The Wedding Shop on Wexley Street

by Rachel Dove

  Sam lifted up her dress, getting down to business.

  ‘Okay, Maria, your waters have broken, yeah?’

  They both nodded. ‘About fifteen minutes ago. We got straight in the van. We thought she’d have longer.’

  ‘First?’ Sam checked.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Ah, we have a little feisty one! Well, Fireman Sam will sort you out.’

  ‘Fireman Sam?’ Maria asked, thinking she must be more delirious than she thought. He winked at her.

  ‘Yep, I know. Weird, eh?’

  ‘Where’s Norman?’ she quipped, giddy with adrenaline. Another fireman appeared, holding a bowl of steaming water.

  ‘Norman? It’s his day off.’

  James and Maria broke into laughter at the absurdity of the situation, and the firemen all grinned at each other. Another contraction started and Sam rolled up his sleeves.

  ‘Right, Maria, this baby’s coming, right now. Get ready, boys.’

  ‘Ambulance responder is on route,’ one of them said. Sam shook his head.

  ‘We won’t have that long. Ready, Maria? The head is ready to come out. When you get the urge to push, I want you to push. Hard. Go!’

  Maria pushed with every part of her. She felt like her whole body was going to explode, and she could feel the bones of James’s hand rubbing together with the force of her grip. James never moaned, just kept whispering to her, the warmth of him behind her spurring her on.

  ‘Go on, baby, you can do this. Push!’

  She pushed as hard as she could and Sam reached forward.

  ‘Okay, okay, the head is here! Rest now, and on the next contraction your baby is going to be here! You know what you’re having? It’s a speedy one, that’s for sure!’

  Maria shook her head, laying her head back onto James’s shoulder.

  There was the sound of distant sirens in the background, and Cassie’s car came flying past, driving up the road. Obviously on the way to the hospital. They would get there before them at this rate.

  James held her tight as they waited for what seemed like for ever. Maria felt her muscles clench again, and put her head up. Sam looked at her and gave her an encouraging look. He was cute, his head shaved bald, big brown eyes looking out from his features. Strong eyebrows. The man looked like he had faced danger and punched it in the face.

  ‘Ready?’ he asked.

  ‘Ready,’ she said and, when the pain took hold, she pushed. Hard.

  Chapter 21

  One Year Later

  The screams could be heard all the way down the corridor and Maria winced, remembering the day she had pushed her baby daughter into the world. Right there at the front of the fire station, with the burliest midwife she could ever have imagined in attendance, and James by her side. Just like he was now, sitting next to her in the waiting room of Harrogate Hospital.

  Hope Elizabeth Chance was sitting on his knee, giggling at the faces he was pulling at her. Her blonde curls were fanned around her face, and Maria was once again struck by how much she looked like she did in her own baby photos, and how she had her own mother’s eyes. She couldn’t wait to tell her all about her mother when she grew up, and tell her how much her Grandma Mallory would have loved her, just like her Grandmother Lynn adored her now. She fingered the rings on her hand, recalling their perfect wedding just the month before. They had been married on the steps of the fire house, and Sam had been the one to walk her down the proverbial aisle, with Mark as James’s best man. They had had a few awkward moments, but on the whole, their little family had found a groove with each other that got easier with each passing day. Hope had two daddies who loved her, two mummies who adored her, and plenty of spares. That was the best thing. They said it took a village to raise a child, and Hope had that. Right here in Westfield. Everyone adored her, and she was the happiest child in the world.

  Another scream erupted, followed by a crash, and Mark and Annabel walked into the waiting room.

  ‘Dada!’ Hope shouted, and James put her down on the floor so she could toddle over. Mark smiled and, picking her up, snuggled her in close.

  ‘Hello, sweetpea, is Auntie Cassie making a noise?’

  Hope gurgled, playing with Mark’s tie as he sat down with her. Annabel was looking anxiously at the door, looking a bit green. Maria looked at James questioningly, but he just shrugged.

  ‘You okay, Anna?’ she asked her, moving to sit next to her.

