If possible, it was even chillier when the second wedding began. The guests, fortified by rum-laced hot chocolate and warming food, didn’t seem to mind as they took their places again. As the strains of ‘Silent Night’ drifted up into the cold air, they settled back in anticipation.
Biddy started proceedings off, keeping a tight hold on the motley collection of dogs, and Dora followed, throwing white rose petals. They drifted gently to the sand, like snowflakes.
And then, as Arthur escorted a blissfully happy Millie along the lantern-lit, sandy aisle, a collective sigh merged with the shifting swell of the sea.
‘Magical,’ whispered Eleri, sitting next to Zoe and gripping the girl’s hand.
Millie did indeed look magical. The white cloak glowed softly and a gentle, salt-slicked sea breeze ruffled the goose down. Biddy’s white rose and ivy bouquet, studded with crystals, caught the flickering light and sparkled against the night sky. But what most delighted everyone was Millie’s expression of complete and utter happiness.
‘She looks gorg,’ Zoe breathed.
Tessa, sitting on Zoe’s other side, wiped her eyes. ‘She does.’ She gave a gutsy sigh. ‘Zoe, bab. I’m sorry it didn’t work out with you and our Sean.’
‘Me too.’
‘Still friends?’
Zoe leaned into her. ‘Still friends.’
‘Don’t be a stranger, you hear? Ken’s still got high hopes for you.’ She tucked Zoe’s spare hand under her arm. ‘Our Millie suits vintage so well.’ She sniffed. ‘And that cloak Biddy made is ace. Love the fluffy trimming. Looks perfect over that velvet dress.’
‘Millie would look lovely in anything,’ Zoe added, loyally. ‘You did wonders with her hair, Tes. Those white roses look fabber than a very fab thing.’
Tessa foraged for a tissue. ‘I can’t believe Biddy’s got in on the act.’ She bit down on a laugh.
Eleri joined in with the conversation. ‘Well, it takes someone fierce to wrangle three doggie wedding attendants. Take it from me, I know.’
‘They’re not ring-bearers again, are they? Arthur had a hell of a game getting Elvis to stand still last time.’ Tessa blew her nose.
‘No,’ Zoe giggled. ‘Alex has got it. He’s Jed’s best man. Obvs.’
‘Obvs,’ said Eleri and Tessa as one.
Then they concentrated on the wedding and sighed in teary pleasure as Millie reached Jed. The couple turned to one another, their faces radiating love.
As Millie and Jed were declared man and wife, a starburst of fireworks lit up the night sky.
‘Well, we’ve done it,’ Jed whispered, against the cacophony of cheers and the noise from the display getting into its stride. ‘In starlight too.’ He glanced up. ‘Although the stars seem to have disappeared. Maybe it’s just the light from the fireworks making them fade.’ He looked into Millie’s eyes. ‘Or maybe they couldn’t compete with my wife’s beauty.’
Millie rolled her eyes. ‘Corny,’ she said, secretly delighted.
Their kiss was interrupted by Biddy yelling her congratulations and promising she’d take the dogs to the flat. ‘Could murder a cup of coffee,’ she added, as the trio dragged her off.
Millie giggled and turned her attention back to her husband. She put her arms around his neck, careful to avoid his injured arm.
‘All I’ve now got to do is get you to accept my second offer,’ he said, his breath misting in the night air and mingled with the scent of roses.
‘What’s that?’ Millie asked as she reached up and kissed his cold-pinked nose.
He took a deep breath. ‘I’d really like to invest in the café. I want to make Berecombe my home, Mil. Our home. I want to make Millie Vanilla’s the best place it can possibly be. Whatever plans you have for it.’ He stopped and looked nervous. ‘A conversation for another time, maybe, and I understand if it’s no longer what you want. I think, though, with money invested and the competition out of the running, we can make a go of it. Together.’
‘Together.’ She kissed him again. ‘I like the sound of together.’ She felt the tension leave his body and was touched that he cared so much about her feelings, about what she wanted.
He nodded at the happy and slightly tipsy guests making their way over for honeyed sausages, cooked in the bonfire. ‘You know, something like this would be brilliant. Millie Vanilla’s as a wedding venue.’
‘Just what I was thinking,’ Millie breathed. She pulled him closer. ‘I accept your offer. Oh, my darling Jed. I accept.’
They kissed again, not noticing the arctic cold, or the magnificent fireworks exploding around them.
‘You know,’ Millie said, as she emerged from the kiss. ‘I think I may have broken my bad run with fireworks.’
Jed looked puzzled.
‘I’ll tell you later,’ she giggled.
‘There is one more thing.’
‘Another offer, Jed?’ She tilted her head, flirtatiously.
‘I suppose. More a request, actually.’
‘What?’ Millie slid her hands under his jacket. Mostly to bring him closer but more because the cold was beginning to penetrate even her loved-up bliss. ‘Make it quick. I think I’ve lost all feeling in my feet.’
Jed quirked a brow. ‘I promise I’ll warm you up later. What I’d like to suggest is that you close the café for the winter.’
She nuzzled the enticing line of his jawbone. ‘Why?’
‘I’m planning on taking you for a very, very long honeymoon. To all the places you’ve ever wanted to go.’
Millie gave a shivery giggle. ‘Can we start somewhere warm?’
‘How does hot sand, warm seas and a Caribbean island sound?’
‘At this moment in time, I’d settle for a hot-water bottle.’ She grinned. ‘But I think I’ll cope with a Caribbean island or two.’
The softest, coldest touch landed on Millie’s nose. And then on her eyelashes. And then one more on her cheek. She looked up. Had someone thrown more rose petals?
Snowflakes floated down from a dense black sky. They spiralled around them like confetti. Proper, fat, magical snowflakes, which began to settle on the sand.
‘Oh,’ she sighed. ‘Jed look, it’s snowing.’
Jed looked about him as the snowflakes thickened and whirled around them. He could hear cheers coming from the wedding guests crowded around the bonfire. They were congratulating Arthur on finally getting his forecast right.
He tightened his hold on Millie. ‘I thought you said it never snows at the seaside,’ he teased fondly, loving her childish delight.
‘They say it only happens once in a lifetime,’ she whispered, as she kissed him yet again. ‘Like true love, it only happens once in a lifetime.’