‘I can’t believe you quit your job and took one here. What would you have done if I’d said no last night?’ Hayley asked Rick. They were in her bed, basking in the after-glow of morning sex, her legs casually draped over his.
‘I’d move over anyway,’ he said, staring up at the ceiling as he stroked her thigh. ‘I’d stick around until you change your mind,’ he grabbed her hand and kissed it, ‘Mrs.-soon-to-be-Cooper.’
She smiled. ‘I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone,’ she said as she snuggled up closer. ‘We can go over to Ellen and Mark’s in a bit.’ She held out her left hand and admired the large solitaire sparkling in the sunlight that streamed through the windows.
‘Do you like it?’ Rick said.
‘Love it.’
‘A lot?’
‘Too much to put into words.’ Hayley rolled on top of Rick and kissed his chest, her mouth and naked breasts sliding down his stomach. ‘Let me show you instead …’
‘What about your friends and … oh … well … never mind …’ Rick murmured and Hayley laughed.
They finally made it to Ellen and Mark’s flat in the early afternoon. Ellen’s brow furrowed when she opened the door, and her eyes moved quickly from Hayley to Rick and back again.
‘This is Rick,’ Hayley said with a smile as they walked into the flat.
Mark stood up. ‘Not the Rick?’ He shook Rick’s hand. ‘Hello, mate. I thought you weren’t coming over until December?’
‘I wasn’t. But I couldn’t wait that long to make an honest woman of her.’
Hayley watched as Ellen’s stare flipped from Rick to her and back to Rick again. When her eyes finally dropped to Hayley’s left hand, she grabbed it and yanked it towards Mark. ‘Look, look! What did –? When? How? What?’
‘Congratulations,’ Mark said as he shook Rick’s hand again. ‘I’ve never seen my Missus lost for words. Let’s celebrate. Your engagement, not her silence. Although … hah! I’ll get some champagne. We’ll be as pissed as farts by mid-afternoon.’
The next day, Hayley and Rick went to see her parents. As they walked up the garden path, Rick fiddled with the zipper of his jacket and cleared his throat four times.
Hayley squeezed his hand. ‘They’ll love you,’ she said and opened the front door. ‘I promise.’
She wasn’t mistaken. Stan pumped Rick’s hand up and down and patted him on the back.
‘Have you phoned Jackie yet?’ Karen asked after some of the commotion had subsided. ‘You’ve got to tell her. Here.’ She grabbed the phone and punched in the number. ‘Call her now. She’ll be thrilled.’
Jackie answered the phone and within seconds she shrieked, ‘You’re getting married?’ so loudly everyone in the room could hear. ‘That’s brilliant,’ she said, only a little more quietly. ‘Ray! Hayley’s getting married … yeah, the Canadian bloke …. I know, fabulous, isn’t it?’ Her attention turned back to Hayley. ‘He says congratulations and when can we meet him. My little sister’s getting married. I can’t wait. When?’
‘Soon,’ Hayley said as she looked at Rick, who was laughing at something Karen had said to him. ‘Because I can’t wait either.’
*
It seemed almost magical how everything fell into place. Neither Rick nor Hayley wanted a long engagement or a religious ceremony. It was easy to choose the date – a Saturday in mid-December, six months to the day that they’d met – and they booked Ealing Town Hall. But working out where to have the reception at such short notice proved to be more difficult. Hayley worried the only available place would be McDonald’s and she had images of their guests going home with Happy Meal toys as wedding favours. As she tried to narrow down the flower arrangement choices during her lunch break, Ellen called.
‘Guess what,’ she shouted down the phone, over the noise of the hair-dryers at the salon.
‘You’re pregnant?’ Hayley said. ‘Are you?’
‘Pffft, no. But almost as good as that. Mrs. Patterson, one of my clients, told me her son’s fiancée ditched him for their accountant. They’re cancelling the wedding. Guess where it was going to be?’
‘You’re joking,’ Hayley said and held her breath.
‘Nope. Ealing Golf Club! And guess what date?’
‘Shut up!’
‘Yup, it’s all yours if you want it. Mrs. Patterson knows the golf club’s events coordinator really well and she’s sure she can get the booking transferred into your name.’
‘Oh thank you, thank you, thank you,’ Hayley squealed as she jumped up and down.
A few days later Jackie and Ellen took Hayley shopping for a wedding dress and she fell in love with the third one she tried on. It was strapless, made of floor-length tulle, and had a sweetheart neckline, a dark-blue ruffle sash, and beaded, appliqué flowers.
‘You look beautiful,’ Jackie said as she clutched a hankie. ‘Rick will love it.’
‘He’ll think he’s died and gone to heaven,’ Ellen said, and borrowed Jackie’s hankie to wipe her own eyes. She smoothed the dress down and Hayley felt her tug at the label. ‘Good grief.’
‘Oh no,’ Hayley said. ‘Don’t tell me. It’s over my budget, isn’t it?’
‘No,’ Ellen said and clapped her hands together. ‘It’s under and it’s twenty per cent off. You jammy git.’
*
Rick’s parents, Jacob and Marianna Cooper, and his brother Josh arrived a few days before the wedding and Hayley and Rick met them at Heathrow airport.
