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“Are you okay?”
It’s as if he hasn’t heard me. He stares at the church, a strange expression on his face, and I start to worry that I’ve done something wrong.
“Callum?”
This time he acknowledges my voice, but the frown on his face remains. I smooth the lines that have formed between his eyebrows, and he grabs my wrist and kisses it softly.
“You okay?” I ask again, this time quietly. He hesitates for a moment, still staring at me.
“I’m better than okay,” he says, glancing at the church again. “Do you think they’ll come out soon?”
I still don’t understand his edginess, but I nod anyway. “They’re just having a couple of photos taken. We won’t have to wait long, I promise.”
“I don’t mind about that,” he tells me. “There’s just something I wanted to do.”
Before I get to ask what, Alex and Lara emerge from the church, looking like rock and roll royalty as they walk down the stairs. My brother is wearing a tight-fitting grey suit with a skinny black tie, while Lara is resplendent in a cream lace dress.
The next twenty minutes are filled with more photographs. We’re herded into a variety of formations, and I notice Callum getting increasingly agitated. He’s not usually this nervous, and I’m starting to wonder if he dislikes my family.
My suspicions are only heightened when I see Alex catch Callum’s eye, raising his eyebrows in a challenge. Callum shakes his head slowly, as if telling him to back off, causing the nagging worry in my gut to grow.
“Is everything alright with you and Alex?” I whisper as we get in line for the big family photo.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” He sounds almost suspicious.
“I don’t know,” I reply. “He just looked at you strangely.”
“Babe, there’s nothing to fret about. He didn’t look at me funny, he barely looked at me at all. He’s too busy posing for photographs.”
I say nothing, but stay on high alert, trying to catch them squaring up to each other again. The thought of the two men in my life not liking each other isn’t something I’ve ever considered.
“What happened last night?” I whisper between photographs. My cheeks are starting to ache from too many fake smiles.
“What do you mean?”
“Between you and Alex. Did you have words?”
He cups my face with his hands, dragging his thumbs across my cheekbones. “Babe, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. I’m not looking at your brother weirdly; I’ve not had words with him. You’re seeing something that’s not there.”
“If you say so,” I huff, determined to corner them both later. I’ll make them friends even if I have to force them to talk.
When the photographs are all taken, people start to head back to their cars, making their way to Hoxton Square where Alex has hired a bar for the afternoon celebration. Instead of calling a taxi, Callum grabs my hand, and pulls me over to a pretty corner of the churchyard where roses are growing against a dry stone wall.
My brows dip as I try to work out what’s going on, and brace myself for his confession. Instead he smiles, and my almost-petrified heart starts to beat again.
“I did talk to your brother last night,” he says. “But only to ask him a question.”
“What question?”
“I know it’s old fashioned, but I’m a traditional kind of guy. I wanted his blessing before I asked you to marry me.”
Everything stops. My pulse seems to slow, the blood hardly moving in my veins. All I can hear is the rustling of the leaves as the light wind lifts them in her dance.
“What?” It’s all I can say. I’m dumbstruck.
“I know you’re still young, and we don’t have to get married for a while. But I’d be the happiest man in the world if you’d agree to be my wife.” He slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out a small, black box. When he lifts the lid, there’s a gorgeous pear-cut solitaire nestled in a velvet cushion, the diamond catching a glint from the sun. “If you don’t like it we can exchange it,” he says. “That’s if you agree to wear it at all.”
I realise I haven’t answered. The tears stinging at my eyes spill over, coursing down my cheeks, but the biggest grin forms on my lips. “Of course I’ll wear it,” I tell him. “It’s beautiful.”
