Fashioned for Love

by Anna Hartman

  Grace picked up a bottle of prosecco an ice bucket and a two flutes on her way upstairs, we need these I think!

  As it was an old house there was no en-suite bathrooms in every bedroom, so Grace let Rosalind use the attic bathroom she shared with Leo and she herself went to her parents en suite to have a bath.

  Rosalind always carried a tiny bottle of Penhaligon’s Bluebell bath oil with her when she travelled. So she ran the water and poured the oil in. The put on a face mask and tied her hair on a bun. Closed her eyes and relaxed with a glass of prosecco in her hand.

  She was deep in her thought, thinking about tonight’s party. She purposefully had put all thoughts of Brockley Graham on the back of her mind, had not allowed herself to think of him much because the minute she let her guard down pain of losing him became too much. She felt her thoughts starting to wonder and then jumped as the door to the bathroom opened. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms and had two doors, she had forgotten to lock the door to Leo’s room.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t realise you were in here” Leo said and theatrically covered his eyes.

  Rosalind had jumped into sitting position and pulled her knees to her chest. She should have had a bubble bath so the foam would at least cover part of her nudity.

  “my mistake I forgot to lock the door, I won’t be long”

  “No worries” Leo left and winked at her.

  He really was a very good looking man. How easy it would be to date somebody like him and forget all about Brockley Graham. Rosalind decided she would join Leo’s flirtation and fun tonight, she was too young to spend any more time pining over somebody who didn’t want her.

  After her bath she wrapped herself in a bad sheet and padded over to the bedroom after calling at Leo to tell him the bathroom was free.

  Grace was already sitting by her dressing table blow drying her hair.

  Rosalind liked the beach hair and thought it would look nice with her dress so she hadn’t bothered to wash it. She took off the hairclip holding her hair up, ran her fingers through her hair, moisturised her face and body and then started to apply her make-up.

  Only the tiniest bit of BB cream, bronzer, eyeliner and mascara just enough to set off her tan. She pulled her dress on wondering if it was too casual, spritzed on a little bit of perfume and she was ready.

  “How do I look” She asked Grace

  “Wow, you look amazing”

  Grace herself looked pretty stunning too, her blonde hair was secured on a low ponytail and she was wearing an orange summer dress that set off her tan. Big 60-s style jewellery that she had inherited from her grandmother and white flip flops. With her tall statuesque body she looked like a greek goddess.

  “So bottoms up and let’s go downstairs”

  On the landing they walked straight into Leo who gave them a wolf whistle.

  “Now let me escort you two beautiful ladies downstairs”

  Some close friends of their parents had already arrived and before long the house was buzzing. By 9pm the party was in full swing. Rosalind had been dancing with Leo and drinking a bit too much, so she made a beeline to the buffet, that the waiters kept replenishing.

  When suddenly she heard a voice so familiar it made her heart skip a beat.

  “I thought it was you on the beach this morning, and there you are”

  “Brockley, what are you doing here?”

  “Leo Henning is the architect for my latest project, he invited me after I drove him down yesterday. I didn’t realise he is your boyfriend?”

  “He is not my boyfriend, his sister is my roommate”

  Was she imagining things or did Brockley look relieved.

  “So what brings you to the Hamptons?”

  “We have just opened a hotel here and I came to check it out and take few days off from the dusty old city.”

  “Oh, yes I heard about the BGH hampton house, I was going to check it out tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll give you a private tour”

  Rosalind smiled and turned back towards the buffet. She felt his lips close to her ear.

  “You look amazing, New York suits you” before she had the chance to say anything he was gone.

  Grace appeared, her cheeks pink from all the dancing.

  “Who was that?”

  “Brockley Graham”

  “your Brockley?”

  Rosalind nodded.

  “Oh god he is hot. but what is he doing here?”

  “Apparently your brother invited him, they work together on some project. Come on let’s go and dance”

  Epilogue

  The Langley house hotel was closed from general public for the weekend. Thousands of fuchsia roses decorated the entrance hall and the grand ballroom. Tables were being set for 150 guests and the overnight guests were checking in to their rooms. Rosalind had thought about getting ready in her mother’s cottage but in the end decided she wanted to do it in the house she grew up in, so she was settled in the room that used to be her bedroom, they would move into the blue suite for their wedding night, the suite where it had all started from.

