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‘I know you love me, and I know I love you, and…show me that ring!’
It was a glorious diamond. While she was admiring it on her finger from all angles, Rafael suggested a wedding at Flynn Court.
‘Before the point-to-point season kicks off? Good timing,’ she agreed approvingly. ‘Una will be over the moon. By the way, if she does start attending a local school, her sister might find it hard having a teenager around that small house twenty-four-seven.’
‘I was concerned about that aspect.’
‘Do you think Una might like to come and live with us instead?’ Harriet asked.
His lean, strong face taut, Rafael gazed down at her. ‘Wouldn’t you mind?’
‘No, I’m very attached to her.’
‘How can I land you with a teenager when we’re just married?’
‘My choice.’
‘I picked you good.’ Rafael studied her with intense appreciation and a wicked smile curved his mouth. ‘I picked you very good. Does this mean that I’m going to be getting my shirts picked up on a regular basis?’
She stretched up to him, bright blue eyes full of mischief, and whispered, ‘Don’t hold your breath!’
*
Feeling like a princess in her wedding gown, Harriet twirled in front of the full length mirror. Her strapless dress had a flattering basque waist, and the silk was overlaid with tulle embroidered with delicate crystal beadwork that caught the light. The emerald and diamond horseshoe brooch was clasped to the gold circlet that held her flirty short veil back, where it looked wonderfully appropriate.
‘I’m so proud of you I’m walking on air,’ Tolly confided as he escorted his granddaughter into the flower-bedecked church.
Her bridesmaids, Alice and Una, and her little flower girl, Will and Nicola Carmichael’s daughter Emily, swarmed round her. Harriet skimmed an anxious glance over the rather tight expression on Alice’s lovely face and gave her sister’s hand a bracing squeeze. She did appreciate the effort it had taken for Alice to rise above her broken heart and act as her bridesmaid.
‘You’ve really put my nose out of joint by bagging a billionaire,’ Alice had admitted with a tearful giggle when the wedding was being arranged. ‘No wonder you said you didn’t want Luke back.’
Warm affection in her satisfied gaze, Una carefully removed a piece of straw from the train of Harriet’s dress and twitched it straight with a proprietary hand. Clearly aware of Alice’s sulky mood, she had taken charge. Little Emily stood by, sucking her thumb and clutching Harriet’s hand.
On Harriet’s passage down the aisle on Tolly’s arm, Will and Nicola smiled at the bride and Boyce gave her an outrageous wink. Eva, her slim hand resting on Gustav’s sleeve, watched her daughter with brimming satisfaction. For no less an event than the wedding of her daughter to the billionaire owner of Flynn Court her mother had been prepared to make a return visit to Ballyflynn. Harriet, however, only had eyes for the male awaiting her at the altar. An exquisite shrine to St Jude, patron saint of impossible causes, now embellished the chapel.
‘You look like every dream I ever had,’ Rafael swore huskily, and her heart sang.
By the time the photographs were being taken outside the church, Alice could be seen to have made a startling recovery from her earlier low spirits. Rafael’s best man, Stephanos, the handsome heir to a Greek shipping empire, was making a great effort to make himself agreeable to her sister. Never had a broken heart been ditched with more sparkle, Harriet reflected with amusement. And Boyce, who was in the process of renovating his house at Slieveross, was talking to Fergal.
Two white horses pulled the fancy carriage that was whisking Rafael and Harriet from the church to the estate. A host of cameras clicked and whirred to record the event. The reception, to be held at Flynn Court, promised to be the biggest party Ballyflynn had ever known. The following day the bridal couple would depart for a honeymoon in the Caribbean. Harriet returned her emerald and diamond engagement ring to its position next to her new wedding ring and remembered when she had absently thought of imprisoning Rafael in a locked room in chains. She had never dreamt that it would not be chains but rings that bound him to her, of his own free will, and tender amusement filled her.
‘Where are we going?’ Harriet had finally noticed that the carriage had deviated from the direct route back to the house.
‘You’ll see.’
The driver brought the horses to a halt where the rough track narrowed down into the bridle path that led through the oak woods. Rafael sprang out and scooped Harriet from the carriage. She stared in amazement at the rich red carpet that had been laid to cover the trail.
‘Am I dreaming?’
Smiling, Rafael drew her into the heart of the wood, where the oak, the ash and the hawthorn trees all grew together. Her fingers were secure in the firm hold of his. It was a moment when happiness took over and overflowed inside her, for the very beauty of their surroundings made her eyes prickle with tears.
‘This is the place where I always remember being with you,’ Rafael confessed. ‘It’s special…’
‘Yes,’ she agreed a little gruffly. ‘Very special.’
Dark eyes held hers with gravity, and her heart started beating very fast. ‘I brought you here to tell you that I love you as I never believed I could love any woman, a
mhilis. That I intend to be a great husband, and the best father I can be…’
