here you’d know I was going to propose.’

He was right, as the previous night had shown – any bit of effort on his part would have led me to that conclusion.

‘It would’ve ruined it,’ he added. ‘But I also knew that as soon as you saw this place you wouldn’t be able to resist coming in.’

‘Very clever,’ I laughed.

‘I know,’ he smiled, taking my newly ringed hand and admiring his handiwork.

The ring was absolutely stunning, but then, anything that sparkled would be. A single round diamond beautifully set in a dainty white-gold band. It was flawless.

‘When are we going to tell everyone? Who already knows?’

‘No one knows. I mean, I asked for permission last year and that was enough to get them all flapping around in a frenzy.’

‘Last year?’

‘Yes. Long story,’ he grunted, rolling his eyes. ‘But, anyway, I didn’t even tell them we were coming to Paris.’

‘No!’

I was shocked that he’d managed to keep the whole thing to himself – and plan it all on his own.

‘One of them would’ve said something. Thought you’d enjoy going round and telling them ourselves.’

‘That’s a great idea! We’ll have to do it straight away, though, there’s no way I’ll be able to keep this whole thing a secret. I want the whole frigging world to know,’ I squealed.

‘What about Ben?’

The question threw me.

‘Huh?’

‘When are we going to tell him?’

‘Did he know you were asking?’

‘No. I was going to tell him, but then all that shit with Alice happened. I didn’t want to tell him before he left, thought it would be insensitive.’

‘But that was ages ago.’

‘Yeah, thought I’d let him settle. Figured we’d tell him together. Surprise him.’

‘Let’s wait until after we tell our parents, though.’

‘Obviously.’ He lifted my ringed hand and took it to his lips, kissing it softly. ‘I love you so much.’

‘I love you too,’ I whispered.

I leaned forward and kissed him, forcing myself to focus on his lips, on the two of us together in Paris, and on the fact that Robert, who loved me so much, wanted me to be his wife. Our love was real. It had grown from the foundations laid in that very restaurant. It was offering me a future that I could depend on. I knew that I loved and trusted it.





Ben





Twenty-five years old …




I’d been in South America for five months, travelling from place to place. I started, as planned, in Ecuador at the Montanita Spanish School – it’s surprising how quickly you can cut off from your previous existence when you’re thousands of miles away, sat on a beach in the sunshine with new friends who know nothing about you. Needless to say, I told no one of the broken-hearted girl I’d left behind and, although I did talk about Maddy and Robert, I’d decided to not tell anyone about my other feelings. No change there, then.

I’d gone from Ecuador to Columbia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, in that order. Catching buses and planes, or sometimes trekking if I was feeling super-adventurous. For the first time since university I felt liberated and carefree, ready to do anything or go anywhere that tickled my fancy – I fell in love with the sights again and again. Every day brought a new experience to treasure.

I listened to the thunder of the water at Iguazu Falls, Brazil, which was, quite awesomely, like something from Jurassic Park. Huge waterfalls splashed from every corner while I sat on a feeble-feeling viewing platform, unable to peel my eyes away – expecting a pterodactyl to fly overhead at any second. I was mildly disappointed when it didn’t.

I soaked up the peaceful tranquillity of Lake Titicaca, watching the sunset as it caused a vivid array of colours to reflect on the expansive lake. Oranges, reds, pinks and purples swirled in the sky and in the water, making it appear otherworldly. Maddy would have loved it – the photographs I’d managed to take on just my bog-standard camera were insane.