  Rosalind had designed her wedding gown and the bridesmaids dresses herself. She had picked Sally and Abigail as her bridesmaids and dressed them in black cocktail dresses, very modern and chic and looked great with the simple ivory silk gown she was wearing. A fitted bodice and a sweeping skirt and In a few short hours she would become Mrs Brockley Graham. Just over 2 years from their first meeting, 6 months of hating him, another six months getting to know him followed by 6 months working for him and then after that fateful early morning breakfast in New York they had officially been an item.

  “Are you nervous?” Sally asked as she was zipping up her dress.

  “No, just very very excited and happy. Who would have thought that I’d marry the man who I called a grave robber and god knows what only a few short years ago.

  Sally laughed, yes it’s a pretty extraordinary story.”

  Six months after that breakfast in New York, Brockley had booked a suite at the Ritz,decorated it with Rosalind’s favourite flowers and gone down on one knee and presented her with a 4 carat brilliant cut diamond.

  Rosalind had been over the moon as had her mother. Brockley had done the gentlemanly thing and asked lady Langley her daughter's hand in marriage before even speaking to Rosalind.

  Some gossip magazines had tried to paint the engagement as a business deal but Rosalind knew it was real, they loved each other passionately and could not imagine a life without each other. Besides Rosalind came to the marriage empty handed, she supported herself with her own salary, lived modestly and did not accept anything from her mother whose cookie business had taken off and was now stocked in all the best department stores.

  Who would have thought that when Lord Langley died it would open up a whole new lease of life for his wife and daughter. Lady Langley had found her calling and was no longer bored or shy, Rosalind had found the man of her dreams and a great career and they were both thriving.

  Brockley had been married before, he’d had more flings and short relationships that he could remember but with Rosalind he had found home. The person he wanted to come home to, the person he wanted to wake up with every morning, the person he wanted to be the mother of his children, he had never even considered children before.

  He walked the short distance to the village church, a lot of well wishers and curious locals had gathered around the church gates to see the bride and quite possibly hoping to catch a glimpse of the rumoured a-listers on the guestlist. They had been offered a 6 figure sums to give an exclusive to Hello magazine but they had wanted to keep the event private. Today was about them, not about fame or boosting business.

  Brockley stood at the altar beside his best man and heard the first chords of the wedding march. He wasn’t supposed to turn around but he could not hold back anymore. He turned to face his beautiful bride. Rosalind was beaming at him underneath her lace trimmed veil and he felt choked wi
th emotion. He had been married before, had dated dozens of wonderful women but never had he met anybody like her. Smart, spirited, fierce, funny and incredibly loving loyal and beautiful. He had first been impressed by the way he had protected and cared for her mother after her father’s death, making sure she would be looked after for the rest of her life without spending any time securing her own future, she had given up her own dreams for a while but luckily had been able to pick them up again and follow them through. In hindsight Brockley was glad Rosalind had kept him waiting and taken the time to finish her school and get a start in her career in fashion before saying yes to Brockley’s proposal. He had been angry and disappointed at first but now it gave him a whole knew respect to the wonderful woman that in a few minutes would be his wife.

  Rosalind walked down the aisle with her mother, the two of them were closer than ever and she had not wanted anybody else to give her away. She felt completely calm, the rightness of what she was doing was clear to her, there was nobody else she would ever feel this way for, there was nobody else she would rather spend this amazing adventure that she expected her life to be and besides with her father's letter she had found from his briefcase all those months ago had kind of predicted this, so she felt that she had Lord Langley’s blessing. Wasn’t it wonderful she was marrying somebody her father had actually known and liked.

  As they reached Brockley, he bowed to Lady Langley and then offered his arm to his bride, for a fleeting moment they his blue eyes caught her green and for the moment only them existed in the world. The love and the chemistry between them was so palpable nobody at the church could take their eyes away from them, despite the moment feeling so intimate that it felt intrusive to look.

  I now pronounce you a man and wife, you may kiss the bride. Brockley tenderly lifted up her veil and with his hand on her cheek he bent down to kiss his new wife on the lips.

  As they kissed the cheering and applause that erupted within the congregation was heard way outside the church and scared the birds off the nearby trees.