Page 120 of The Wedding Engagement

The others all stilled, mouths open, as the two women rounded the corner.

“Oh my God. I’m a flippin’ fashion genius,” Maya said, staring at the two of them. “You both look absolutelyamazing.”

Tara was dabbing at her eyes and Yvonne got out a tissue to pass to her.

Maya went over and took Elise’s shoulders. “You are one sexy lady.” She released Elise to take Liv’s hand and twirl her around. “And you are one hot tamale.”

Yvonne was smiling. “You both look beautiful. And each dress matches your eye color perfectly.”

Liv did a double take down at herself, then across at Elise. She hadn’t even clocked that. Maya had picked out styles that suited them perfectly and that matched her green eyes and Elise’s blue ones. She began to well up. Again. She was going to have to get a beauty parlor on speed dial.

“Go and put yours on, Maya,” Yvonne said.

Maya let out a little squeal, eliciting a laugh from the group, then disappeared around the corner with the store assistant in tow.

Another assistant came out of the changing area, bringing Liv’s and Elise’s glasses of prosecco with her. Liv took hers and carefully sipped, terrified of spilling any down her lovely dress.

It was a few minutes before Maya rounded the corner, but it was worth the wait. Her dress was a shimmering blue-green, with different hues blending into one another as the eye moved down the gown. A modern sari style, it consisted of a short-sleeved bodice that gave way to material that appeared to wrap itself around Maya’s body to her feet, and at her left shoulder it flowed over and down her arm to the ground.

For a moment Liv nearly lost her hold on her glass. She swallowed hard. “Stunning.”

Maya grinned and did a twirl. Liv glanced over to look at Elise,who had her hand over her mouth, her eyes welling. She slid an arm around Elise’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

Yvonne went over to hug Maya. “Sweetheart, it’s so beautiful.”

“Why, thank you.” Maya did a mock bow. “I’m thinking of jacking in my job at the ski resort to go into styling full-time.”

Yvonne laughed. “Another career change already?”

Maya shrugged. “If you’ve got the gift…”

Tara bounced Jack on her knee. “All the dresses are perfect for each of you. And I love how they fit together. The green of Liv’s dress and the blue of Elise’s incorporated into yours, Maya.”

Maya looked at Liv and Elise, her voice uncharacteristically devoid of humor. “The three of us complete each other.”

Elise let out a little sob and Liv felt as if the lump in her throat might strangle her. She took Elise’s hand and led her to Maya, where they had a three-way hug, though somewhat awkwardly with her and Elise holding out their glasses to a safe distance and attempting not to get tears on Maya’s dress.

—

The next day was Sunday,and this time, Liv had set a super-early alarm to see if she could catch Arran in the act of delivering her message. Although what she’d do if she did spot him, she had no idea. Probably veer between the desire to run out and kiss him all over his lovely face and the instinct to hide behind the curtain and spy on him.

However, she had no need to worry about choosing between the two, because on her arrival downstairs, there was nothing in the letterbox. Her disappointment was so palpable she felt it in her bones.

She shuffled into the kitchen in her fluffy slippers, made some tea and toast, and then snuggled into the sofa and loaded upPride and Prejudice and Zombiesto try to cheer herself up.

Just as she reached the part where the Bennet sisters were slow-mo striding down the hallway at Meryton, slashing zombies in their wake, she heard a sound at the front door. Without pausing to decide whether she was going for the kissing option or the hiding-behind-the-curtain option, she ran for the front door and flung it open. Standing on the other side with a look of shock frozen on his face was not Arran but her brother.

Her shoulders sagged. “Sam. What’re you doing here?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Delighted to see you too, sis.”

She dropped her gaze to register a white cardboard box at his feet. “What’s that?”

He ran a hand over his hair. “This one wouldn’t fit through the letterbox, so I was going to leave it on the doorstep.”

“You mean…it’s been you delivering all the messages? Not Arran?” She felt disappointed to be disabused of the idea that Arran had been on her doorstep every morning at dawn.

Sam nodded. “Yeah. He asked me to be his delivery guy. He didn’t trust himself not to ring your doorbell if he did it himself.”

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