Chapter TWENTY-FIVE
Christmas Eve, Two Years Later
As the snow falls on to the streets of Bellaghy village, I take one last glance at the sign on the window of Buds and Beans that says we’re closed for a family wedding today at Ballyheaney House. My skin prickles with excitement at what lies ahead.
‘Your chariot awaits,’
Uncle Eric calls from the chauffeur-driven shiny black Bentley on the kerbside by the shop.
‘Did you get everything you need?’
I place the paper bag of Colombian coffee beside me in the back seat, a last-minute contribution to the menu of the day, which has been planned with precision down to the very last detail. Except for the coffee. I can’t believe we forgot the coffee.
But truth be told, I wasn’t only there for the coffee. In my hasty fluster the evening before, I’d left something much more precious behind. I reach for it round my neck, knowing I had to have it with me today of all days.
‘That’s everything,’
I say breathlessly to Uncle Eric. He insisted on coming with me, even though the ceremony is due to start in ten minutes, and our morning Bucks Fizz toast meant I couldn’t drive to fetch it myself.
‘Are you sure no one else could have run such an errand on a morning like this other than your good self?’
he asks.
‘Talk about being fashionably late. Thank goodness there’s no traffic to battle through on the road out to Ballyheaney.’
‘You’re becoming as grumpy as your late brother,’
I joke with him. He doesn’t have an answer to that, but I get his point. It was a rather radical detour to make on such a big day when we should be there already.
The ever-so-patient uniformed driver shuttles us down the country lane out of the village, then through the gates of Ballyheaney House, where hundreds of guests tiptoe carefully along the frosty pathways towards The Stable Room, where our ceremony will be held. We will party afterwards, not in the blue ballroom as before, but in a spectacular custom-built wedding marquee Cordelia invested in when she took over as general manager of the newly named Ballyheaney Park.
Since Ben and Ava moved in to Katie’s Cottage with me, Cordelia has put her heart and soul into making Ballyheaney bloom again, while we help her out as much as we can around Ben’s new village vet practice and Ava’s schooling. Gracie, who is home for the wedding, has already been headhunted by Cordelia to help with event management should she ever feel the desire to settle down in Ireland, though I don’t see that happening for a very long time.
Today’s wedding is extra special for more reasons than this, however.
It’s the first time that guests will be able to stay in the new luxury accommodation, designed by Ben, in what were once the outhouses that lined the courtyard. It’s also the first time that Cordelia has opened the doors of The Stable Room, now a high-end venue for fully licensed ceremonies and where the vows will be pledged today.
And most importantly, it’s the first time that a Heaney family member will be married at the place they grew up in.
Alexander the Great meets us as soon as we step out of the car in the courtyard, his sixth sense knowing it would be us, it would seem. He struts around my feet, his beady eyes shooting me a look to warn me how time is ticking on.
‘Even the bloody peacock is concerned,’
Uncle Eric says, jutting out his chin.
‘Or he’s jealous of your fancy frock. All that over coffee. I still can’t believe it.’
‘Oh, give over and give me away already,’
I say to Ben’s uncle.
‘You and Nana have become so insufferable and bossy since you reignited your friendship. I thought reuniting with your one true loves would make you both happier, but all you two do is vent and moan. You’re rubbing off on her. Stop it.’
He staunchly offers me his arm. I hook mine into his, knowing he has more to say still.
‘We’re more than friends by now, if you know what I mean,’
he says, with a playful nudge in my direction.
‘We may be in our early eighties, but as the saying goes, the older the fiddle, the finer the tune.’
‘You are bold as brass, Uncle Eric,’
I tell him.
‘Never change though. It’s why we all love you so much.’
I feel chills run right through me as the sound of the bagpipes announces our arrival, bringing guests to an immediate hush inside.
‘Let’s do this,’
I say aloud.
‘Let’s get my two favourites married,’
says Uncle Eric.
‘My nephew is waiting for you. What a lucky man he is.’
‘And what a lucky woman I am too,’
I whisper.
Cordelia’s new Scottish fiancé, Angus, taps his foot three times when he sees us, then pipes us through the snow, past the decorative display of white roses in Jack’s walled garden, which I’ve placed there in his honour.
‘Now, that’s what I call an entrance tune,’
says Uncle Eric.
‘I hope the piper isn’t wearing shiny shoes. You know what they say about a Scotsman and his kilt.’
‘It was my dad’s favourite lilt,’
I reply, having to dig deep to control my emotion as Angus belts ou.
‘Highland Cathedral’.
We carefully climb the couple of steps to reach The Stable Room, where Cordelia, Gracie and Ava await us in the doorway, all wearing smiles as beautiful as their rich green bridesmaid dresses. I can’t help but smile when I see Jingle and Roly dressed for the occasion too, sitting most obediently by their sides.
I spot Mum and Nana Molly in the front row, craning their necks like I told them not to, while Edward (we’re definitely not allowed to call him Master Campbell now) obediently sticks to the rules and looks straight ahead. Ben’s good friends from Dublin, Matt and Vic, are there too along with their three very handsome boys, who are acting as Ben’s ringbearers.
I take a deep breath.
So this is it.
This is the moment I’ve dreamed of since I was a fresh-faced sixteen-year-old girl who melted at Ben Heaney’s kiss and yearned for him year after year after year.
And then I see him. The man of my dreams, waiting for me in front of our nearest and dearest, where today we’ll pledge to be together not only every Christmas Eve but every single day of our lives from now on.
Ben Heaney. Love of my life, holder of my heart and keeper of my dreams.
Angus leads us up the short aisle in The Stable Room, his kilt swinging as we pass rows of guests who await us in the eighteenth-century former coach house. It’s a true credit to Cordelia, who has transformed every inch of the stable while keeping features such as the arched recesses which were once stalls for the carriage horses. They now hold vases of white hydrangeas and twisting ivy, which I was delighted to arrange myself.
‘Look after each other,’
says Uncle Eric, his voice choked up as he gives me away to his nephew.
‘You two are precious to me. You’re precious to all of us.’
Ben takes my hand and kisses it lightly. He looks more handsome than ever in his navy tailored suit, and he smells like a dream. His eyes widen with delight when he notices the turquoise gemstone round my neck, on the chain he bought me all those Christmases ago.
‘You really do think of everything. Are you magic, Lou Doherty, soon to be Mrs Heaney?’
he asks me, his voice making my knees go weak already.
‘I think you could be magic.’
I do my best not to cry as we recall one of our very first conversations we had in this very room.
‘Being with you is magical, Ben Heaney,’
I whisper to him in return.
‘It always has been, and it always will be.’
We are declared husband and wife as the snow falls gently outside, right here in the stable where Little Eve was born, and the place where Ben and I shared our first kiss on a cold Christmas Eve, many years ago.
And when the sun peeps through the clouds after the ceremony as we make our way together across the snow-covered lawns to the marquee for food and celebration, I catch Ava looking up to the heavens with a smile.
‘A broken heart still has room to love again,’
she reminds me.
‘I’ve never forgotten that, thank you. Welcome to our family, Lou. You and Dad are a match made in heaven.’
‘Maybe we are,’
I say to her, feeling the winter sun on my face.
‘Maybe this was all very much meant to be. Two less lonely swans in the world, eh?’
I take my new husband’s hand, our fingers entwining so easily as we step inside the warmth of the marquee, where under twinkling lights the band is ready to start a celebration with a difference.
It’s Christmas Eve again. How blessed are we to have another one.
How blessed are we all to have found our way home, safe in the knowledge that true love is forever, not just for Christmas.