Noah laughed. “Thought you were keeping this short, Jess.”
“Ah, you know me and my word counts, mate. I bet you’re gagging for my thesis to land in your inbox.”
Matty gasped and slapped my hand. I was on a roll now, but figured it was about time I wound it up. I weighed my concluding words; they were going to be tough to say.
“Noah…” Gah. That lump in my throat was on the move. “You’re more than a mate to me. You’re my partner in academia, my defender, my hero, and I love you. Matty…I’m putting this oaf in your capable hands.” I held my glass aloft. It dazzled me through my tears. “Please, join me in a toast.” I waited while everyone armed themselves with their drinks. “In the words of the Bard…
“No sooner met but they looked;
no sooner looked but they loved;
no sooner loved but they sighed;
no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason;
no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy—
and in these degrees have they made pair of stairs to marriage.
“To Noah and Matty.”
The toast rang around the room. I resumed my seat as Noah and Matty got to their feet. Matty beamed up at Noah, who was definitely three sheets to the wind because he beamed right back. Matty pulled a square of folded paper from his pocket and held it out to Noah, who shook his head, gesturing for Matty to continue. With an enormous roll of the eyes, Matty screwed up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder.
“Alright. I really am gonna make this quick, cos I’m bored already. We’re, like, two minutes from food and party time, so bear with me. Thanks to all of you for being here. Especially thanks to my in-laws—Warren and Maddy for making Noo, Lily for being a superstar sister-in-law, and Adam and Sol for…well, where do I start? Giving me a home, making me feel welcome, putting up with my strops…everything, basically.” Up went the drinks and a general indecipherable muttering from everyone other than Adam and Sol, who looked kind of smug but touched at the same time.
Adam raised his hand. “Can I butt in a sec?”
“Seeing as you asked so nicely…” Noah said, followed by a stage-muttered, “Or asked at all.”
“All right, Nark.”
“Takes one to know one.”
It sounded like the start of an argument, but it was banter, although I wished Adam would hurry up. My poor mate was tense as anything, and like Matty said, there was food and fun to be had.
“Get on with it, son,” Warren grumbled. “Beer’s getting warm.”
“Fair enough. I just want to say how chuffed I am—we all are—to have you as an in-law, Matt, although, to be fair, you were family the second you set foot through that door. Noah…” Adam paused and bit down hard on his lower lip. Sol shoved a paper napkin his way; he took it, no comeback, and dabbed his eyes. “I realise this is a bit out of context, and at the time you didn’t mean it as a compliment, but when you said you’d always wanted to be like me…”
Sol gathered the rest of the napkins on their table and piled them all in front of Adam, who was sobbing again. He managed half a glare at Sol before homing in on Noah once more.
“Sorry, but you were wrong. You’re not like me. You’re cleverer, stronger, wiser—”
“Less of a windbag,” Warren added.
Adam carried on, oblivious. “You’re better than I could ever be, and I wish you both—”
“We,” Sol amended.
“We wish you both all the happiness in the world.”
Adam got an enthusiastic round of applause—I couldn’t decide if it was for what he’d said or for finally shutting up. Whichever, once quiet was restored, I prompted, “Back to you, Matt.”
“Cheers, Jess. And thanks, Adam.” Matty blew his hair back. “I dunno where I was up to now… Oh, yeah. Big thanks also to my nan and grandad, for giving us this brilliant wedding day, and for our honeymoon, and for being there when it mattered most.”
Drinks up, ‘to Nan and Grandad’.
“Lastly, epic thanks, and I mean, totally epic…”
I grimaced as Matty turned my way. This was going to finish me off, I just knew it.
“Jesse…Leigh…yeah, don’t think you’re getting away with it.” Matty looked hard at Leigh. Their grip on my hand tightened. I squeezed back. We were in this together; we’d be OK.
“Me and Noo were chatting last night, about what makes a best mate—you know, someone who just gets you, who you trust one hundred percent to always have your back, who accepts you for who you are? Neither of us had ever had one—until we met the two of you. And yeah, we did kind of push you together…a bit…”
Leigh and I gave an exaggerated nod, which made the guests laugh, although in truth, we hadn’t needed that much pushing.
