22
THE DAY OF Jess and Seb’s wedding dawned bright and sunny. Nora had been out for a swim as the sun rose while Archie had coaxed the fire back to life and made some breakfast. She didn’t mind that he wanted to sit this one out; she’d been more than happy that he’d at least tried it the day before and didn’t want to push her luck.
The ceremony was at eleven o’clock, and they’d booked a taxi, which picked them up at the end of the lane that led to the cabin and took them to Swanage where they’d arranged to meet the others outside the registry office. Nora was wearing one of her favourite summer dresses, which was long, so a little warmer, and had paired it with white trainers and a cardigan with elbow length frilled sleeves. She’d left her hair down, and it fell in waves around her shoulders. Archie had been intent on wearing a suit, but she’d persuaded him it was better to be less formal, so he was wearing some new chinos and the jacket that Constance had bought him along with the shirt Jess had made, which felt right.
The Town Hall was a pale stone building with an ornate doorway. It was right on the street, so the taxi pulled up at the door. Patsy and Matt were already there, and Lois and Oliver were walking up the road as Archie and Nora arrived.
‘Morning! What a fine day for a wedding,’ said Oliver as the men shook hands with each other.
‘No sign of Hilary and Toby yet?’ Nora asked Lois.
‘No. I think they’re staying at the pub where the reception is. Penny and her husband are there too, so I guess they’ll come together.’
Another taxi pulled up and deposited the final four guests outside the Town Hall.
‘I thought we were going to be late,’ Penny said, looking flustered. ‘I had to pick up the buttonholes from the florist on the way. Here you are.’ She handed out yellow roses with pretty pink edges to the petals to the men. Nora helped Archie with his.
‘This is my husband, Paul,’ said Penny, introducing him to everyone. ‘We’d better get inside or we’ll be stood out here when they arrive.’
Archie and Nora stayed behind, since Jess and Seb were expecting to find them there, while everyone else went in.
‘I feel nervous,’ said Archie, rolling his shoulders. ‘I wonder how Seb’s feeling?’
‘I’m sure he’s taking it in his stride. I bet he’s looking forward to Jess realising everyone’s here.’
‘This is the kind of wedding I’d have wanted,’ said Archie. ‘There’s something so elegant about it being a simple ceremony with only the people who really matter.’
‘I always thought I’d have eloped,’ said Nora. ‘Julian and I talked about it a couple of times, and it seemed romantic until I realised the romance is in the spontaneity of it and talking about it in advance ruins it.’
Archie laughed. ‘My mother would have had a fit if I’d eloped. Before Clarissa broke things off we were on course for the wedding of the century. Would have cost a fortune.’
‘Just as well we’re past all that sort of thing then.’ She wrapped his arm in hers and rested her head on his shoulder.
‘Things are perfect as they are,’ he agreed, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. ‘Oh, look, the groom’s here.’
Seb and an older man, presumably his father, were striding down the road together. They were both wearing sunglasses. Seb had a big grin on his face and looked anything but nervous.
‘Arch! You remember my father, Charles.’
‘Good to see you again, Archie,’ said Charles, shaking hands with Archie.
‘You too, sir. This is Nora Hartford.’
‘Lovely to meet you, Nora.’
‘You two look very dashing,’ she said. ‘I love the sunglasses. It makes you look like the Blues Brothers.’
Seb guffawed and took his sunglasses off, putting them in his inside pocket. ‘We had a couple of whiskies last night. The sun’s not our friend this morning.’
‘Come on, son. We ought to get inside before your bride arrives.’
The four of them went inside where everyone else was waiting, already seated. Seb and Archie walked to the front where they had a word with the woman officiating before they took their seats in the front row. Nora sat behind them with Charles.
It wasn’t long before the music started and Jess walked down the aisle with her mum and dad on either side of her. Her dress was simple yet beautifully elegant. It was made of the most delicate cream tulle that was embroidered with tiny flowers. The bodice was a fitted princess line with a neckline that skimmed Jess’s collarbones, and a skirt that flared from the waist to a ballerina length. Her hair was gathered into a chignon and a simple rose that matched the ones the men wore was nestled in it. She took Nora’s breath away.
Jess was beyond thrilled to see everyone, the surprise clear on her face, her eyes watering as she walked down the centre of the room, seeing all of their friends there to share their happiest day.
The ceremony was short and sweet and very traditional. When Seb was making his vows, Archie looked for Nora and winked at her. Her stomach flipped and she wondered whether there was something in the idea of getting married after all. Saying these vows to each other in front of everyone, well perhaps that was the ultimate way to show that you loved someone? Perhaps when you were so in love with someone, you simply had to let it out, and this was the best way?
They gathered in the foyer of the Town Hall afterwards, everyone chatting and laughing.
‘Come on, you lot,’ Jess’s dad, Joe, called out. ‘The carriages await outside!’
‘What? I thought we were getting a taxi back to your house?’ Jess said.
They all went outside and found two vintage VW campers waiting for them. One was orange and the other was blue and they were decked out with bunting in the windows. Everyone piled in, finding plastic champagne flutes and ice buckets of bubbly waiting inside.
‘Charge your glasses for the journey!’ Joe instructed. ‘See you on the other side!’
The VW campers took them back to Corfe Bay, the village where Jess had grown up and where her parents still lived. Having thought that the reception was a bite to eat at her parents’ house with Archie, Nora and Charles, it was a wonderful surprise to find that her new husband had organised a proper party in the function room in the village pub.
