“Me too,” her father agreed. “But if you can see characters in this shop at night, I think there’s a good chance she’s here today in some way, don’t you?”
Aurelia nodded and put her hand to her chest, as though pulling her mother close, wherever she was.
“Well, what’s next? Are we walking over now?” he asked lightly, clearly trying to keep them from getting lost in sad thoughts and memories.
“Not just yet. Antonia said she’d send Max over once everyone’s arrived.”
“Good. Then I have a few minutes left to impart some wedding-day wisdom.” He took a deep breath as he caught her eye. “You know I like Oliver, but—more than that—I like what he’s brought out in you: the best parts of you.”
Aurelia bit her lip, trying not to let the tears that were building fall.
“Then there’s how happy he makes you. That’s all I needed to see to know you’d found your match.”
“He does make me happy,” she said with a smile.
“I had many happy days with your mother, but there was something different—a certain quality—to the happiness I felt on the day I saw her walking down the aisle toward me. I knew it was the end of something good…” He paused, collecting himself before finishing, “And the start of something better.”
His eyes lost their focus for a few seconds, as though he were traveling back in time to his own wedding day. Aurelia couldn’t find the words to respond so she reached out to hug him again, smiling through the tightening in her throat as he patted her back.
Max appeared at the door to the shop and, opening it, asked “Are we ready?”
Aurelia and her father looked at each other with raised eyebrows—as if to confirm ‘are we?’—then laughed at their synchronized expressions.
“I’m ready if you are,” he offered.
“Absolutely.” She nodded as she took his arm.
Max held the door for them as they passed through, and Aurelia paused to let her eyes adjust to the glorious afternoon sunlight stretching over the treetops in the square. She scanned the grass where her friends and family were gathered, and she watched as Julia caught sight of her and prompted everyone to shush and turn to look. Aurelia continued scanning the crowd until she found Oliver, whose eyes were burning into her from across the square. An answering flame rose up in her chest, and she started walking across the street, practically pulling her father along beside her. She registered a chuckle from him, but she kept walking, smiling as she saw Oliver, too, crack a smile at her eagerness to get to him.
As she moved down their makeshift aisle, she smiled at Antonia, Julia, Kali, David, Jack, and Mark—everyone who’d gotten them to this moment and would be there for them in the moments beyond. But they were quick glances and smiles before her eyes were drawn back to Oliver’s. At the end of the aisle, she kissed her father’s cheek before he deposited her next to Oliver. Aurelia automatically gathered his hands in hers and took a breath to steady herself. Each of their smiles grew wider as they stared each other down.
With a quirk of his eyebrow, Oliver pulled her hand up as he patted the breast pocket of his pale grey linen suit. Aurelia quirked her eyebrow right back at him and he reached inside his jacket to show her a frayed and worn bookmark—the one she’d given him on their first date, the one he’d held onto and shown her on the day she’d finally realized she was ready to let him into her heart and her life.
Aurelia smiled through the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes, and Oliver reached into another pocket to hand her a handkerchief. She heard Antonia sniffling tears behind her, and she gave a happy laugh before dabbing at her eyes. Aurelia and Oliver then turned, their arms linked, to face the officiant, the end of something good, and the start of something even better.
61
Itwasaclichéfor a reason: the day really did pass in a blur as Aurelia chatted with friends and family after the ceremony, walked on Oliver’s arm to the reception, then ate and was toasted until far later into the night than she’d thought likely. She and Oliver stayed until the last guests—Antonia and Max—left the restaurant, then thanked the owner and staff before heading out on the short walk back to the shop.
Jack had taken Biscuit for the night, making the shop quieter than usual when they stepped inside. Aurelia locked the door behind them and then, almost as though they’d planned it, they put their arms around each other.
After a moment, Aurelia said, “It’s official, now.”
“It is,” Oliver agreed, pulling back to look at her. “This was a perfect day.”
Aurelia nodded, smiling at him. She felt his hand running over the buttons at one side of her dress, and—as if in answer—she ran her hands down his lapels, moving one finger over the small ridge of the bookmark in his pocket.
“You chose me,” she said quietly, looking from her finger to his eyes, which were waiting for hers.
“And you chose me right back.”
They weren’t leaving for their honeymoon until the following day, giving them a free day to pack, sort out the animals, and say goodbye to their respective siblings. They started by visiting Jack, who was not only taking care of Biscuit in their absence, but had also offered to watch Fezz. As they unloaded the cat from his carrier onto the floor in Jack’s living room, Aurelia worried he’d disappear under a bed, but he just spent a good few minutes sniffing around before settling himself on the sofa.
They stayed for coffee, then said their goodbyes and made their way to the flat where Antonia and Max were staying with the kids. It was a sharp contrast to the quiet Sunday calm of Jack’s place.
Antonia opened the door, her head turned away to scold the children.
“You’re out of warnings, you two—the next one to hit someone is riding the train home sitting next to me.”
