New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms

Chapter 1

‘Come on, Jason. Ring.’ I frowned at my iPhone as I paced up and down in the lounge, my stiletto heels echoing on the wooden floorboards. ‘Or text. I don’t care which. Just make contact. Please.’

My heart leapt as the phone beeped, but the text was from one of my best friends instead.

?? From Elise

Happy birthday Sarah! Last year in your twenties so make the most of it. Wish you weren’t so far away so I could give you a birthday hug so sending one by text instead. I’ve hopefully timed your present to arrive today. Hope Jason’s got you a fab gift… proposal maybe? Have a great evening xxxxxxx

I stretched out my arm to admire the sparkly silver bracelet she’d sent.

?? To Elise

Just got home and your parcel was waiting.

Way too generous as usual… but absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you so much. Not sure where he’s taking me but hopefully it’s somewhere nice this time.

I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go! Would be lying if I said a proposal hadn’t crossed my mind.

EEEEEEKKKK!!!! You’ll be first to know if he does xxx

My hands shook slightly and I felt a flutter in my stomach as I typed in the words.

Could tonight really be the night? Maybe.

The timing felt about right and he’d been talking about making plans for the future.

We’d been together for two years and two months and had lived together for most of that time.

Aside from occasional bouts of thoughtlessness on his part and a tendency to drag me to the gym or on a twenty-mile hike way more often than a person should have to endure in a lifetime, we were very happy together and I assumed that a proposal wouldn’t be too far away.

Another text arrived but it still wasn’t Jason.

?? From Clare

Sorry for not texting earlier. Dim Daz borrowed my phone then drove to Essex with it.

Bloody muppet. Anyway, better late than never…

happy birthday you old fart. Can’t believe you want to spend the evening with your eejit flatmate rather than me.

Hope it’s not McDonalds this time! Maybe he’ll really treat you how about The Kam Po?

I could meet you in The Griffin after work,’ was far too vague for Jason.

I ended up nursing the same glass of Pinot Grigio for ninety minutes before finally accepting he wasn’t coming.

Trudging home, I found him in his gym kit playing on his Xbox.

‘You been working late?’ he asked. ‘You should’ve texted me.

I got you a McDonalds on the way home, but it’ll be cold now and there’s nothing else to eat.

’ He returned to his game and I went to bed hungry.

I kept hoping he’d realise his mistake but he never did and, by then, it felt too late to say anything.

I checked my phone again now. Nothing. It couldn’t happen twice, could it?

No. It had been his idea this time. Some of my friends from work had suggested a birthday meal, but Jason had insisted on taking me out himself.

I’d gently reminded him a couple of days ago and he’d assured me it was in hand and I wasn’t to quiz him any further or I’d spoil the surprise.

He said he’d contact me last minute with a location to meet him so I could enjoy the excitement of speculating about where we were going.

This was certainly last minute and excitement wasn’t quite the feeling I’d describe.

It was now after half six. Sod it! I couldn’t do this anymore.

?? To Jason

This is killing me! Where are you taking me? I’m all ready and awaiting my instructions! Please tell me you haven’t forgotten xx

I hoped that reading my birthday cards again would distract me.

It didn’t. A little voice in my head kept telling me he had forgotten and Clare’s joke about McDonalds or my local might not be far from the truth.

Perhaps he was frantically phoning round restaurants right now and that’s why he hadn’t been in touch.

Another text arrived and, finally, it was from him. Please don’t say McDonalds…

?? From Jason

South Kensington Tube Station. 1915hrs. Table booked for 1930hrs xx

Butterflies stirred in my stomach. Oh my God! South Kensington. Could it be…?

I hastily shoved my phone in my bag, pulled on my coat and left the flat, legs shaking as I strode towards the tube station.

It was just a coincidence. There were hundreds of restaurants in South Kensington and we could be going to any of them.

With Jason’s track record, it could be McDonald’s. But what if…?

