‘Come on Kate, we’re late.’
We ran up the stone steps, through the huge arched doorway. Well, Ben ran, I sort of limped along after him in a sort of Tony Curtis type mince in my ridiculous heels, the silk of my dress swishing with a satisfying rustle. We’d raced almost the entire length of Støgnet to get here on time.
‘Ben, Kate. You made it,’ said Eva grinning from ear to ear as she jumped off the wooden bench to greet us. ‘I was starting to worry about you.’ She looked at her watch. ‘The ceremony is in ten minutes.’
‘Only just,’ muttered Ben casting a wicked grin over his shoulder. I gave him a reproving look, praying that he wasn’t going to tell her exactly what had held us up in the hotel. We’d flown in late last night coming straight from work.
Things had been a bit chaotic of late as Lars was planning to open a new Hjem in the north of England and had asked me to help set up a café within the store and Ben and I had been decorating. After commuting between our respective flats, never being able to remember what we’d left where, we decided it would be far easier to move in together … that and the fact that we hadn’t spent more than two nights apart since the official launch night of Hjem.
‘Ben, Kate.’ Avril appeared and swept us both into an excited perfumed hug. ‘It’s like old times. All the gang together again. Except Sophie couldn’t make it. Isn’t it lovely in here?’ She twirled round in her gorgeous dress looking around the Radhuspladsen. Of course she hadn’t seen it last time we’d been in Copenhagen.
‘Has anyone seen David yet?’ I asked spotting Conrad and Fiona walking towards us.
‘No, but Conrad promised that he’d be gentle with him last night, so hopefully he won’t be too hungover,’ said Eva.
Avril raised a delicate eyebrow and snorted, ‘Which is why I sent Christopher out with them.’ She giggled and hooked her arm through her husband’s. He rolled his eyes and said with a shake of his head, ‘Conrad’s a liability.’
‘Tell me about it,’ I muttered with heartfelt agreement.
‘It’s OK,’ said Avril airily, ‘me and Fi met up with them, although of course I wasn’t drinking,’ she patted her bump complacently, ‘… so it wasn’t really a stag do, but I think David had a lovely time … talking of which, here is groom number one.’
We all turned to see David walking towards us, resplendent in a blue three-piece suit with a pink rose on the lapel. Taking it in turns we all kissed him.
‘Oi, put him down. It’s my turn.’ A handsome stocky man dressed in an identical suit pushed Avril away.
‘Reece!’ she shrieked and threw her arms around him. ‘Don’t you look fabulous.’
‘I bloody should, given you chose the suits.’ He slipped his finger between his neck and shirt collar, before smiling as he looked at David. ‘But he looks bloody gorgeous in his, so you did OK cuz.’
According to Avril, she wasn’t the least bit surprised that her cousin Reece had hit it off with David after she’d introduced them and followed up with them after doing a feature on dating on her breakfast programme. Her career had taken off big time and she was now the main anchor on the breakfast show. She also fancied herself as a match-maker and was currently keeping a close eye on Conrad and one of her ex-bosses Sheila, who she declared were made for each other.
The wedding co-ordinator, the same handsome man in the same stripey T-shirt, called us together. Conrad checked he’d got the rings again, smiling proudly as best man. Since Reece had come on the scene, David had converted the top floor of his house into a self-contained flat which Conrad rented for a nominal sum. In return, Conrad had given the rest of David’s house a complete design make-over, which had been featured in several magazines and consequently Conrad’s services as an interior designer were so much in demand that he struggled to fit private commissions in with his teaching and freelance commitments.
We trooped towards the little staircase, leading up to the room where the ceremonies were held, Avril and I bringing up the rear. She paused at the bottom step and took my arm, giving me a quick once over. ‘You look great, Kate. So much happier. Life with Ben agrees with you.’
‘It does,’ I sighed happily, unable to help the silly grin on my face.
‘I can’t believe it all started here in Copenhagen. I honestly thought me and Christopher were heading for divorce and now look at me. Pregnant, successful and happy.’
I leaned up and gave her a hug. ‘It’s been a good year.’
‘I wish Sophie was here.’ Avril’s face sobered.
‘Me too,’ I linked my arm through hers. ‘Hope she’s OK.’
‘Bloody men. She really loved him.’
‘Well hopefully one day she’ll find a good one.’ I gave a sad smile. ‘There are a few of them.’
‘There are,’ agreed Avril giving me a cheerful squeeze. ‘Right, we’ve got a wedding to attend. And I’m bloody starving. I hope Eva’s got plenty of kanelsnegle at the café for the reception. I think I’ve got a small hippopotamus in here, the amount I’m eating at the moment.’
Ben caught my eye and we smiled together, a private secret exchange that made my heart glow. At six months, Avril’s bump was much in evidence whereas at six weeks mine was no more than a bean and a much-treasured secret between the two of us. He slipped his fingers between mine with a gentle squeeze.
‘Now?’ he asked.
I nodded. We’d checked earlier with David and Reece, anxious not to steal their limelight.
‘Actually,’ said Ben, ‘we …’ he held up our interlinked fingers, ‘we’d like to invite you to a wedding as well.’
David winked at me.
‘Oooh,’ squealed Avril. ‘When?’
Ben and I grinned at each other. ‘We were thinking straight after this one.’