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Finally everyone filed in and took their seats for the reception. Daniel held out her chair for her. He leaned down as she lowered herself, his warm breath like a living thing stroking her ear. ‘I’ve missed you, Sophie.’ And she felt his words all the way to her toes. ‘I’ve missed you bad.’
‘You didn’t call.’ She tried to keep the hurt from her voice, and failed miserably.
‘I thought you needed space.’
‘Oh.’ What did that mean? But she nodded and picked up her wine, taking a sip, her eyes on the bride and groom. They were so happy and so much in love it almost hurt to look at them. ‘How did you do it?’ she asked. ‘How did you get them back together again?’
He followed her gaze. ‘I had a lot of bridges to mend before that happened. Luckily you’d shown me how.’
‘I did? How?’
He looked around at the appetiser that had just been placed in front of them. ‘Are you hungry?’
She shook her head. She knew what was on the menu; she’d put the courses together that week she’d spent on the island. She knew it would be fabulous without tasting a thing. Besides, there was something she needed more than food right now.
He took her hand and they headed for the beach, where the sun was just beginning to set, lighting the warm, tropical world with its soft glow.
‘I spent too long in a world of hatred,’ he said as they kicked off their shoes and set off along the sand. ‘It consumed me. Powered me. Drove me to think I was doing right, when I was doing wrong. I hurt Monica. I thought I was protecting her and I hurt her.’
He stopped and looked at the sun and she saw the glint of moisture in the corner of his eyes. ‘You taught me that the bonds of love were stronger than the chains of hate. You taught me that love wasn’t about control. Love was being able to let something go, and trust you would keep it for ever.’
He looked down at her, taking her chin so softly in his fingers that her skin tingled at the contact. ‘You taught me that, Sophie.
‘And, even though I didn’t want to let you walk away from me that day in the hospital, even though I knew it would break me and that however long it took would be hell, I knew in my heart that if I was ever to truly have you I would have to let you go and hope above hope that you would return to me.’ He rested his forehead against hers and she put a hand to his cheek, relishing the touch of the face she had dreamed about every night since she’d left.
‘Oh, Daniel.’
‘So now… So now I need to know. Is there any chance for us, do you think? Is there any chance—after all the wrongs I’ve committed, after the nightmare I’ve put everyone through—that you might return to me and return my love?’
Her heart was singing so loud it was a wonder he couldn’t hear its song of joy himself. ‘I thought…I feared…’
‘You thought what?’
‘That you’d changed your mind. Realised that you’d made a mistake. I don’t know. I just worried, when I hadn’t heard from you, that I’d imagined you ever telling me.’
He put his arms around her. ‘Not a chance. I haven’t thought of anything else these last few weeks but how much I do love you. Marry me, Sophie. Marry me and make me the happiest man on earth.’
And suddenly there were more tears to contend with. Tears of joy, tears of relief, tears that welled up from a heart that swelled with love for him and washed away all the pain. ‘Daniel, I love you so much!’
He pulled her, spinning, into his embrace and kissed her until she was dazed and drugged with the taste of him. Then he stopped spinning and dropped her feet to the sand. ‘So you’ll marry me?’
She smiled up at him, loving him, knowing she would love him for ever, knowing this tiny thing was not too much to ask. She pulled his head down and whispered in his ear and he smiled before pulling her back into another kiss.
It was late by the time they made it back to the reception; the cake had already been cut. They hung around the back of the pavilion so as not to interrupt, but Millie saw them entering, Sophie’s hand encased in Daniel’s, the sprig of bougainvillea he’d picked and woven into her hair, and she beamed and skirted around the tables towards them.
‘It’s the most magical wedding,’ she said, taking in their knotted hands and the flush to their skin, her generous eyes both curious and hopeful. ‘Just magical.’
‘It’s what Sophie’s business promises,’ Daniel grinned. ‘One Perfect Day, to make perfect memories to last a lifetime,’ and Sophie laughed.
‘You memorised our advertising slogan!’
