Mom cries when she first sees me in the dress, and Dad conveniently gets something in his eye as he walks me down the aisle.
Our vows are simple, the whole process understated, and it just feels so right, I can’t explain. Marc looks into my eyes as he promises to keep me in his heart for the rest of his life, and I believe every word he says.
For some reason, he also makes all the girls at the wedding cry. Nobody’s going to have any mascara left intact by the end of the day.
After we’re married, we have dinner at Between the Sheets on the seafront, and I spend a few hours dancing with my family and friends. It’s only toward the end of the evening that I sit in one of the plastic chairs on the beach, where all the girls have finally crashed. The guys are up at the bar at the moment, talking rugby. We don’t usually separate like this, but most of the guys aren’t keen on dancing, and for once it’s nice to spend some time with my girlfriends.
It’s late now and the sun has set, but there’s a beautiful warm November breeze blowing up from the ocean. The sea is the color of a fruit bowl full of plums, mandarins, peaches, and blueberries. We’ve eaten snapper caught this morning, and I’ve had a small glass of champagne, and I feel warm, content, and happy.
“My feet feel twice their size,” Jules complains, circling her feet at the ankles.
“And they weren’t small to begin with,” Nix comments.
“Gee, thanks.” Jules pokes her tongue out and we all laugh. It’s true that, because she’s tallish at five-nine, her feet aren’t particularly dainty, but she hardly needs clown shoes.
I stretch and yawn. “I’m going to sleep so well tonight. I’m knackered.”
“Don’t let Fitz hear you say that,” Clio says. “I think he’s hoping to keep you up for a few more hours.” She smirks, and the others chuckle.
I just give a smile. I have a man of my own who loves me, and for once I can feel smug. “My husband is welcome to entertain me any way he wants.”
Clio huffs a sigh. “I can’t believe you’re all settling down. Jules, we’ll have to found a losers club.”
“Thanks, Clio.”
“No offence.”
“None taken,” Jules says. “I’m happy being single. It’s liberating, and my time is my own, and I don’t have anyone to tell me what to do… and oh my God I’m so desperate to get laid I can’t tell you.”
We all burst out laughing, and she covers her face with her hands. “I miss sex so much,” she says with a sigh. “I’m so envious of you all I could die.”
“I’ve got shares in Duracell,” Clio says, “I get through so many of their batteries.”
“Oh God, Clio, TMI,” Izzy states.
She pouts. “I’m with Jules. I hate you all.”
“You need to get out more,” I tell her. “All you do is work, Clio. Now you’re qualified, maybe you can take your foot off the pedal and socialize a bit.”
“Not if Stefan has his way,” she grumbles. Stefan’s the head of the veterinary center, and she’s often complained that he’s a slave driver. “I swear, if I left early, that Viking would run out and drag me back by my hair.” She purses her lips. “Not that that would necessarily be a bad thing.”
“Oh…” Nix says. “Got the hots for the sexy vet, have you?”
“He’s gorgeous,” Clio admits. “I’m thinking of asking him out for a drink. Maybe if I write an invite in runes he’ll think about it.”
“I know what you’re doing,” Jules says mildly, “and it’s not going to work.”
“Told you,” Clio says to Nix. “She’s too wise to fall for your dastardly plot.”
I smile. I know Jules likes Stefan, and that she’s been angling for a date with him for some time. So far, though, he’s studiously avoided her. None of us is sure why. She’s lovely—bright, bubbly, and sexy in a girl-next-door kinda way. Mind you, I have seen a couple of the women he’s dated in the past, and they’ve all been like models, near to six foot and stunningly beautiful, so maybe she’s just not his type.