by Rose, Iona
I offer Ashley my hand and she takes it in hers as I lead her onto the dance floor that has been laid over the grass.
The guests disperse from the area to stand around watching as I take Ashley into my arms and begin to move her across the floor. Glasses clink all around us.
Ashley smiles at me as I lean in to give the people what they want. Our lips touch and for just a second, I’m back upstairs in the bedroom with Ashley, but this time, I keep my wits about me, keeping it firmly in my mind that we’re not alone and this time I can’t drag Ashley away.
I pull back from kissing Ashley. She’s still flushed and her eyes are shining like never before. I realize it’s going to be hard keeping the promise I’ve just made myself that I’m not going to whisk her back upstairs, especially if she keeps pressing herself against me like this.
I smile and wave my arm, beckoning other people onto the dance floor. Ashley giggles in my arms as I twirl her faster as our guests begin to join us on the dance floor.
This day was always going to go one of two ways. Either Ashley would not show up and it would be the worst day of my life. Or Ashley shows up and it becomes the best day of my life. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I’m so pleased it turned out to be the best day of my entire life.
24
Ashley
It’s getting latish now, almost half past ten, and the party is still in full swing. The drinks have been flowing all day and all evening. Our guests are having a great time, dancing, laughing and chatting.
Finn and I have had to deny several assumptions that our quick wedding is because I’m pregnant which I’m not. The first few times, I tried to explain how it isn’t the seventies anymore and if I were pregnant, it wouldn’t necessarily be a reason for us to get married. The more I tried to explain, the more convinced people became that I was indeed pregnant. I’ve given up now, just letting Finn smile mysteriously and shake his head. There are a few people here tonight who are going to be disappointed in a few months’ time when no baby comes.
I wonder how many of them would have been disappointed if no wedding had come at all. Something tells me only my guests, Finn’s close friends and family would have cared. The rest of the guests would have loved it. It would have given them something to talk about for years to come.
That’s not why I changed my mind and came though. I was telling Finn the truth earlier. At first, I wasn’t planning on coming here today, but then I got to thinking, like really thinking. I knew if I didn’t give us a chance, it would be the single biggest regret of my life, and no matter what came after it, I would always wonder what would have happened if I had just given Finn a chance.
Yes, he made a mistake, but when I let myself think about it rationally, I knew he’d done it with good intentions. He wasn’t trying to control me, he hadn’t even thought of it that way, he just didn’t want to lose me. I knew I couldn’t let us lose each other just because I was mad.
Finn has been in the bathroom and now I spot him walking back towards me. We’re still outside. Lights and heaters have been set up around the edge of the event and it’s beautiful out here, it really is, but Finn is grinning at me in a way that indicates we might not be out here for much longer, and I’m definitely on board with that.
As he gets closer to me, his smile slips a little.
I frown. “What’s wrong?”
He sits down next to me and takes my hand in his. “Earlier Ashley, I promised you that I would never keep anything from you again. There is one more thing I’ve been hiding from you.”
I feel my stomach turn over and a cold shiver runs through me.
Finn digs in his pocket and pulls out an envelope which he hands to me. “I hope you can forgive me.”
I open the envelope, almost afraid of what I’m going to see. When I pull out the documents from inside, my jaw drops. “But this is—”
“Yeah,” Finn interrupts.
“And we’d have to—”
“Yeah,” he interrupts again.
“Finn, I really appreciate this, and the idea of flying off to Rome with you is just perfect. But you know I can’t just go. The charity needs—”
“The charity is sorted. I’ve already spoken to Andrea. She’s cleared your calendar and the day to day stuff, she’ll be doing.”
“I don’t even have any clothes with me. Or my passport.”
“Your mom organized both. Please just say you’ll come on this honeymoon with me,” Finn pleads.
“Fine.” I sigh, then I laugh with delight. “Yes. Yes, I’ll come. Thank you.” I throw my arms around Finn. “Winding me up like that and letting me think it was some big secret that I might be mad about was a cruel joke,” I laugh when I release him.
“It wasn’t a joke. I really didn’t know if you’d be mad I’d kept it from you after what we said earlier,” he replies.
“Ok then, we need some ground rules. Anytime you wanna fly me off to one of the most romantic cities in the world, I won’t be mad if you keep it as a surprise.” I grin.
“Got it.” Finn nods.
“When do we leave?” I ask.
“Now.”
I nod and stand up, noticing the area is suddenly empty. “Wow, people have cleared out quickly, haven’t they?”
Finn grins at me.
I realize the grounds have cleared suspiciously quickly. “Another secret?” I giggle.
“Not so much,” Finn says. “This is just a standard wedding thing.”
“I’ll give you that one.” I take his hand.
We cut across the lobby of the hotel and step out of the front doors. We walk down the steps and through the tunnel of guests who throw confetti at us.
I don’t feel like I’m just walking to a waiting car and going to the airport. I feel like I’m walking towards a whole new life.
Epilogue
Five Years Later
Finn
I smile proudly to myself as Ashley steps up to the front of the small crowd who is gathered in the dining room area of the new Jagger Center.
“Look, it’s mommy!” Carla squeals excitedly from my side, pointing to Ashley.
