Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
Florrie had decided against having someone come to the house to do her hair and make-up before the wedding; she’d much rather do it herself.
She wasn’t one for much make-up anyway, preferring a flick of mascara, maybe a bit of blusher and a smear of lip gloss if she was going somewhere special.
She’d bought a new one for today, in a shade she was told would just emphasise her natural lip colour.
‘I want to look like myself when I meet Ed at the altar,’ she’d said to the young woman on the make-up counter.
Her one concession to having a fuss made over her, had been to let her mum straighten her hair for her.
Mother and daughter had used the time to enjoy a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about Mr H and all his plotting to get Florrie and Ed together.
‘And here you are,’ Paula said fondly, smiling at her daughter in the dressing table mirror, straighteners in hand. ‘He’d be chuffed to bits.’
‘He would, and I can just imagine his happy chuckle and him clapping his hands together the way he used to when one of his plans had worked out.’ Florrie felt emotion squeeze in her chest. She took a calming breath and steadied herself. No more tears, Florrie.
With her mum heading off to get changed into her mother-of-the bride outfit, Florrie reached for her wedding dress that had been removed from its cover and was hanging on the back of her bedroom door, nerves fluttering in her stomach.
The dress was in ivory raw silk and had a square neckline, three-quarter sleeves and finished just above the ankle.
Like the dress on the mini Florrie in the window display it was empire line, though the real Florrie’s was trimmed with ivory braid and the bodice was embellished with hundreds of tiny freshwater pearls while a line of fabric-covered buttons ran down the back.
She eased it carefully off its padded hanger and slipped it over her head, the fabric cool against her skin – she’d need her mum to help with the buttons.
Florrie had swapped her usual plain, no-nonsense underwear for a matching set in ivory silk trimmed with a delicate matching lace.
She’d teamed them with a pair of hold-up stockings with pretty lace tops.
If you couldn’t wear fancy underwear on your wedding day, when could you? she’d thought when she was buying them.
Once she’d fastened her simple silver necklace with its small diamond-studded pendant that matched her earrings – they were her ‘something old’ and had belonged to Florrie’s maternal grandmother – Florrie slipped her feet into a pair of low-heeled Mary Janes in ivory leather, fastening the diamanté buckle.
That done, she called her mum to give her a hand with the buttons of her dress and to fasten the clasp of the silver bracelet decorated with clear crystals Lark had given her for her ‘something new’.
Her ‘something borrowed’ were two diamanté hair slides from Maggie to secure her veil in place, and her ‘something blue’ was a tiny blue money spider Lark had sewn into the hem of her wedding dress when she was altering it for her.
With her delicate tiara in place and her veil thrown back, Florrie made her way downstairs where her parents were waiting for her, her mum having hurried back downstairs so she could enjoy the sight of her daughter emerging from her bedroom.
‘Oh, Florrie, lovey, you look absolutely beautiful,’ exclaimed her mum, her voice wavering as she handed her daughter the small hand-tied bouquet of spring flowers.
‘Aye, that you do, lass.’ Her dad beamed, pride shining in his eyes.
‘You look like a princess,’ said bridesmaid Chloe, who’d been dropped off earlier by her mum Jasmine.
‘And so do you,’ replied Florrie. Chloe was dressed in an ivory silk ballerina-style dress, the bodice decorated with ivory bugle beads, a cashmere shrug cardigan over her shoulders.
Her long strawberry-blonde hair, which had been fixed in loose waves for the occasion, was held off her face by a diamanté and faux pearl headband.
Florrie could only imagine how proud Jasmine was of her little daughter.
‘Ready, lass?’ Her dad arrived by her side.
‘Ready, Dad.’ The pair exchanged a happy smile.
‘Let’s do this,’ cheered Chloe, her chirpy voice puncturing the air of anticipation and making them all laugh.
As the car headed out of the street and set off on its short journey to the church, Florrie found herself lost in her thoughts, not all of them welcome.
A happy one was that her dad’s health had improved in leaps and bounds since his trip to hospital, and the dizzy spells were less frequent – though the labyrinthitis still hadn’t stopped her from worrying about him walking her down the aisle today, knowing he’d be mortified if he had a dizzy turn in front of so many people.
Ed had gone to great pains to reassure her that nothing untoward would happen involving his parents.
Luella, he said, had finally got the message loud and clear that their relationship was over, and was now back in London, as were his parents.
His father had told him that after everything that had happened, he and Dawn wouldn’t return to Micklewick Bay for the wedding.
That had triggered conflicting emotions in Florrie who, on the one hand, was enormously relieved to hear that, since their absence guaranteed Dawn wouldn’t be causing any trouble.
On the other hand, she felt bad that Ed wouldn’t have his mother and father there.
When she’d voiced this to him, he’d explained that he thought it was for the best. A further development was that his father had encouraged Dawn to seek help for her gambling addiction.
Since she’d returned to London, she’d made an appointment with her GP, who’d put her on a waiting list for addiction counselling.
The news had left Ed and Florrie feeling inordinately relieved.
It was a start; Florrie just hoped that it would mean she’d leave them to live their married lives together in peace.
‘Here we are, lass.’ Her father pulled Florrie out of her thoughts.
She glanced out of the window to see her mum standing on the church steps with Chloe, the sun doing all it could to push its way through the clouds.
Gerty was there, too, in her capacity of second bridesmaid.
She was sporting a new cream collar, a basket brimming with flowers that matched Florrie’s and Chloe’s clenched between her teeth, and as usual, her tail was wagging happily.
Florrie and her dad waited for the organ to strike up, their cue to make their way down the aisle.
She could see Ed up ahead at the altar, looking smart in his dark-blue suit and laughing at something Bear was saying in his ear.
Suddenly, the opening notes of Wagner’s ‘Bridal Chorus’ echoed around the church, sending butterflies running amok in her stomach.
Her dad gave her arm a squeeze accompanied by a proud smile before they began their slow walk down the aisle towards Ed, Florrie glancing from side to side as she went.
Her heart gave a happy lilt as she spotted her friends, the women waving excitedly at her and making her giggle.
In the pew behind them, she noticed Jean with Amery standing next to her in his capacity as Jean’s ‘plus one’, both looking inordinately happy.
With a mix of excitement and nerves building inside her, Florrie was just a few feet away when Ed turned, his face lighting up with the widest smile, sending a tidal wave of love racing through her.
‘You look beautiful,’ he said, when she was beside him, his eyes shining with happiness.