Page 99 of The Winter Bride

‘Not at all,’ Annie answered primly. She still wasn’t sure if this had been such a good idea, but it was too late to back out now.

The restaurant was beautiful and their table was tucked discreetly away in a corner.

This was the first time she’d been out in public since the night of the attack and she was very self-conscious of the scar on her face, so she kept her head down as they took their seats.

The maître d’ approached and bowed respectfully. ‘Good afternoon, my lord, miss. I trust this table is to your satisfaction?’

Annie gawped open-mouthed as Alex nodded. ‘Yes, excellent, thank you. May we have the menu?’

The maître d’ clicked his fingers and a waiter appeared as if by magic and handed them the menu.

‘Oh, and we’ll have a bottle of your finest champagne, if we may,’ Alex told him.

When the two men turned and left Annie stared at him. ‘My lord? . . . Champagne? What’s going on here?’

Alex chuckled. ‘I’m afraid there are a few things about me that I haven’t told you. My mother and father are Lord and Lady Gordon of Highview Manor in Sussex.’

‘So . . . you are a lord?’ Annie could hardly believe what she was hearing.

He grinned. ‘I’m afraid I am, although I don’t usually bandy it about.’

‘And what’s the champagne for? Are you celebrating something?’

‘That will all depend on you.’ His face was serious as he reached across the table and took her small hand in his large one. ‘You see, I’ve been in love with a certain young lady since the day I set eyes on her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it when we first met, and when I finally was, she had married someone else.’ He shook his head. ‘So, I may as well just say it now. I love you, Annie, with all my heart. Not just because you are the mother of my son, but for the wonderful person you are. And so . . .’ He released her hand and there in the restaurant he got down on one knee and produced a small velvet box from his coat pocket. He sprang the lid, and Annie gasped as she stared down at a beautiful ring. It was a sapphire surrounded by diamonds.

‘This was my grandmother’s engagement ring and my mother gave it to me many years ago for my wife. Even then, I wasn’t sure she was the one for me, so I bought her another ring. But now I have found someone who is worthy of it, so I’m asking you, Annie, will you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’

Annie’s head was swimming and her heart was beating so fast that she feared it would leap out of her chest.

‘I-is this some sort of joke?’ she choked. ‘Look at me. I’m not the same young girl who fell in love with you. I’m a grown woman and I’m scarred.’

‘You’re still the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,’ he said with such feeling that tears sprang to her eyes.

And it was only then that she allowed herself to face the truth she had been hiding from herself for so long. She had always been fiercely independent, unwilling to rely on anyone. But that had been before she knew her roots and who she really was.

‘B-but how would Lucy feel about this?’

He smiled as the ring twinkled in the light from the candle on the table. ‘I’ve already asked her and she’s thrilled at the idea. She was never close to her mother and she would love to have a mummy who would cherish her as I do. And Lucy and Adam are close already. So, what do you say?’

Annie took a deep breath as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. ‘In that case, I would be honoured to be your wife, Alex.’ And as he slipped the ring onto her finger she felt as if she was caught up in a dream.

‘Thank goodness for that,’ he chuckled as he rose to give her a tender kiss. ‘Because I’ve already booked the wedding for a week on Wednesday back in Nuneaton.’

Annie blinked with shock.

‘Well, you’ve been talking about the winter weddings you organised for Peggy and Levi, and Nancy and Jamie, so I figured you might quite like to be a winter bride yourself. The thing is, though, we’ll be into the spring soon so I couldn’t hang about. I thought we might just have a quiet wedding seeing as we’ve both done it before, but of course if you’d like a bigger do, I can organise it. I booked the registry office back in Nuneaton because I thought you’d want all the people you loved to be there.’

It seemed he had thought of everything and when the waiter returned with the champagne he popped the cork, poured them each a drink and congratulated them.

‘I don’t know what Marie is going to say when we tell her,’ Annie told him, her eyes shining.

He laughed. ‘Don’t worry about that. She’s helped me plan it all and she’s as pleased as Punch.’

Annie shook her head; everything was happening so fast that she couldn’t quite take it all in.

‘But what about your job?’ she queried.

‘All in hand, I can relocate.’