  They could hear a commotion from outside in the corridor, and Annabel flinched.

  ‘Do you think something’s wrong?’ she murmured. Mark put his hand over hers.

  ‘No, love,’ he said, putting Hope onto her knee. ‘Here, say hi to Hopey.’

  Annabel planted a big smacker on her tummy, making her laugh.

  ‘Hey, baby!’ she said, and Maria smiled, watching the two interact.

  ‘You sure you’re okay?’ Maria pressed. Annabel had just opened her mouth to speak when the door opened and Tucker walked in, his black T-shirt torn and his left eye red and rapidly swelling shut.

  Maria ran over to him.

  ‘Oh my God, you okay?’

  Tucker nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

  ‘It’s a girl!’

  The whole room erupted into excited whoops and Maria picked Hope up and held her close.

  ‘You hear that, little one? You have a new best friend, just like Mummy.’ She hugged Tucker after James and Mark had finished congratulating him and slapping him on the back.

  ‘Congratulations, Jesse! Are they both okay? What happened to your eye?’

  He chuckled, his Australian twang filling the room.

  ‘You know what she’s like. I’m just glad she didn’t manage to get a utensil. She kicked a midwife by accident and knocked her clean over the bed, catching me square in the face with her heel.’

  Maria giggled, realising that must have been the crash they heard.

  ‘What about the baby?’ Tucker’s smile widened, if that was possible.

  ‘She’s bloody gorgeous. Jet-black hair, just like her mother. Go and see her, she’s just getting settled.’

  Annabel appeared behind them, looking like a startled rabbit.

  ‘How bad was it?’ she asked earnestly. Tucker shrugged. ‘It was amazing, to be honest, minus the injuries. I had to comp the midwives a meal at the restaurant, for their trauma.’

  Annabel looked relieved, and Maria noticed her putting her hand over her stomach.

  ‘Oh my God,’ she said quietly, passing Hope to James and going over to her. ‘You’re pregnant, aren’t you!’

  Annabel’s eyes bulged and she burst into tears. The men in the room suddenly became very interested in playing with Hope at the other end of the room.

  ‘Yes,’ she said, sobbing.

  ‘That’s a good thing, right?’ Maria’s heart sank. Was something wrong? Was it because Mark already had a child? Maria hoped it wouldn’t cause problems, not when things were so good now.

  ‘Yes, but…’ Anna sobbed again. ‘I’m terrified!’

  Maria chuckled despite herself and pulled her friend to her.

  ‘You and Mark are naturals. It’ll be great and we’re here for you, every step.’

  Annabel sniffed and smiled weakly.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Of course! We’re family!’

  Later that night, after seeing Cassie and Jesse totally besotted with their new daughter, Catherine Alecia Tucker, and going out for dinner to celebrate Annabel and Mark’s news about baby Smith to be, Maria and James bathed a very overexcited and sticky Hope and snuggled her in her cot in James’s Harrogate home. Now their home. Maria still used the shop flat, of course, and it was handy for a break, or to change Hope, or put her down for a nap. A home from home. Happy Ever After was her home too. She had grieved her mother there, met the love of her life, met her family, and nurtured their daughter. She was so happy she would never have to let it go.

  She was planning weddings again too, and she had ra
ther a special one on the cards for next year. Her own best friend, marrying the hunky Australian she had picked up on a boozy night out and never quite shaken off. Bridezilla syndrome wasn’t a problem for that wedding, though. Cassie would have got married at the side of KFC, dressed in her yoga pants. It would be a challenge, if nothing else.

  They sat together on the sofa, watching Hope’s chest rise and fall on the baby monitor screen, listening to her contented snuffles as James poured them both a glass of wine from a chilled bottle.

  ‘Well, what a day,’ James mused, holding the glass out to her. She reached for it and he pulled it back out of her reach, puckering up his full lips. She chuckled, leaning in to kiss him. He smelt of James: mints and aftershave. He smelt of their daughter too, and she kissed him again.

  ‘What a day indeed,’ she agreed, taking the wine from him and taking a long glug.

  James sank back into the cushions, bringing her with him.

