Page 113 of A Year at Appleyard Farm
She ruffled Boris’s fur one more time and, laughing, struggled to get to her feet. Stephen followed suit until they stood rather shyly in the middle of the room.
‘What about my other suggestion?’ began Stephen, scuffing at the floor with his foot. ‘Do you think perhaps I should stay for a bit?’
‘Let’s get some food sorted first,’ she replied, ‘then we can talk about it. I’ll see if I can find a menu.’
She turned away so that Stephen wouldn’t see her smile. She didn’t want him to think she was a complete pushover.
59
Stephen was not normally given to strong emotions, nor had he found it easy in the past to show them, but as Freya moved slowly down the aisle towards him, his throat constricted almost painfully. Beside him, Sam stood waiting patiently for his bride, and as she neared, Stephen’s heart swelled with delight and pride.
Freya looked radiant, and more than that, thought Stephen, she was totally and utterly, blissfully in love. It shone out of her, in the way she walked, the way her eyes sparkled as she met those of the people sitting in the pews she passed, and the way she clasped her bouquet excitedly in front of her, a beautiful tribute to the life she had made with Sam, and one which they would now share forever.
Rosy apples jostled for space with huge deep pink peonies; eucalyptus leaves and sage sat between glowing hips and golden pears; pale roses met with dark dusky blackberries and huge speckled poppy heads. If Stephen hadn’t helped collect all these beautiful things he would never have believed it for himself, and two rows behind him, Laura sat in the church, where he hoped she was also bursting with pride at her achievement. He had heard the gasps of astonishment from the congregation as they filed into the church, and it hurt him more than anything to know that she could not hear them herself. But she must surely see the delight on the faces, the fingers that pointed out her stunning decorations where the unusual and the traditional sat side by side in such perfect harmony.
A golden beam of afternoon sun filtered through the huge windows in front of him and warmed the stone flags onto which Freya now stepped. The light settled upon her and Sam and, as the vicar came forward to join them both in marriage, a wide smile settled over Stephen’s face. He had come a long way since the days when he had fought Sam every step of the way; fought even to take Freya from him, and had she not come to her senses when she did, they would both have been condemned to an unhappy future. It had taken a long time for things to come right again, for Stephen even longer than Freya and Sam, but as he watched the couple in front of him now, he realised that things were just as they should be.
It was only a matter of hours since he and Laura had last left the marquee. They had worked into the wee small hours, dressing and pinning, arranging and perfecting, but now, as the wedding guests filed in to take their places, he increased his pressure on Laura’s hand. The space looked amazing, and the expression on her face was mirrored by his own; a mixture of excitement, of childlike wonder, and an overwhelming relief that it did indeed look as good as they had imagined it would. Appleyard Farm was shining like a jewel today, and the woman by his side had been responsible for most of it.
The conversation was increasing to a steady hum, and Stephen knew that this was when Laura would feel most ill at ease. It was hard enough for her to follow what people were saying in a crowd, but when they were eating and drinking as well, it unwittingly made their speech almost impossible for her to decipher. For the most part, he could do nothing but stay by her side and make sure that she could at least understand his words. Beyond that he had one or two little surprises up his sleeve, which he hoped would be received in the spirit in which they were offered.
He almost hadn’t told Sam and Freya what he had done, fearing they would laugh at him, or even be angry with him for making arrangements for their wedding day without their knowledge. But the fact that Freya had turned away when he told them, on the pretext of putting the kettle on, had meant more to him than her words ever could. He had seen the tears welling in her eyes, and although he knew he still had much to prove to her about his behaviour, her reaction was more than he could have wished for. He also had her and Sam’s blessing which made everything all the easier of course. His speech nestled in his jacket pocket and he patted it for the umpteenth time that day. He almost knew it off by heart but automatically felt for it just the same.
He had arranged for Laura to sit at the top table, alongside him, and with Freya’s best friend, Merry, who had acted as maid of honour, on her other side. He knew that Merry had owned a florist shop once upon a time and hoped that the two of them would have plenty to talk about. As they took their seats, he caught the eye of one of the guests sitting directly on the table opposite and gave a nervous smile. His stomach was in knots.
* * *
Laura concentrated on her food for a moment. The room was a confused jumble of words, gathered here and there as she looked out onto the sea of faces in front of her, but to her surprise she was still enjoying herself. It didn’t much matter that she couldn’t follow what people were saying all the time, because everywhere she looked, she saw smiling faces and the mood was infectious. Most eyes were quite rightly on Freya, but she saw many looking at her huge urns filled with the countryside, and bounty from the farm, and the smiles remained in place. She even caught the eye of a few people, folk she had known for years, only this time instead of looking away, or worse, pretending they hadn’t seen her, they held her look, nodded and smiled. Something subtle had changed in their reactions, and with a jolt she realised that she was the reason.
Previously, her gaze had been a challenge, a dare to prove her suspicions right, and an opportunity to justify her own poor behaviour. She realised now that she had made people uncomfortable, embarrassed even, and had deserved the responses she got, simply because she had given people no other choice. A scowl was met with a scowl, just as now, a smile was met with a smile. It was a simple equation, but one which had taken her far too long to work out.
