Chapter Forty-Three #2
Annie quickened her pace and slowly the voice faded into the distance, by which time she was at the entrance to the ginnel that led to the cottage.
Had it been anyone else, Annie could have felt sorry for her but she remembered all too well how unwelcoming she had been to them in Swan Lane and couldn’t find any sympathy for her now.
She decided not to say anything to Peggy. She was nervous enough with the wedding being so close.
On the eve of the wedding Annie informed Levi that he would be spending the night with Eve and Davey and getting ready for church at their house.
‘But why?’ he grumbled.
Annie grinned. ‘Because it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride on the night before the wedding,’ she informed him, ignoring Peggy’s perplexed look.
‘But that’s daft! We’ve been livin’ in the same house together fer ages,’ he pointed out.
Annie nodded. ‘I’m quite aware of that but you haven’t been married, have you? Anyway, think how much nicer it will be when you see Peggy walking down the aisle to you. She’s going to look a picture.’
‘She always does to me.’ His voice softened as he looked towards the bride-to-be and she blushed prettily.
‘So come on, do this one thing for me. Your suit is already round there,’ Annie coaxed. She handed Levi a small overnight bag and he sighed, knowing when he was beaten.
‘Oh, all right. But I still think it’s daft,’ he moaned as Annie led him towards the door.
Peggy’s son Wilf had written to say he would be able to come after all, and he would be arriving soon, so Annie tugged the tin bath in from the back yard and began to fill it with hot water from the copper.
‘Right, madam, we’re going to wash your hair and give you a bath now to save time in the morning,’ she told Peggy bossily.
Peggy shrugged. Annie was a force to be reckoned with when she set her mind to something.
An hour later she was sitting in front of the fire rubbing her hair dry when Wilf arrived with a big box of chocolates. He would be staying with Susan and Tim that evening but wanted to spend a little time with his mother first.
‘I hope yer don’t mind me gettin’ wed again,’ Peggy said as they sat sipping a cup of tea. They were both thinking of his late father.
Wilf shook his head. ‘Dad would ’ave wanted yer to be ’appy an’ he thought the world o’ Levi so I think he’d be pleased wi’ your choice,’ he assured her.
‘I will admit I still miss me dad an’ our Tom, but life ’as to go on, an’ at least I won’t ’ave to fret about you havin’ no one to look out fer you now. Levi is a good man.’
Peggy sniffed and nodded. There had been no way of letting Rick, her eldest son, know about the wedding, as he was still at sea, but Ellie would be there and all the other people she loved, which meant the world to her.
When Annie peeped from the window the next morning, it looked as if the whole world had been coated with pure white frost, but at least the snow had held off. She’d been worried that if it snowed the trains would be affected, and she wanted Peggy and Levi to be able to get off on their honeymoon.
The next two hours passed in a blur as they got ready to leave for the church. A car arrived to take Annie, Adam, and Ellie and her husband first. As they made their way out of the cottage, Annie paused to look back at Peggy.
‘You look absolutely stunning,’ she told her. The outfit they’d selected for her fitted her perfectly and there was a glow about her.
‘Oh, stop it else you’ll ’ave me blubbin’ an’ I’ll spoil me make-up,’ Peggy responded in a wobbly voice.
Then Annie came out with her last little surprise.
It was a small posy of cream rosebuds and baby’s breath for Peggy to hold as she walked down the aisle.
Peggy fought back the tears of happiness as she buried her nose in it.
The next car that arrived was for Wilf and Peggy, and he proudly held his arm out to his mother and smiled. ‘Come on then, Ma, I reckon we’ve got us a weddin’ to go to.’
She smiled as she tucked her hand into his arm.
The service that followed at Chilvers Coton Church was everything Peggy could have wished for.
The florists had excelled themselves and the pews were decorated with holly and ivy.
On either end of the altar were huge vases of fresh flowers, and as the organist began to play the Wedding March, Levi turned to look at his bride coming down the aisle on her son’s arm and a lump came to his throat.
The service was short and simple as Peggy and Levi had requested, and as they made their vows the wintery sun shone down on them through the beautiful stained-glass window as if it was giving them a blessing.
They left the church to be met by a rain of rice and good wishes and then they were off to the wedding breakfast – another present from Annie, at the Bull Hotel in town.
As Annie was leaving the church, something made her glance to one side and there smiling back at her from beneath the shelter of the yew trees, she saw Maggie and Peggy’s husband, Frank.
Annie was sure they had appeared to give their blessing to the newly-weds and as the vision faded away, she swiped away a tear and went to join the rest of the congregation.
Almost everyone that Peggy and Levi really cared about was at the reception.
There was Barney and Mercy, with little Skye, Susan and Tim with their girls.
Eve and Davey were there with their children, all togged out in their Sunday best. Ellie and her husband and few more close friends and neighbours too, including Annie’s parents.
The only slight disappointment was that Charlie had been unable to attend, as he was laid up with a bad case of flu, so Barney had stood in as Levi’s best man.
But today Peggy and Levi only had eyes for each other, which was just as it should be.
The wine flowed like water, the cake was superb, and the meal was excellent, but all too soon it was time for the newly-weds to make their way to the railway station to catch their train.
Annie had sent their cases on earlier that day to be packed in the guard’s van when the train arrived, so now it only remained for the guests to follow them outside and wave them off in the car that had arrived for them.
Wilf had paid the driver to decorate it with old tin cans and ‘Just Married’ signs, and Levi blushed with embarrassment when he saw it.
He and Peggy kissed Annie and Adam goodbye then stepped outside and yet more rice was thrown.
‘Have a wonderful time,’ Annie told them. It was mid-afternoon and all being well they would reach Broadstairs early that evening.
Then the car drew away with the tin cans clanking on the road behind them and the guests began to drift off. It had been a lovely day, one that all of them would remember for a long time to come.
‘Right, young man, I think it’s time you and me got ourselves off to Granny and Granddad’s, don’t you? They’ll be waiting for us.’ Charity and Luca had left the reception with Barney and Mercy a little earlier.
Annie smiled at Adam, who was beginning to yawn. He’d missed his nap, so turning him about she lifted him and he nestled into her shoulder, and they set off for the circus ground. They had their very first Christmas with their real family to look forward to.