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Forty-five Minutes After I Didn’t
When they got back to Millward Hall, Audrey went straight upstairs to their room. She wanted to wash her feet. Josh followed, sat on the bed and watched as she rinsed her toes in the bath, then dabbed concealer on her bruised temple and tried to fix her wind-whipped hair.
‘You really do look incredible,’ Josh said, and she smiled back at him in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. ‘I know today has been the mother of all disasters, but can we try to make the best of it?’
‘Do you think we’re soulmates?’ she asked, meeting his eye in the mirror.
‘What?’ He shook his head, bemused. ‘You know I don’t believe in that stuff.’
‘I didn’t know that, no.’
‘Do you?’ he asked, eyes narrowed in concern.
‘Honestly, I don’t know.’ Audrey paused and squeezed the edge of the sink. ‘Have you had any doubts at all, about today, about getting married?’
He frowned, stood up, and came to stand behind her in the bathroom mirror. She tensed. She had a thing about people standing behind her in mirrors.
‘Not one. Why? Have you?’
Audrey took a breath, pushed her hands against the top of her ribcage, as though to steady herself, then turned around, preferring to speak face to face.
‘Yes.’ She looked him straight in the eye. This was her opportunity to be honest. ‘Sometimes, I worry we’re too different: you’re sensible, I’m flighty; you’re tidy, I’m messy; you’re an early bird, I’m a night owl; you have your whole life planned out and I’m working it out as I go along. We don’t know who we’re going to be in the future. What if we change, and we end up wanting different things?’
‘Audrey, there’s a reason those vows say, “in sickness and in health, through good times and bad”, because I’m here for all of it, whatever happens, you know that.’ He bent down to kiss her. ‘And whatever changes in our lives, it’s not going to change how I feel about you.’
She looked up into his eyes and saw everything she loved about this man, his sincerity, his kindness, his calm confidence, but she forced herself to keep talking.
‘It’s my fault the reverend had a heart attack.’
Josh let out a disbelieving laugh. ‘Audrey, you do come out with the strangest things sometimes.’
‘Did you know my mum is sleeping with Brian? It’s like she’s been through all the available men and now she’s circling back around. What if there’s part of me that’s like her? What if it’s in my genes?’
‘You are nothing like your mother,’ Josh said firmly, his warm eyes drawing her in like a beacon. ‘Look, I know watching Vivien go through it so many times, it’s probably hard to believe love can last forever, but it can, if you want it to.’ Josh looked serious for a moment, his eyebrows drawn into a low frown. Audrey nodded, wanting his words to be true. ‘I know it’s a lot, Reverend Daniels collapsing during the service. It’s understandable you’re shaken up, but trust me, it’s all going to be fine.’ She nodded, and he pulled her into a hug. She relaxed against his chest, listening to his strong, even heartbeat. ‘Can we go downstairs now and celebrate being almost married?’ Then he kissed her on the lips, and she felt that warm familiar glow that had always been there.