‘It’s so good to finally meet you, Hayley,’ Jacob said as he hugged her with gigantic hands that reminded her of bear paws. He was a tall, lean man, and Hayley could tell Rick got at least part of his good looks from his father.
‘Thank you, Hayley,’ Marianna said as she wrapped her arms around her. She only reached her husband’s shoulder, had an immaculate blonde bob and a smile that could surely be seen from space.
‘Uh … you’re welcome?’ Hayley said.
Marianna laughed. ‘I meant for bringing Rick to England. I’ve always wanted to visit but Jacob hates travelling. Take him away from the Prairies and he gets claustrophobic. I had to hide his Bailey or he’d be wearing it now.’ She bent over to put the Lonely Planet guide in her bag.
Rick must have seen Hayley’s look. ‘The cowboy hat, not the drink,’ he said. ‘I think Dad even showers in it.’
‘Not always,’ Jacob said and then laughed. ‘Hayley, this is Josh.’
Hayley smiled as she shook Josh’s hand. He was tall too, taller than Rick, and they had the same eyes. ‘Gosh, you look just like your brother,’ Hayley said, ‘without the grey hair though, you’re too young for that.’
He blushed. ‘I love your accent,’ he said. ‘It’s awesome.’
‘I think he’s in love,’ Rick whispered in Hayley’s ear as Josh pushed the trolley with the bags ahead of them. ‘And I don’t blame him.’
*
The evening before the wedding Hayley shooed Rick out of their flat and made him spend the night at Ellen and Mark’s. She didn’t want him to leave. Since he’d arrived in England they hadn’t slept apart. Seeing him first thing in the morning and last thing at night was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. ‘But you can’t see me until tomorrow, it’s bad luck,’ she insisted.
He sighed. ‘Oh if I must,’ and kissed her as if they would never meet again.
Ellen came over to spend the night and after dinner they sat on the sofa with a glass of champagne each and a bowl of strawberries. ‘As your bridesmaid,’ Ellen said in her very best headmistress voice while straightening her back, ‘it is my solemn duty to ask you some very important questions.’
Hayley clicked her tongue. ‘I thought you might. Go on then. Sock it to me.’
‘Are you nervous?’
‘Nope.’
‘A tiny bit?’
‘Nope.’
‘Even though you’ve only been together for six months?’
‘Still nope.’
‘Just checking. Are you ready to only ever have sex with one person for the rest of your, or his, life?’
Hayley laughed. ‘Yep.’
‘Then hearts are breaking all over London tonight, I’m afraid. Right. Bedtime for you, Missy. You’ve got to get your beauty sleep.’
Hayley had to tighten her grip on her father’s arm when they entered the Nelson Room at Ealing Town Hall the next morning. Rick stood at the end of the aisle in a perfectly tailored black suit and waistcoat, with a dark-blue tie that matched the sash on her dress. His eyes sparkled as she walked towards him and when he mouthed, ‘I love you,’ she was sure her feet weren’t even touching the carpet anymore.
Later, as they danced together at Ealing Golf Club, Hayley looked into Rick’s eyes and felt as if she had known him forever, then she vowed that nothing – nothing – would ever tear them apart.
*
‘Remember our Chicago to-do lists?’ Rick said over breakfast one morning, six weeks after the wedding. ‘Let’s make another.’
‘A bucket list?’ Hayley said as she munched on her peanut butter and jam toast, a combination Rick had introduced her to, and which she had eaten almost every morning since.
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘But without the dying part.’
‘Sounds great,’ Hayley said. Seeing London through Rick’s eyes in recent months had made her feel as if she were visiting for the first time too. He oohed and aahed at the architecture and the history and when she’d taken him to the Tower of London, she thought his eyes were going to pop. She quickly retrieved a pen and a notepad from her old sideboard.
‘So where do you want to go first?’
‘That place with the old stones.’
‘Stonehenge? Check.’ She scribbled it down.
‘And Edinburgh.’
Hayley pulled a face.
‘No good?’
‘Bad memories.’
‘Oh, right. Sorry. Wales then. And Cornwall. Definitely Cornwall. What about you?’
Hayley smiled. ‘Calgary. I want to go to your family’s ranch. Ride some horses, drive some cattle.’
Rick tipped an imaginary hat. ‘Yee-haw. Well that can be arranged, pretty lady.’
And so, whenever they could and their finances permitted, they went to the closest places on their list first, then started going farther afield. In Paris they marvelled at the Louvre and strolled down the Champs-Elysées hand in hand. They took the train to Brussels and washed down plates of moules frites with bottles of Duvel. When the summer came, they travelled to Calgary.
‘It’s so flat,’ said Hayley as they flew across the Canadian prairies. ‘Not even a hill.’
‘Just you wait,’ Rick said and grinned as he patted her hand. ‘You’ll see.’
And when they drove all the way from Calgary to Jasper, up through the National Park, stopping in Banff and Lake Louise overnight, she did see. She stared out of the hotel window at the crystal clear, blue glacial lake and up at the sparkling snow-covered peaks in the distance – then her gaze drifted back to Rick, who smiled at her, obviously enjoying every second of seeing her in such awe. He moved towards her and kissed her gently, making Hayley wonder how she would possibly survive if she ever had to be without him.