  ‘I was thinking, maybe we should think about having another baby.’

  Maria looked across at him, not quite believing her own ears.

  ‘Another baby? You getting broody after today?’

  He laughed, a low rumble that reverberated through his body to hers.

  ‘Yeah, well, we have this big house, and a spare room. Maybe another Chance would be good. A playmate for Hope.’

  Maria thought of baby Catherine, and Annabel’s news.

  ‘I don’t think she’ll be short of them somehow.’

  James turned to her, sitting forward and taking her wine from her.

  ‘Ah, Mrs Chance, but another baby in this house, made from you and I, that would be pretty great, eh?’

  He started to unbutton her blouse slowly, flicking a look at the monitor and then waggling his eyebrows devilishly at her.

  ‘Besides, we’re newlyweds, so a bit of practice would be good, at the very least.’

  She enjoyed the feeling of his warm, familiar hands on her body before she started to undo his shirt.

  ‘Well, last time we took a chance it worked out well, didn’t it?’

  James smirked at her, pulling down her blouse and toying with her bra strap.

  ‘Exactly,’ he breathed as she ran her hands down his chest. ‘Everyone needs a second Chance.’

  She giggled at his quip. He bit his lip then, and she realised he was nervous.

  ‘You’re deadly serious, aren’t you? You really want this?’

  He looked deep into her eyes with the blue-green sparklers she loved so much. She would never get tired of looking at this man, of being the centre of his world. She imagined a baby, sleeping upstairs with Hope, those blue-green eyes, just like his daddy’s.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied, dropping a kiss on her collarbone. ‘I love you, Maria Chance. I want another baby with you, a sibling for our daughter. What do you say?’ He kissed her again, this time on the lips, slowly.

  She kissed him back and touched her forehead against his as they held each other.

  ‘I say we’re going to need a bigger village.’

  Acknowledgements

  As always, a big thanks to my editors, Anna Baggaley and Nia Beynon, who both worked on this book and made it so much better than I had hoped with their encouragement and hard work. Love to you both and the team at HQ Digital.

  The writing community of authors, bloggers and readers is vast, and I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your support, laughs and friendship. Here’s to the next book, and the next exciting journey.

  Turn the page for a sneak peak at The Long Walk Back

  Prologue

  That day. The day I learned an answer to one of mankind’s big questions: what do you see when your body is at the point of death? Not your average day. An average day is going to work, coming home, parking your fat arse on the couch in front of the TV, a takeaway perched on your knee while you piss and moan to yourself about how skint you are, how the country is going to the dogs, how much you hate your job. That is an average day, one that blends into countless others through the years, till you wake up in your fifties, bored, bald and fat, wondering at what point the dreams of your younger self went down the toilet. That was never going to be me, and my choices in life led me to this day, what looked like my last day. Karma is a bitch, I hear you on that one.

  An hour earlier, I was doing a routine sweep of the area with my unit. Of my thirty-one years on the earth, I had spent fifteen of them in the army. We were out in Iraq, pushing back the terrorists that threatened the small villages we were camped near to. Many of the villagers wanted us here, and the tensions were rising.

  It’s not like on the news. You think it all looks the same. Desert, broken buildings, busted vehicles, shattered people. There is no beauty on the news, but it exists here. We fear what we don’t know, what we can’t control, but here people live the same as us in many ways. I have seen photos on walls, gardens lovingly tended, children loved and cared for. The actions of few cause the outcome for many, and I saw it every day. I joined to serve, to have a purpose, but I also enlisted to find the family I never had. So now I fought for them too, with them by my side.

  There had been a lot of unease the last few weeks, and you could feel the stress, the taut emotions of the people and the enemy, even through the hot, dry air. I had had a bad feeling in the pit of my gut for days, and when the shots had started firing, I knew why. They had been gearing up to take us down, and as prepared as we thought we were, we were still caught with our pants down that day.