“So…really, just thanks, the both of you. We love you so much.” Matty’s eyes glistened. He blinked and dabbed his finger beneath them. “Mascara wreckers.”
Everyone said aww; Leigh got up and hugged him. I smiled at Noah, who gave me a firm nod and then looked away.
OK,” Matty said, flicking his fingers at Leigh, directing them back to their seat. “Raise your glasses, please.” He paused, waiting until everyone—including Leigh and me—had drinks in hands, and said, “To our best people—our best mates, Leigh and Jesse!”
We blushed, and glowered, and blushed some more, and then stared in amazement at the enormous ‘house-warming’ hamper that appeared on our table as the guests chanted ‘to Leigh and Jesse’.
“To us?” Leigh said and held up their glass. I tapped it.
“To us.”
* * * * *
About the Author
Debbie McGowan is an author and publisher based in a semi-rural corner of Lancashire, England. She writes character-driven, realist fiction, celebrating life, love and relationships. A working class girl, she ‘ran away’ to London at seventeen, was homeless, unemployed and then homeless again, interspersed with animal rights activism (all legal, honest ;)) and volunteer work as a mental health advocate. At twenty-five, she went back to college to study social science—tough with two toddlers, but they had a ‘stay at home’ dad, so it worked itself out. These days, the toddlers are young women (much to their chagrin), and Debbie teaches undergraduate students, writes novels and runs an independent publishing company, occasionally grabbing an hour of sleep where she can.
Social Media Links
Website: debbiemcgowan.co.uk
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Blog: deb248211.blogspot.com
Facebook: facebook.com/DebbieMcGowanAuthor and facebook.com/beatentrackpublishing
Twitter: @writerdebmcg
YouTube: youtube.com/deb248211
Instagram: instagram/writerdebmcg
Google+: plus.google.com/+DebbieMcGowan
Tumblr: writerdebmcg.tumblr.com
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/writerdebmcg
Goodreads: goodreads.com/DebbieMcGowan
* * * * *
By the Author
Stand-Alone Stories
Champagne
Sugar and Sawdust
Cherry Pop Valentine
When Skies Have Fallen
Coming Up ~ co-written with Al Stewart
Of the Bauble
Checking Him Out Series
Checking Him Out (Book One)
Checking Him Out For the Holidays (Novella)
Hiding Out (Novella - Noah and Matty)
Taking Him On (Book Two - Noah and Matty)
Checking In (Book Three)
The Making of Us (Book Four - Jesse and Leigh)
Seeds of Tyrone Series
~ co-written with Raine O’Tierney
Leaving Flowers (Book One)
Where the Grass is Greener (Book Two)
Christmas Craic and Mistletoe (Book Three)
Sci-fi/Fantasy Light
And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
No Dice
Double Six
General
‘Time to Go’ in Story Salon Big Book of Stories
Hiding Behind The Couch Series
The ongoing story of ‘The Circle’…
Nine friends from high school;
Nine friends for life.
The Story So Far…
in chronological order:
novellas and short novels are ‘stand-alone’ stories, but tie in with the series. Think Middle Earth—well, more Middle England, but with a social conscience!
Beginnings (Novella)
Ruminations (Novel)
Class-A (Short Story)
Hiding Behind The Couch (Season One)
No Time Like The Present (Season Two)
The Harder They Fall (Season Three)
Crying in the Rain (Novel)
First Christmas (Novella)
In The Stars Part I: Capricorn–Gemini (Season Four)
Breaking Waves (Novella)
In The Stars Part II: Cancer–Sagittarius (Season Five)
A Midnight Clear (Novella)
Red Hot Christmas (Novella)
Two By Two (Season Six)
Hiding Out (Novella)
Breakfast at Cordelia’s Aquarium (Short Story)
Chain of Secrets (Novella)
Those Jeffries Boys (Novel)
The WAG and The Scoundrel (Gray Fisher #1)
Reunions (Season Seven)
To Be Sure (Novella - coming 2017)
www.hidingbehindthecouch.com
www.debbiemcgowan.co.uk
* * * * *
Beaten Track Publishing
For more titles from Beaten Track Publishing,
please visit our website:
http://www.beatentrackpublishing.com
Thanks for reading!
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