Page 84 of The Wedding Cake Wish
The crowd gathered in the newly-decorated Phoenix Cafe arehanging on to every word of Rachel’s speech.
Fully recovered from her injuries at the hands of BrendanMyers, Rachel looks bright-eyed and relaxed in a pretty, floral maxi dress. ‘Inever thought I’d see a day when the heart of the community here on the CarltonEstate would start to beat again. But after a bit of wrangling with the council,getting them to reassess their priorities and provide some funding, here weare. And it’s all thanks to the hard work and support of my two wonderfulfriends, Shirley and Marjery.’ She smiles at them as everyone cheers and claps.Mum sticks up both thumbs at her, while Shirley laughs and dabs at her eyeswith a hanky.
‘And of course not forgetting my son, who’s the light of mylife and the main reason we’re here today. Rory, without your love and support,I honestly don’t know where I’d be today. So thank you, son.’ She swallows, heremotions getting the better of her for a moment. And Rory calls, ‘Love you,Mum. An espresso and a bit of that chocolate cake as soon as you like!’
There’s a ripple of laughter at this, and I turn to Rob inthe seat next to me and murmur, ‘It’s so amazing that the community centre’sbeing brought back to life, along with the café.’ I smile up at him. ‘And you’reeven more amazing. Could you ever have imagined things would turn out likethis?’
He loops his arm around me and pulls me close, and I shufflemy chair closer.
‘For a while it seemed as if everything was going wrong,’ hesays. ‘I almost lost you, thanks to my stupid decision not to share my worryover Rory.’
‘No, you didn’t. It would take a hell of a lot more thanthat to turn me off you. Although it would probably be best if we didn’torganise any more weddings. Especially with my mum involved!’
‘Your mother is amazing.’ Rob shakes his head.
I chuckle softly. ‘You can say that again.’
‘No, but I mean it.’
I look at him in surprise and he shrugs.
‘Some people would look at Marjery’s situation andimmediately think “wealth and privilege” and expect her to be a certain type ofperson. But the thing with your mum is she upends all the cliches. Beneath thatpractical, no-nonsense exterior, she really cares about people.’
I nod proudly. ‘She’s got a soft heart. She’d do anythingfor anyone.’
He grins. ‘She might drive you mad doing it to perfection,but her heart’s definitely in the right place. I couldn’t believe how quicklyshe forgave Rory for crashing into her dinner party like he did. He was a wreckgoing to apologise when he realised she was entirely innocent of starting thefire. But Marjery just smiled and basically told him she was glad because ithad reminded her of what a great friend his mum had been, and that he andRachel were really lucky to have each other.’
I snuggle my head against Rob’s shoulder and he murmurs,‘Speaking of which, I am so incredibly lucky to be married to you.’
‘You are?’ I lift my head and smile into his eyes.
‘I am. And I’m going to prove it to you later.’
‘Ooh.’ I chuckle. ‘I like the sound of that.’
‘I might even have to get the swirly purple and orange sofabed from the loft,’ he jokes.
‘Really?’ I play along happily. ‘In that case, can we gonow? I haveveryfond memories of that sofa bed.’
‘Hi, you two.’ Ruby plonks herself down at our table. ‘Isn’tthis place great? What I really want to know is how come you’re both stillincredibly tanned even though you’ve been back a whole fortnight from yourhoneymoon?’
I laugh. ‘Probably because we did nothing but lie on thebeach, drink cocktails and swim in the Caribbean.’
Rob nods. ‘The rum punch was the highlight.’
‘Hey, you.’ I dig him in the ribs. ‘Whatwas thehighlight?’
He grins. ‘Er, you, of course, dear wifey.’
‘I should think so. And Rob? Never,evercall mewifey again.’
We laugh and he turns to Ruby. ‘So how’s Hudson? I haven’tseen him in ages.’
Ruby smiles, her eyes flicking down to her lap for a second.When she looks up, her cheeks are glowing. ‘Since Myles won that posthumousdesign award, the company’s been mad busy. Hudson’s interviewing for new staffso I’ve hardly seen him. It’s just as well we haven’t got any mysteries tosolve at the moment.’
‘I wouldn’t bet on that lasting,’ I say. ‘Christmas isgalloping over the horizon, remember?’
She laughs. ‘What’s the festive season got to do with anything?’