Nora was feeling tipsy and in the mood to be romantic with Archie but the perils of being the partner of the best man, even at a relatively informal wedding, were that he had a lot of things to do. And Archie, well-practiced in etiquette and with his excellent manners, was being the consummate host on behalf of the happy couple. The numbers swelled as friends of Jess’s and her parents from the village arrived for the evening do.
‘Speech!’ People began to heckle Joe. ‘Come on! Father of the Bride, let’s hear it!’
Joe raised his pint and grinned while Jess’s mum, Clare, smiled and rolled her eyes. His speech was lovely and brought a tear to everyone’s eye when he mentioned Jess’s first love, Jon, and how proud they were that Jess had got through her grief and found Seb.
‘Clare and I, we love Seb like he’s our own kid. He looks after Jess, lets her flourish, loves and supports her. And as we know,’ he said, hugging his wife to his side, ‘That’s the most important thing. To Seb and Jess, Mr and Mrs Thorne!’
‘Mr and Mrs Thorne!’
‘Right, I’m up,’ said Archie, taking his speech from his breast pocket and making his way over to Joe and Clare.
‘Sebastian and I haven’t been friends for very long, so I’m unable to regale you with tales of his teenage misdemeanours.’
‘Thank god!’ Shouted Charles, making everyone laugh.
‘But what I can do is vouch for him as an excellent friend.’ Archie went on to tell everyone about the summer before when they’d worked on the Croftwood Festival together and how much fun it had been, but how hard Seb had worked to use it as a way to turn his life around. ‘He gives his all to everything he does, and I’m sure his marriage will be no exception. Seb and I met at about the same time he met Jess and it’s been wonderful to see their relationship grow and strengthen. They deserve every happiness. Please raise your glass with me to toast their enduring love.’
As everyone chorused the toast, Nora found her eyes watering. Her heart was filled with so much love, it was almost overwhelming. Because of the wedding — the love in the room was incredible; because Archie was being an amazing best man but perhaps just because she was letting herself be open to the idea that love was wonderful and to let it pass her by would be the worst mistake she could ever make.
After Julian, she’d never thought she’d find love again but now, the way she felt about Archie made her realise that it had barely been love with Julian at all. She’d never had this feeling of being overwhelmed by the way she felt about someone. She’d thought it was a bit like the Emperor’s New Clothes when people banged on about how in love they were as if it were some kind of magical state that was different and special compared to what she thought love was. But this was different and very special and okay, she might not be about to suggest that they needed to get married, but she was certain now that her future lay with Archie.
The party was like an old school disco. There were some floor fillers and crowd pleasers before it finished off with a few slow dances. It was the first chance Nora’d had to grab Archie since the speeches and she cherished every second of having him pressed up against her. He had his hand on the small of her back and his other hand held hers to his chest as they swayed together to Tony Bennett singing The Way You Look Tonight. Archie began softly singing the words into Nora’s ear and she thought her knees might give way with the romance of it all. She felt as if he was sweeping her off her feet, right here in a Dorset pub.
Before she could suggest that it might be a good time to leave, the song ended and Joe announced that Jess and Seb would be leaving. Everyone flooded out to the front of the pub to wave them off as they were chauffeured away to a hotel back in Swanage by the orange VW camper.
‘What a wonderful day,’ Nora said.
‘Fantastic,’ Archie agreed. ‘Come on, let’s grab one of those taxis before everyone else decides to.’
He saw Nora into the back of a taxi and then dived back into the pub to collect his jacket, then got waylaid saying goodbye to Jess’s parents.
‘I’ve promised we’ll be at their house for a fry-up at eleven in the morning,’ he said as he climbed into the back seat next to her.
‘That’s okay. We’ve got plenty of time until then,’ Nora said, leaning against him and closing her eyes for a moment.
The next thing she knew, Archie was trying to make her get out of the taxi when she was so comfortable and they couldn’t possibly be back at the cabin already.
‘Come on, sleepyhead,’ he said, sweeping her into his arms as soon as she’d stood up.
That was enough to wake her up. ‘Don’t carry me! You’ll hurt yourself!’
She was awake now, but he seemed compelled to see the chivalry through. ‘I’m trying to be romantic,’ he said, although he sounded out of breath. ‘Can you reach the key? It’s in my right trouser pocket.’
‘Archie, put me down.’
‘Not on your life.’
She felt for his pocket and he held her closer to him. She could feel his breath against her neck.
‘Got them,’ she said, managing to open the door as Archie burst through, then kicked it closed behind him before he headed for the bed.
‘I’ve waited all day for this,’ she said as he laid her down, slightly less elegantly than he’d picked her up. ‘And you carried me in here. So masterful…’ She pulled him towards her by his lapels. He gave a low laugh, straddled her and took his jacket off followed by his tie.
When she’d first seen Archie from across the lake, it had never seemed possible that she might ever think he was sexy but now, he exuded it.
‘I feel like you’ve been teasing me all day,’ she said. ‘Keeping me just at arm’s length enough to make me wild with desire.’
He chuckled. ‘Really? Wild? Show me how much you wanted me.’
Nora grinned wide-eyed, loving that he was playing along. It was so out of character, it only turned her on more. She slowly unbuttoned his shirt to his navel.
‘Roll up your sleeves like you mean business.’
‘Oh, I do mean business,’ he said, sitting back on his haunches while he stared her right in the eye and rolled his sleeves up to mid-forearm.
Nora thought she might melt right there on the bed. Then Archie took charge and did things to her that she never would have imagined he’d even know how to. And she knew then, what she’d suspected for the whole day; Archie was it for her. No matter how the differences between them might need to be overcome, she would do whatever it took and she knew he would too. They had a connection that went beyond everything else and Nora wasn’t about to let that go.