by Anne Brooke
Olivia smiles and feels like at least a million dollars. Of all the compliments which are going to come her way throughout the course of the day, this is the one she will remember and treasure her whole life.
In the living room, Kieran has his back to her and is gazing out of the window. When she closes the door with a soft click, he turns round, and then a huge smile slowly lights up his face.
“You look beautiful,” he says.
Olivia gives him a big grin before landing a kiss on his cheek (she wipes away the lipstick afterwards).
“You don’t look too bad yourself either,” she says. “We make a lovely couple, darling.”
It’s true too. Kieran looks even more handsome than usual (if such a thing is possible) in his dark grey suit, white shirt and olive green tie. An olive-coloured handkerchief peeks out of his top pocket and the look is complete.
There’s a special squeeze of the hand from her mother, and then the photographer arrives.
Steve is as kind and efficient as he was when they chose him. In the garden, Olivia realises for the first time how much effort her stepfather has put into getting the flowers and lawn just right. He’s even trimmed the hedge at the front and made an archway above the front gate which is perfect for couple shots. She’s not noticed it before as she always comes in through the back door.
“It’s beautiful,” she says to him. “Thank you so much.”
The look on her stepfather’s face must be very similar to the look on hers when he complimented her on the stairs, and it makes her smile.
The photographer has a small padded stool she can sit on in the garden – the grass isn’t wet so her dress is fine. He takes several shots of her on her own, and then with her mother, her mother and stepfather, and then with Kieran too. Then a few of all four of them and a couple of Kieran on his own. The time passes more quickly than she imagined and she’s surprised to glance at her watch when the photographer leaves for the church and finds it’s 1.30pm. Only half an hour from the wedding itself. Goodness. It’s really, really happening.
Kieran taps her on the arm. “Time for tea?”
Eyes wide and momentarily unable to speak, she nods. She could probably do with a swift gin, but a tea will have to suffice. She sips half a cup and then it’s time for her parents to leave for the church.
“See you soon,” her mother says, enfolding her in a long and heartfelt hug. “And never forget how stunning you are.”
Olivia has a sense that her mother means something more than just being pretty – which to be honest Olivia has never been in any conventional sense – but she can’t respond in kind. She just nods and gives her mother a hug back.
Then it’s just Kieran and herself alone in the house.
“You look lovely, and I love you so much,” she says when they’re sitting in the kitchen together for those final few minutes before they need to depart for the ceremony.
“I love you too, Olivia. I always have and I always will. And right now there’s just one decision you need to make.”
“What’s that?”
“Should we go to the church, or the pub? Your choice.”
She laughs and the tension that’s been building up inside her breaks, suddenly and delightfully like the onset of dawn across a cloudy night. Yes, she truly loves this man.
“Church,” she says. “I can’t imagine what my mother will say if we don’t turn up.”
“A good point, well made,” Kieran agrees. Then he reaches for her hand, pulls her to her feet and leads her to the front door. “Let’s go and get married.”
*****
Here are the things Olivia will always treasure about their wedding and the small reception they held for their friends and immediate family afterwards:
The vicar and she admiring each other’s frocks at the church door.
The glorious flowers in church and at the porch arranged entirely by her stepfather.
The sunshine that bathes the day in joy when the rest of the country is experiencing torrential rain.
The way Kieran has to hold back tears during the first hymn and can’t even sing it even though it’s his favourite.
They both get the important words right.
The glorious sounds of the father and son trumpeters she and Kieran only hired at the last minute in the hope they might be all right; they are more than all right. They are brilliant, and when they play during the register signing, Olivia’s eyes fill with tears.
Her mother’s totally gorgeous navy and pink dress, with its huge bright pink hat.
Olivia’s naughty nephew running up the aisle with his fingers covered in chocolate and the way Jo sacrifices her best frock by sweeping him up into her arms to avoid Olivia’s dress being ruined – what a heroine.
Getting confetti down her knickers, exclaiming the same with surprise and being recorded for all posterity by the video she doesn’t know is there.
The chocolate-and-fruit-layered wedding cake iced with the green icing and gorgeously gold Chaucerian figures.
The champagne. Mmm, delicious …
The fact that both she and Kieran make a speech, but hers is longer. Woman power!
Forgetting to give her mother back her special emerald earrings before leaving, and having to wrap them in an old tissue and drop them in the letterbox on their departure.
Accidentally running over a bollard on the way to their honeymoon destination, which means Kieran has to crawl under the car in his wedding suit to dislodge it. They are both amazed the car is undamaged.
Then, finally and deliciously, being alone with Kieran in their tiny honeymoon cottage, being in love and beginning the rest of their lives together.
Marrying her husband has been the best choice Olivia has ever made, oh yes.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
How To Marry Your Husband
Copyright © 2016 by Anne Brooke
Cover art by www.vamoswrite.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, and where permitted by law. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Anne Brooke at [email protected].
First edition
August 2016
About Anne Brooke
Anne has been writing romance, gay fiction and fantasy since Y2K. She is the bestselling author of romantic comedies Pink Champagne and Apple Juice and The Hit List, both available at Amazon. Her websites can be found at www.annebrooke.com, www.gayreads.co.uk, www.gathandria.com and www.biblicalfiction.co.uk.
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Anne Brooke