“It sure is.” I grin. “Listen to what she’s about to say, okay?”
Carla nods and turns her focus to Ashley. Carla is three, a carbon copy of Ashley to look at. She even acts like her, she’s quick to anger, but so loving, she definitely makes her decisions with her emotions. Reece, our nine month old son, sits in my arms gurgling away happily. He’s more chilled out than Carla ever was as a baby. Maybe he’s going to turn out to be more like me. Ashley insists he has my eyes, although I don’t see it.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Ashley announces, a wide smile on her face. “Thank you all so much for being here today. As some of our top donors, I thought it only fitting to invite you to the opening day of the new Jagger Center, a place for homeless teens to get advice and help, but also to get so much more than that. It’s also a place where they will get a hot meal, food to take away with them, and perhaps most important of all, a bed for the night in our dormitories. This place is going to make a huge difference to our community and it’s going to show our youth that someone does care about them. That’s a powerful message, especially when everything feels hopeless. So… thank you, each and every one of you, for making all of this possible. I now declare the Jagger Center officially open. Please do feel free to take a look around and ask any questions you might have.” Ashley moves through the crowd to join me and the kids as a rapturous applause from the donors sounds through the room.
They are already beginning to move around and take a closer look at some of the facilities. Ashley only mentioned a few of the facilities, but there’s also computers for the kids to use to apply for jobs or housing. And there’s a book library too, so every kid can come here to lose themselves in a book and forget their troubles for a few hours.
Members of staff are already moving through the crowd, talking to the donors and answering any questions.
I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Awful? No, it was perfect. Just like you.”
“I don’t feel very perfect.” Ashley laughs, bringing Reece down to her hip where he contentedly blows spit bubbles. “I just keep waiting for something to go wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” I assure her.
Carla tugs on Ashley’s skirt and holds out a small dinosaur toy. “Nothing bad can happen. I have my lucky dinosaur,” she announces.
“Oh see, I didn’t know that.” Ashley smiles. “But yeah, obviously, you’re right.”
“Hey, Finn. Ashley said you’d be here today. It’s so good to see you,” a young woman says as she comes up to us. She’s wearing the red polo shirt and black pants that say she works at the center, but I don’t think I’ve seen her before. Clearly, I must have though because she knows who I am. I study her for a moment. She looks vaguely familiar, but I still can’t place her. Talk about embarrassing.
“You don’t know who I am do you?” the woman asks.
I shake my head. “No. I’m sorry, I don’t,” I admit.
She laughs. “Oh, I’m taking that to be a good thing. I obviously don’t look as rough as I did the last time we met,” she says with a smirk.
Suddenly, it clicks into place who she is. “Gemma?”
“You got me.” She laughs. “I’ve just finished my social work degree and Ashley offered me a job here.”
“That’s amazing, congratulations on the degree,” I say. “And the new job.”
She looks serious suddenly. “It’s thanks in part to Ashley for getting me a place with a family who made me see I did have something to offer the world. But it’s also in part thanks to you…”
I wave away her words and shake my head. “No way. It’s because of you. You went out and did the work.”
“I did. And I guess some of it comes down to me, but that day you saw me outside of Ashley’s old office, you really saw me. And you showed me the world isn’t always a bad place. So thank you. Not just for the room, but for seeing the human being instead of the problem.”
“May I?” I ask, extending my arms.
“Of course.” Gemma smiles, accepting my hug with a fierce hug of her own. She pulls back from me and smirks again, nodding to Ashley and the kids. “And I see it worked. It impressed her.” She winks.
“Yeah, maybe I should be the one thanking you!” I chuckle.
Gemma spots a teenager in ragged clothes hanging around in the doorway to the center. “I have to go,” she says. “But it was wonderful to see you again, Finn.”
“You too,” I respond, meaning it. It is so good to see how her life has turned around.
She flashes me one last smile and then she goes over to the kid in the doorway, ushering her in and chatting to her all of the time as she does it.
“You didn’t tell me Gemma would be here,” I glance at Ashley.
“She wanted to surprise you. I think she wanted you to see you made a good investment in her, that she really did take her second chance.”
“She’s really turned her life around.” I nod. “But all I did was get her a hotel room. Really, the credit has to go to you for finding her a nice family and her for sticking in school and going the distance.”
“How about we call it a team effort?” Ashley concedes.
“Yeah, I like the sound of that,” I agree. I bend down, scoop Carla up into my arms then I sit her on my hip and wrap my arm around Ashley’s shoulders.
We stand quietly for a moment as a family and I can’t help but wonder, even now, how I got so lucky as to have this wonderful, selfless woman fall in love with me.
The End
Come Say Hello!
Thank you so much for reading!
Please click on the link below to receive info about my latest releases and giveaways.
NEVER MISS A THING
Or
come and say hello here:
Other Books
Cinderella.com
Taken By The Baller
Daddy’s Girl
Dear Neighbor
The CEO and I
Kissing Booth
The Promise
Dare Me
Single Dad
Accidental Rivals
Too Hot To Handle
Sweet Revenge
CherryPopper
The Magic Cupcake
Never Catch the Bouquet
Billionaire Needs Nanny
Pretend For Me
Pretend You’re Mine
Let’s Pretend
Let’s Start Over