Epilogue
Corey
October
Today is my best friend’s wedding day. Rain and Aidan have been planning this wedding basically since Aidan proposed, and neither of them wanted to wait too long. The legal ceremony happened this morning at the Registry Office, with just the two of them and Aidan’s parents present. So, they are already legally married. But this, as they have insisted, is their wedding – the moment they make their commitment to each other in front of all the most important people in their lives.
Rain asked me to stand beside him as his best man, and Aidan asked Nash to do the same for him. So here I stand, at a wooden altar madeby Archer and Cole, covered in flowers from the wildflower meadow here on their parents’ farm, where the peaked wedding tent made from natural canvas and wooden poles has been erected for the ceremony, and the reception afterwards. The vibe is rustic, informal, and no fuss – perfect for Aidan and Rain.
The congregation is small, family and close friends only, just as Aidan and Rain wanted. Poppy and Chris are here, sitting next to Bear, who has become good friends with Aidan over the last few months as they’ve bonded over sourdough of all things. Bear gave Aidan some sourdough starter, and it’s become like a surrogate child to him. Rain calls it ol’ smeller because he hates the smell of it, but on this one thing, Aidan will not budge. And to be fair, we all appreciate his sourdough bread.
Wren and Sam are here, too, along with Aidan’s whole family. Sitting between Cole and Archer is Yuki, Aidan’s new apprentice. He’s a bit of an enigma, but he’d emailed Aidan out of the blue, asking him if he’d consider taking him on as an apprentice. Yuki was relentless, and after meeting with him and seeing some of his other carpentry, Rain told me that Aidan had snapped him up. Apparently, he’s so good that Aidan wasn’t willing to let him be taught boatbuilding by anyone else. I hadn’t realised that in theboatbuilding world, Aidan is like, famous or something. The more you know, I guess.
Aidan and Rain look gorgeous as they make their vows to each other, their casual suits tailored to perfection, and when they exchange rings and a kiss, the whole congregation whoops and hollers in celebration. The wedding reception goes on until the wee hours of the morning, and at a little after one o’clock in the morning, Nash and I get dropped off at home by his parents, a sleeping Nancy tucked between us.
The next morning, slightly hungover, I’m awakened by Nancy jumping on me.
“Wake up, Bunny!” she yells at an entirely too loud volume. “We’re going to the beach.”
“Are we?” I grumble sleepily, wishing I could just roll over and go back to sleep for a few hours, but fully aware that life with a small child is not that easy.
“Yes, we are,” Nash says, sounding entirely too chipper as he enters the room with a cup of tea for me. He hustles Nancy out of the room with strict instructions for me to get up and dressed. I do as I’m told, of course I do, and within twenty minutes, I’m being ushered intothe car.
No wonder I’m still groggy. It’s still dark, the clock on the dashboard telling me it’s only half past five. I groan and sink down in my seat, determined to catch a few more minutes of sleep as we make the drive to the beach.
Nash wakes me up with a kiss to the temple when we park.
“Come on, sleepy head. Let’s go,” he says, a Cheshire cat grin on his handsome face. He gets Nancy from her seat in the back of the car, and then they both wait for me expectantly in front of the car. I can’t remain grumpy when I look at their smiling, eager faces, so I shake my head to get my attitude on right, and then I hop out of the car.
“Right then. Miss Nancy. Lead the way.”
We make our way up the dunes in the dark, Nancy only tripping a couple of times, but her hand held in Nash’s prevents her from falling. As we reach the top, Nancy lets go of Nash’s hand when he checks and tells her the tide is out, and she barrels down the dunes onto the beach below. We follow at a more sedate pace, my hand now the one being held safely in Nash’s.
When we catch up with Nancy, she’s inthe process of unzipping her coat. I’m about to tell her to stop, that it’s too cold, but then Nash catches up and takes it from her. They’re both a little way in front of me, so I stop and watch them, completely confused.
Nash leans down and whispers in Nancy’s ear, and she jumps a few times in place before spinning around and running towards me. I’m smiling at her as she approaches, wondering what she’s going to tell me, but then my smile falters, and shifts to shock.
Nancy, this beautiful child whom I love more than words, is wearing her clouds jumper – it’s a bit small for her now, but she loves it and will not let Nash get rid of it – with a baggy white T-shirt that has pink bubble writing on the front.
Writing that says, “Move in with us, Bunny?”
I fall to my knees in front of her and grip her T-shirt, spreading it out to make sure I’m reading it correctly.
“What’s this, Miss Nancy?” I ask her, my voice trembling.
“What does it look like, silly? Will you come and live with us? You may as well, ’cause you’re there all the time anyways.” I look up atNash, mouth agape in shock, and then I see him.
Nash, my big, burly, sexy man, is also standing there without his coat on, his own white T-shirt clearly not sized very well since it’s skintight and may as well be cropped, it’s so short.
And the message printed on his?
Will you marry me?
I’m not sure how, but I manage to laugh and cry at the same time. I wrap Nancy up in my arms.
“Yes, sweetheart, I want nothing more than to come and live with you. I love you so much!” I squeeze her small frame to me, and she squeaks.
“Too hard, Bunny. I can barely breathe.” I release her, and she smiles at me. “And guess what?”
