Page 92 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

But the battery appeared to be flat.

‘Where’s your car?’ he asked, turning to her in what felt like real panic now. There was a bride and groom at church waiting for their wedding rings and the ceremony was about to start at any moment!

‘At the church,’ she told him. ‘So many people needed extra lifts this morning.’

They looked at each aghast.

‘What do we do?’ he asked.

‘Have you got any spare wellies?’ she asked.

Minutes later, she was pulling on his green wellington boots over the trousers of her jumpsuit, quickly followed by his black puffa jacket. It looked enormous on her, but he had thought it would be warmer than the anorak that he put on. He was now wearing his spare wellington boots and they were both striding down the platform as quickly as they could, despite the deep snow.

‘We’re never going to make it on time,’ said Libby, with a groan as they reached the bridge, clutching her silver high heels in one hand. ‘We should have asked for Ryan to come back.’

‘No time,’ said Ethan, taking her by the hand and pulling her up and over the bridge with him.

The steps were icy underneath his feet, but still they rushed down the other side. They were only a couple of steps from the bottom when Libby slipped in her haste and fell into the snow.

Ethan hurried towards her.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked, bending down to check on her as she was sprawled in the snow. As he did so, both ring boxes fell out of his jacket pocket into a deep snowdrift beside them.

‘I’m fine,’ she told him. ‘Just a bit soggy.’ She turned her head. ‘What was that falling out of your pocket?’

‘Oh God! The rings!’ said Ethan, diving his hand into the cold snow to feel around for them.

Libby gasped and followed suit, feeling around with her fingers. After a few moments, she brought out a box. ‘It’s okay. I’ve found them,’ she said, with a relieved smile.

But one glance at the lid of the box and the all too familiar gold writing on it, Ethan shook his head. ‘Not those,’ he said, carrying on feeling around in the snow until he finally connected with the other box. ‘Thank goodness. I’ve found them.’

He looked down at the smaller box in his hand and sighed with relief before looking over to Libby. But unknown to him, she had lifted the lid on the box she was holding and was now staring down at the inside of the lid, which he knew read Las Vegas Wedding Chapel.

After waking up the morning after their wedding and finding Libby’s ring on the bedside cabinet, Ethan had slipped off his own ring and placed them both back inside the box. But he had always kept the ring box close by, wherever he had gone in the world. It was a cherished reminder of that one perfect night.

Libby looked up at him with tears in her blue eyes.

‘They’re our wedding rings,’ she whispered.

He nodded, his eyes drawn to the two gold bands nestled in the velvet. ‘Yes, they are,’ he said, his voice hoarse.

And, to his horror, Libby began to cry.

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‘Don’t cry, Libs,’ she heard Ethan say. ‘I hate it when you cry.’

But Libby found that she couldn’t stop. The shock of seeing their wedding rings, the very idea that he had kept them, was just too overwhelming for her to comprehend.

‘Please,’ he said, pulling her up next to him and drawing her against him.

She leant against his chest, relishing the strength and warmth of him, but knowing that she must pull away from him eventually.

‘You kept them,’ she whispered, only able to focus on the rings.

‘I couldn’t throw them away,’ he said, sounding shocked that she would think he would do so.

‘Why not?’ she said, against his chest.