She realised that Stephen was talking to her again, and leaned in towards him. He had, as he suggested, moved into her spare bedroom and, whether it was the sight of his car, a constant companion to hers on the driveway, or the fact that he insisted they sit with the curtains open every evening in case anyone happened to glance in and see that she was not alone, she wasn’t sure, but nothing untoward had happened since the incident with the fireworks. In fact, nothing untoward had happened at all, and Laura wasn’t entirely sure if she was disappointed or not. They had got on well after the initial embarrassment of finding themselves sleeping under the same roof; beyond that their relationship had been friendly and companionable, but nothing more.
Now he seemed a little jittery, and she hoped it was simply nerves at the thought of his looming speech. Throughout the day he had been attentiveness personified, making sure that she was okay, that she wasn’t too nervous herself, or feeling uncomfortable. At times, he had seemed to want to say something more than the words that had actually come out of his mouth, but the feeling passed again, and Laura was left wondering. As she looked at him now, she realised that she was not concentrating at all on what he was saying, but instead focusing on the full curve of his mouth, the slight dimple that appeared in his right cheek when he spoke, and the warmth in his eyes. She frowned and asked him to repeat what he had said.
‘I’m sorry, I was miles away,’ she added. And she was. She was thinking very much about kissing him.
She almost missed the start of Stephen’s speech. She was deep in conversation with Merry, who was fascinated to know more about her business, and it was only when she stopped talking and touched Laura’s arm, that she realised Stephen was tapping the side of his glass with a knife. She straightened up, and arranged her face into a polite smile. She would have to take her cue from the other wedding guests about when to laugh as she doubted very much that she would be able to follow what he was saying from this angle.
To her surprise, a tall, very elegant lady directly opposite her got to her feet and fixed Laura with a beaming smile. She was even more surprised when she signedHello, I’m Natalie.
Tentatively, she signed back. Natalie smiled again, and then looked to Stephen, giving him a nod. There was a momentary pause and then her hands began to fly as Stephen started to speak.
‘Well, this is a first for me,’ she began to sign, ‘and so before I launch into what might yet turn out to be the worst best man’s speech you’ve ever heard, I’m going to ask you all to be patient with me. I know that most of you here are well aware of the gory details of my past as far as Sam and Freya are concerned, and could be forgiven for wondering how on earth I’ve ended up giving a speech at their wedding…So, I’m also going to ask you to be lenient with me as I try to explain how I think that’s happened. Firstly, though, I’d like to welcome you all here today, and of course thank you for coming. I genuinely don’t think there’s a soul left in the village, but Appleyard Orchard has been at the centre of our community for a very long time, and I know it means the world to Freya and Sam to see you all here. Without further ado then, I’d like you to raise a glass in toast to the deliriously happy couple…Freya and Sam.’
Laura raised her glass with a grin, watching the stream of bubbles in her champagne rising to the surface and popping. It was much how her stomach felt. She waited for everyone’s attention to switch back to Stephen, all the while never taking her eyes off Natalie, whose hands moved back into position.
‘I’d also like to make an introduction before I go any further…Some of you may have noticed that my speech today is being signed, so I’d very much like you all to welcome Natalie. She is a British Sign Language tutor from Hereford, and has very kindly offered to give me a hand here today, quite literally…and at very short notice too. Thank you, Natalie.’
Natalie broke off to give a little wave, before continuing with her interpreting. ‘Some of you might already have worked out that the reason why Natalie is here today is sitting on my left. For those of you who don’t know, her name is Laura and she’s profoundly deaf. More importantly, she’s responsible for today’s stunning floral decorations, and as I’m just about to say some incredibly nice things about her, I thought she should be able to ‘hear’ them.’
Laura risked a tiny peep to her right, knowing that Stephen would be looking at her. She didn’t want to blush bright red in front of all these people, but then would that really be such a big price to pay considering what Stephen had done for her? Her eyes met his, surprised to see that he was blushing too.
‘When Sam first asked me to be his best man, I’ll admit I was a little surprised; but I realised very quickly how humbled I was at being asked, and how generous Sam was being in asking me. That’s just like Sam. He’s always seen the good in me, even when we were young, and I spent most of my time being jealous of him and consequently trying to make his life as miserable as possible. For a long time, I pretty much succeeded, but a year or so ago, all that began to change when a very special person came back into Sam’s life. That person was, of course, Freya. I think they first got engaged in primary school, and even then, it was clear that the universe had decreed they should be together. Despite my best efforts to keep them apart, fate intervened and brought them back together again, fortunately for me.
‘I say fortunately because from the moment they did, it gave Freya the perfect opportunity to let me know in no uncertain terms what she thought of me, urging me to grow up and to start taking responsibility for myself. Much to my surprise, I listened. It hasn’t always been easy, and I dare say I still get things wrong, but Sam and Freya are the kind of people who go the extra mile for anyone, even me, and that’s really why I’m standing here today.
‘I’ll also admit that I didn’t really get it, this whole love thing. I could see how much Sam and Freya were in love, but I never understood what that meant, what that felt like, or, perhaps more importantly, why I didn’t or couldn’t feel the same. It wasn’t until recently when I quite literally got knocked for six that I began to feel these alien emotions. It’s possible that the blow to the head I sustained might be the cause, but I’d be willing to bet it had a lot more to do with a beautiful young lady who came into my life very suddenly one afternoon, and since then, in my head at least, has refused to leave.’
