‘Come here you.’ She hugged me again. ‘I’ll always want my favourite niece around.’
‘Hello. Is this a bad time?’
I hadn’t heard the bell above the door tinkle so the male voice startled me. I looked round to see a man in a navy morning suit. He looked to be in his early thirties and was about six feet tall with thick dark hair, which he wore slightly spiky at the top. Very nice.
‘Nick!’ Auntie Kay gave him a kiss on each cheek. ‘Goodness me, you scrub up well. Let’s have a look at you.’
‘Thank you.’ Nick did a slightly awkward twirl. ‘I think you’re being generous, though. Don’t most people look good in one of these things?’
In my opinion, yes they do, but Nick looked extra fine in his. My stomach did an unexpected flip as he looked towards me and smiled. For a fleeting moment, I was oblivious to anything except him and those blue eyes that twinkled like the ocean on a sunny day.
‘You don’t think I look like a blue penguin?’ he asked, still holding my gaze.
No. Just a gorgeous hunk of loveliness. Whoa! Get a grip, Sarah. The guy’s about to get married. Look away. Now.
Thankfully Auntie Kay spoke and Nick broke our gaze. ‘Don’t put yourself down. Some men look ridiculous in one and I’ve seen hundreds of them in this business. It really suits you. You’re looking very handsome.’
She turned to me.Oh no. Don’t you dare.
She dared.‘Isn’t he, Sarah? Isn’t he looking handsome?’
My cheeks burned. ‘Yes stranger-who-I’ve never met, you look very “handsome” as my auntie puts it.’
Nick laughed, put out his hand and shook mine enthusiastically. ‘Auntie? Then you must be Kay’s niece, Sarah. I’ve heard loads about you. I’m Nick Derbyshire.’
‘Hi Nick.’ I reluctantly let go of his hand.
‘Are you nervous, Nick?’ Auntie Kay asked.
‘Terrified. Especially about the speech. I wish I didn’t have to speak first.’
‘The groom doesn’t usually speak first,’ I blurted out. ‘The Father of the Bride does.’
Nick smiled proudly. ‘Iamthe Father of the Bride.’
‘But… but you can’t be much older than me.’
‘I’m thirty-two.’
‘Then you must have had your daughter very young.’
Auntie Kay laughed. ‘He hasn’t got kids. It’s his sister’s wedding.’
I frowned. ‘But…’
‘Our dad died when I was ten and Callie was six,’ Nick said. ‘I’ve been the father figure as well as her big brother so she asked me to give her away.’
‘Oh, that’s so lovely. I’m sorry about your dad, though.’
‘Thank you. He’d have been very proud of Callie today.’ He turned to Auntie Kay. ‘Are the flowers ready?’
‘Let me show you.’ She led Nick to a large table behind the counter. ‘Sarah did most of them,’ she gushed, turning round and grinning at me. ‘She’s so talented. Aren’t they gorgeous?’
My cheeks burned again. Could she be more obvious?
Nick turned and smiled at me. ‘Very gorgeous.’ There was something in the way he looked at me that made me think he wasn’t talking about the flowers.He can’t mean me… can he? I’m far from gorgeous. I’m fat. My hair’s a mess. My eyes are red and… no, he definitely means the flowers. I’m being silly. Hallucinating due to lack of sleep.
The bell tinkled and a younger man in a matching suit poked his head round the door. ‘Sorry, Nick. I’m on double yellows,’ he said.
