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‘You were going to ask me then?’
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t want to rush you.’
‘So you gave me an extra five days?’
‘I couldn’t wait any longer,’ Steele said, and then kissed the top of her head. ‘So let’s go and get the licence and get married so that the honeymoon can begin.’
It already had.
EPILOGUE
IT WAS, FOR CANDY, who had never wanted her own wedding, the perfect one.
It was, for Steele, who had sworn he would never marry again, the best wedding ever too.
Steele opted for sunset, though he didn’t tell her why.
They walked to the beach together and stood, their bare feet caressed by the silky sand, Candy nervous, excited and all the things he made her feel as she faced him.
‘Aloha,’ he said, and she smiled. It was very hard to believe, after all their little teases about her holiday, that he was here with her and that this was their wedding.
‘Aloha,’ Candy said, grateful when he took her shaking hands.
The air smelt of coconut and frangipani. She was wearing a single flower in her hair. The breeze whipped her hair from her face and moulded Candy’s dress to her soft curves. She had chosen a pale blue chiffon that was very simple and tied beneath her bust. He wore a linen suit, which was the colour of damp sand, and a white shirt and no nail varnish. He took her breath away and made her smile just as he had the moment they’d met.
She could hear the roar of the waves as they crashed onto the shore and then hissed back out to sea, leaving the sand as smooth, clean and pristine as their beckoning future.
As the huge crimson sun sank slowly into the sea the service started. They had decided on traditional vows—timeless and classic. She looked right at him as he placed the simple gold band they had chosen on her finger and Candy felt a soft shiver run through her as she heard the gorgeous, deep voice that had come into her life less than a month ago now vow to be with her for ever. ‘With this ring I thee wed. With my body I thee worship.’
Then it was Candy’s turn and her voice was very clear when she promised the same.
The sun had set, bamboo tiki torches lit the beach and the celebrant told them they were husband and wife.
‘You may kiss your bride.’
Steele did and his kiss was long and lingering and then he moved his mouth to her ear. ‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,’ he said.
To hear those heartfelt words from Steele meant everything to Candy.
‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been too,’ she agreed.
That was how they made each other feel.
With the service over and the documents signed, they walked hand in hand along the beach towards their villa with the waves lapping at their toes.
It was done, she was married and it was exactly as she’d wanted it to be, but as she saw the photographer taking down his equipment, even though they’d had the service filmed Candy felt a niggle of guilt that she had denied her parents this day.
Back in their suite she was determined to push the thought aside, but having again kissed his bride he pulled back and asked for her parents’ number. ‘You’ll feel better when you’ve told them,’ he said. ‘You know you will.’
‘They’ll freak,’ Candy said. ‘I don’t want to spoil today...’ But she gave him the number and lay there with her eyes closed as a deep calm voice, one that was very used to dealing with upset, stubborn, set-in-their-ways people, introduced himself and told her father that he was a doctor who worked alongside Candy.
‘No, there’s nothing wrong with Candy or the babies,’ Steele said, and then he told them how he had fallen in love with her, how he was going to take care of her, how he was completely fine about the twins and that they would be his. ‘However,’ Steele said, ‘Gerry’s parents will know...’ He looked over at Candy. ‘Candy and I have discussed it and we both agree that a baby can never have too many grandparents to love them.’
He spoke and listened and then said that he and Candy had got married today. Candy could hear her mother come onto the phone and the rise of drama that she’d dreaded ensued. She’d have to talk to them and deal with their recriminations and the guilt. She held her hand out for the phone but Steele simply listened to her mother and then spoke in that calm way of his and slowly the tension in her uncoiled.