  ‘Pull back!’ I boomed gruffly to my charges. ‘Come on, go, go, go!’ I started to run for the nearest building, the one we had just finished sweeping. It was abandoned, full of empty homes, food still rotting on tables that would never host a family meal again. I kept looking over my shoulder, watching my guys take shelter one by one. A hail of shots whizzed past my ear, and I threw myself against the side of the nearest car. Hunching down, I looked to where the shots were coming from. Two of my guys were still on the way to the shelter – one hunched over, not moving. The other, Travis, was dragging him to safety. Blood followed them like a trail of gunpowder as they desperately tried to escape. Another barrage of shots rang out, and Travis jerked. He had been hit, but he kept going, pulling Smithy along with him, hung over his shoulder. They weren’t going to make it. I jumped up, firing a volley off at the top of the building, the source of the shots but they fired back. Hunching down again, I shouted at Travis to get a move on, grabbing my radio and running towards them.

  ‘Hightower, can you see him?’ I screamed into the radio. My sniper on the roof, Bradley, was my ace in the hole.

  ‘Nearly, the slippery bastard is hidden well. He has a child up there with him, using him as a human shield.’

  I cursed under my breath. I reached Travis and grabbed Smithy from him. Travis was bleeding badly, but it looked like a shoulder wound.

  We ran hell for leather towards the shelter, Hightower screaming into the radio.

  ‘He’s reloading Coop, get a move on!’

  I was almost at the shelter, Travis was just ahead, racing to get ready to help Smithy, who was still out cold. My muscles burned from the effort of dragging him along with me, but I ignored the pain, pushing on.

  ‘Almost there,’ I shouted back into the receiver. ‘Find a shot, and take him down!’

  Hightower acknowledged and just as we reached the lip of the shelter, shots rang out again, this time with the ‘phut phut’ of the sniper rifle as Hightower followed orders. I was just wondering whether the poor child on the roof was okay, when a huge force pushed me straight off my feet, into the air. I reached out to tighten my grip on Smithy, but felt nothing but space. Hitting the ground, I struggled for breath, dust and debris raining down around me. Hightower was screaming down the air waves, mobilising the others.

  I struggled to breathe, and my mouth was coated with a new layer of dust every time I managed to pull in a ragged breath. I could hear commotion around me, and moved
my head to the side to look for Smithy. I could see him a few feet away, and I knew without a doubt he was dead. I turned away, already wanting to erase the memory of his crumpled form from my memory. I coughed, and felt a warm trickle run down my cheek. Not good¸ I thought to myself. I could hear my friends, my comrades in arms, running towards me, firing shots off, barking orders at each other. There was no white light, no images of me running around in short trousers, nothing. I could see nothing but dust, flashes of weaponry, and the smell of panic and desperation in the air. I felt bone tired, and a little voice inside of me told me to sleep. I tried to shake my head, keep myself awake, but the warm feeling spread through me. My body wasn’t responding. It was like slipping into a hot bath after a long, cold day. I could feel my muscles began to relax, and my throat filling up with liquid. I tried to spit, to turn my head, but my eyelids were already fluttering. I thought of the boy, no doubt dead now on the rooftop. I wondered if he had parents around to grieve for him, people who would mourn his death. And that’s the last thing I remember.

  Chapter 1

  Kate was pulling faces into the camera when the call came in to tell her casualties were en route. She turned around to face the opposite direction, shielding her son from the images of people who had been running behind her.

  ‘Mummy has to go now, sweet pea, but I will call you back as soon as I can, yeah? Remind Dad to take you to football practice after school, okay?’ Her son rolled his eyes.

  ‘He never checks the calendar Mum, you know that. When are you coming home?’ Trevor tapped her on the arm, waving to her son’s image on the phone screen.

  ‘Hey Jamie, good luck at practice! Kate, we have to go,’ he said, frowning in apology. From the look on her colleague’s face, it was bad. She blew a kiss at her son. Jamie rolled his eyes but blew one back.

  ‘I am eight Mum, when I’m nine there are no more kisses, okay? It’s well embarrassing!’

  Kate laughed. ‘No deal kiddo. I will be wanting kisses when you are all grown up. I have to go, see you soon. Love you.’