He'd taken me to Luigi’s to celebrate me moving down to London shortly after we started seeing each other.

During dessert, the man on the table next to us proposed to his girlfriend.

It was such a moving and romantic moment and, on the way home, Jason said that he could imagine proposing there too.

But that didn’t mean he’d booked a table there tonight to propose to me, did it?

When I reached South Kensington tube station, it took all my willpower to stand still on the escalator when all I wanted to do was to shove past the travellers, run up the steps, and skip across the concourse screaming, ‘Yes, Jason, I will marry you.’

I spotted him by one of the exits. My breath caught as I saw what he was wearing.

Classically tall, dark, and handsome, he looked particularly hot in the three-piece suit he’d bought for his brother’s wedding last summer.

After his firefighter uniform, it was my favourite outfit on him.

Although, to be perfectly honest, with a toned body like his, I preferred no clothes at all.

‘Happy birthday.’ He bent down and gave me a soft kiss. I breathed in his musky scent and those butterflies went crazy. ‘You look good.’

‘Thank you.’ I whipped open my coat like a flasher, revealing the LBD I’d agonised over wearing for fear I’d be over-dressed.

He wolf-whistled and I flushed from head to toe. ‘I approve. Although you may be a little over-dressed for what I have planned later tonight.’

I flushed again and Jason laughed as he took my hand in his. ‘Shall we?’

‘Where are we going?’ I tried to sound casual but failed abysmally. Please say Luigi’s. Please.

He winked at me, grinning widely. ‘It’s a surprise.’

Oh my God!

It could only have been three minutes, but I swear that walk felt like an hour. My sweaty hand kept slipping from his, I stumbled several times and I even hiccupped, causing Jason to ask if I’d been on the wine before leaving the flat.

The Italian flag and deep green canopy of Luigi’s loomed ahead of us. My breathing quickened and I mentally prepared myself: must not look gutted if we walk past, must look happy wherever he takes me.

But we didn’t walk past. We stopped. We went in. He gave his name and we were led to a table towards the back where a bucket of champagne on ice was waiting for us. Champagne. Proper Champagne. Jason always said that supermarket own label Cava was overpriced. Which could only mean… Oh. My. God!

I put my glass of champagne down as Jason pushed the candle aside and reached for my hand across the table a few minutes later.

‘You really do look gorgeous tonight,’ he said.

‘You don’t scrub up too badly yourself,’ I whispered, barely able to speak for anticipation of what was coming.

His dark eyes twinkled as he gazed at me over the table. ‘Thank you. I thought I should make a special effort. It’s a special occasion, after all.’

Eeeeeeekkkkk!

‘I haven’t given you your birthday present yet.’

A shiver of anticipation ran through me. ‘No, you haven’t.’

‘If I know you, you’ll have spent all day trying to guess what it is.’

‘Me? It never entered my head.’

Jason laughed. ‘Yeah, right. I think you’ll like it. I was going to wait until the end of the meal but I’m too excited about it to wait. Is it okay if we do it now?’

I nodded.

‘There are a few things I want to say first,’ he continued.

‘Your water, sir.’ A waiter inconveniently appeared. Bottled water? Not tap? Crikey! I willed the waiter to be quick. ‘Would you like me to pour, sir?’ he asked.

I silently pleaded with Jason to say no before I wet myself with excitement.

‘It’s fine. You can just leave it. Thanks.’

‘Happy Birthday,’ Jason said when the waiter finally left.

‘Thank you.’ We clinked champagne glasses.

‘Now, where was I?’

‘You wanted to say some things?’

‘Oh yes. Do you remember the night we met?’ He reached for my hand again.

‘Of course. Best night of my life.’

‘We said it was fate that we met, remember?’

‘It was meant to be,’ I agreed. Neither of us was supposed to be in Nottingham the night we met. I’d been drafted in last minute to make up numbers on a friend of a friend’s hen do and Jason had spontaneously decided to visit an old friend there after his weekend plans fell through.