‘I didn’t give a second’s thought to the ring I got for my ex-wife,’ he confessed. ‘I know I should be ashamed about that but sitting here with you… I’m glad I waited because I put my heart and soul into getting the perfect ring for the perfect woman I want to spend the rest of my life with…’
EPILOGUE
GEORGIE’S SISTERS WEREchatting merrily away. They were sitting in front of floor-to-ceiling mirrors next to her. Three of them in a row, two with long dark hair being teased and combed by clever hairdressers, and she with her long, unruly tangle of blonde, which was now beginning to look, she would say, a lot tamer than could reasonably be expected.
Alessandro, she thought to herself with a smile, was going to be in for a shock. At some point she would have to whisper to him that the tamed look was never going to last.
Behind her, she could see her mother in the reflection from the mirror. She was brushing Flora’s hair, taking her time while Flora turned the pages of a book and pointed to this and that, waiting for Amity Cross to respond and then giggling because Georgie’s mother was putting on a silly voice and making silly faces.
In two hours, Georgie would be walking up the aisle to marry the man of her dreams.
Outside through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that perfectly duplicated the dimensions of the panes of reflective glass sandwiched between them, Georgie could see the bright blue skies of a perfect July day.
If she stepped towards those windows and looked down, she would see the breathtaking panoramic views of Whistler Mountain and Blackcomb Peak.
The perfect wedding venue.
Not just because of the spectacular scenery or because the exquisite lodge where they would be celebrating was unique in having a vast patio with uncluttered views of the slopes, acres upon acres of them, but because, for her, this place was special.
It was where, on one morning that should have been just like all the other mornings when she had gone to clean Alessandro’s house, she had met him.
An accidental meeting that had led, through twists and turns, to this very place where she was now sitting, smiling and chatting with her mum and her sisters and Flora while a hairdresser did clever things with her hair.
Hanging on a hook on the wall was her wedding dress. It was a simple design to suit her boyish figure.
A straight ivory dress that fell to her ankles. It wasn’t fitted at all, but managed to emphasise her slenderness, and no plunging neckline because she had no cleavage to speak of.
She had a little posy of tiny flowers for her bouquet and the same flowers would be braided into her blonde hair like a small pink and white and lilac tiara.
‘I always knew you’d be a hippy bride,’ Katherine, her older sister, had told her, smiling approvingly when she’d seen the dress two days earlier.
Katherine, Emily—sister number two—her parents and a handful of close friends had all been imported over by Alessandro, who had enjoyed meeting all of them and had, predictably, charmed them all.
Finally, there was Flora and now, while exclaiming with delight at the job her hairdresser had done and staring at her nails with their pale pink shellac manicure, Georgie looked at her soon-to-be stepdaughter with love.
Their eyes met in the mirror and Flora smiled shyly and then disengaged herself from her hair being brushed and skipped to where Georgie was sitting in front of the mirror.
‘Are you excited?’ she whispered in her shy, sweet voice.
‘Are you?’
‘Very. This is the first time I’ve ever been a bridesmaid before. You look beautiful, Georgie.’
‘Not as beautiful as you. Did you bring the Disney outfit for later? To change into? You know you can’t stay in that apricot dress for the whole time. Not when you’ve got something purple and pink with crazy cartoon characters on it waiting in your suitcase to be worn.’
Flora giggled.
‘I sneaked it in. Daddy told me that would be fine. He said that pink and purple were lovely wedding colours. He said my Disney outfit would look very good on me and all the guests would love it because it’ll be a splash of colour.’
‘Your daddy the fashion consultant,’ Georgie murmured. ‘He’s a man of many, many talents.’
She smiled, dreamily, chatted dreamily but her beautiful Alessandro filled her head.
The weeks and months had passed and the more she’d got to know him, the more she loved him.
He was tender and adoring and was proving to be a wonderful father, cutting down his hours and throwing himself into the business of being a father and a fiancé.
This time, the smile that warmed her was for her alone because she was thinking of what he had said only the day before, when he had kissed her and told her that he couldn’t wait to be her husband.
‘I’ll never stop trying to prove to you, my darling, that I can be the best husband you could ever have hoped for and the best father not just to my beautiful Flora but to the babies you’ll give me sooner rather than later.’
Georgie had chuckled to herself.
She’d saidgoodbyeto the pill she’d only been on for the past few months.
Time would tell but who knew what she and Alessandro might be celebrating next?
