Page 110

And I can’t help wondering what Owen is thinking about.

Is he remembering his own wedding day? Is today going to be hard for him because of what he’s been through and the way his marriage ended? Or is he thinking about us? About what our future looks like and whether I’m in it at all.

61

Owen

Why do weddings give people a licence to talk to you?

After dropping our bags in our room and deciding we didn’t have time for a pre-ceremony quickie, we ventured down to the bar to find a woman in a navy blue dress and the most enormous fascinator on the side of her brown hair that’s pinned into a tidy bun.

“Hi, you must be Alice and….”

“Owen,” Alice informed the woman, who had then put Alice to shame by talking at us for the next ten minutes, telling us her name is Ruby, that she works with Sydney, and that Sydney had told her to look out for us. She then went on to try to introduce us to her husband… Carl or Carlos? I can’t remember as I wasn’t paying her any attention, too busy looking at Alice.

She looks amazing. And I’m not just saying that because I’m biased. She’s genuinely glowing in her gold dress, her understated make-up, and her perfectly curled hair.

I’d been annoyed that we hadn’t arrived early enough for us to test out the buoyancy of the king-sized bed, but I can live with the delay as we have all night and tomorrow morning to put the bed to the test, as well as the shower and the bath. Because that dress is coming off, and when it does, I’ll be the one pulling down the zip.

After Ruby finished giving us the lowdown on the rest of the scant guests, consisting of Malachi, a guy who Drew works with, Gail, a woman who Sydney works with and appeared as if she was competing with Ruby for the largest fascinator, and Phil, who didn’t work with either the bride or the groom and no one appeared to be taking any responsibility for, she then gave us a full rundown of the itinerary. That was before we were ushered into the Bowman Suite, ready for the arrival of the bride, Alice squeezing my arm and telling me she had butterflies.

Normally, I’d be inwardly stamping my feet at this point, checking out the exits and wondering how long this whole show is going to last before we can go home. But I’m not today. I’m taking in just how gorgeous the woman on my arm is and how I can face this hellish room full of strangers because Alice is here with me.

It’s crazy, I know. And even the memories of my own wedding day aren’t spoiling how light I feel to have Alice by my side, to be sharing this day with her.

“I wonder who’ll walk her down the aisle,” she whispers as we take a seat three rows from the front, Alice smoothing down the back of her dress as we sit. “That’s Drew at the front, talking to the registrar.”

She nods in the direction of a tall man in a dark blue three-piece suit who looks like the kind of guy you wouldn’t mess with. He has dark hair, a brooding face, and shoulders like Atlas.

Ruby sits in the row in front of us and starts to fuss with her husband’s suit, pulling at his collar and swiping imaginary dust from him. She moves on to trying to set her phone up to record the ceremony.

Then the music starts.

It’s not your obvious wedding march but something classical and soothing. We settle down, and everyone cranes their heads to look at the rear door of the room.

Alice lets out a little squeal as Sydney (I presume, as she’s wearing a white dress and holding a bunch of flowers) walks into the room, clutching the arm of a taller guy with salt-and-pepper hair and the biggest grin on his face.

“Oh my goodness,” Alice hisses. “It’s Mr Jarvis.” She places her hand over her mouth as if to stifle the smile before leaning in to explain. “The guy walking her down the aisle is Sydney’s elderly neighbour who she lived next door to when she was younger,” Alice informs me as her body literally vibrates next to me with excitement.

I recall her telling me about not being able to have Sydney’s mum and dad in the same room as each other, so they’d decided to do a no-family wedding, which I thought was kind of unique and very daring. If I got remarried and didn’t invite my mother, I think she’d actually put a hit out on me.

Before I get carried away with the possibility of remarrying, Alice continues. “He was always so nice to us when we were kids, buying us ice cream when the van pulled up or watching us when Sydney’s parents were working. He never had kids of his own,” she says, sniffing a little. “Sydney must have asked him to walk her down the aisle.”

Alice dabs at her eyes, and normally I’d be shaking my head, but she looks so swept up in it all that I can’t help but pat her knee as Sydney walks down the aisle with her old neighbour.

Phones are held aloft, and a professional photographer whips his way down the walkway to get a shot of the pair coming into the room.

The groom, Drew, stares at Sydney as if she’s the whole world and he only has eyes for her. I can’t help but think back to my own wedding day when Pippa arrived, and all I could think about was the fact that the suits didn’t match the bridesmaids. But I recognise the look Drew is giving his bride because it’s exactly the way I look at Alice.

Sydney beams and kisses her neighbour’s cheek as she reaches Drew. Then Drew takes her arm, whispers something to her that makes them both smile, and they face the registrar.

And it begins.

Drew and Sydney have chosen a simple ceremony script with introductions and an outline of the civil law that’ll allow them to exchange their marriage vows. The registrar talks about how the venue has been duly sanctioned in accordance with the law and how we’re all here today to witness the joining in matrimony of this couple and to share in their happiness.

Alice is beaming. Ruby is already crying, pressing a wad of tissues under her eyes, presumably to stop her make-up from running.

But it’s when the registrar asks if there’s any person here present who knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage, then they should declare it now, when the door opens and the whole room freezes.