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“Yep,” Mack says. “What’s going on?”
“I wondered if you felt like getting married, bro?”
Mack grins. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
“Come on then. Cameron says it’s time to get organized.” Huxley glances at me and frowns, but I give him a small smile, and he steers Mack out onto the deck.
“You okay?” It’s Victoria, who comes up and slips an arm around my shoulders. “Those guys making your life a misery?”
“Nah.I’mmaking my life a misery.” I sigh and then smile at her. She’s wearing a smart navy pantsuit with a petal-pink blouse, and she’s twisted her hair up in an elegant chignon. “Wow, you look stunning,” I tell her.
She flushes. “Thank you. So do you. I love that outfit. No wonder Huxley’s jaw was scraping the deck.”
I’m saved from a reply as her gaze is drawn to Evie. Hux’s sister isn’t as tall as Victoria, but she looks striking today in a long silvery-gray dress, with her dark-blonde hair that she normally wears in a tight bun when she’s working as a police officer now tumbling around her shoulders in bountiful curls.
“Ah,” I say. “So that’s why you’re all glowy.”
Victoria laughs, but she’s lit up like a streetlamp, and she doesn’t deny it.
“I’m so happy for you,” I tell her. “You deserve it.”
She tears her gaze away and brings it back to me. “So do you,” she says. “You act like you don’t think you deserve love and affection, but you do. You’ve been unlucky in love, and that’s going to make you wary, but you mustn’t close your heart off forever.”
I look away, out at the coast drifting past us, the emerald-green forests in the distance, and the golden sands leading to the rich blue water.
“Sweetie,” she continues, “it’s none of my business, and I understand why you’ve made the decisions you have. And I know Huxley’s been a bit of a tomcat at times. But he’s the best man I know. Mack comes a close second, and Titus a moody third, and Hux isn’t perfect by any means, but he’s not far from it.”
“You’ve been friends a long time,” I say softly. “You’ve never had feelings for him?”
“Of course I have, darling. I’ve been half in love with him for donkeys’ years. He’s an easy man to love. But we know each other too well. Nobody wants to know how the sausages are made, you know?”
That makes me laugh. “Nicely put.”
She looks out at where he’s on the deck directing guests to their seats. “Elizabeth, about what happened all those years ago… I know he hurt you, but give him a break. I can’t say any more, but it’s not what you think.”
I frown, because it’s so similar to what Mack said at Titus’s office. “What do you mean?”
She hesitates, but she’s stopped from saying more by Evie walking up. “Hey you,” Evie says, reaching up to kiss her cheek. “Time to find a seat.”
“Yeah. Come on, Elizabeth. Let’s go and watch Mack get hitched.”
I follow them out onto the deck, puzzled by her words. What are she and Mack implying? And why won’t they tell me instead of hinting at the fucking thing?
But there’s no time to ponder, because people are taking their seats among the rows of folding chairs that the crew have placed in lines on the deck. They’ve erected a canopy to protect us all from the sun, and at the front is a simple white altar where Mack is standing talking to Cameron.
Huxley is directing people to chairs, making sure there aren’t any gaps and that Sidnie’s family and Mack’s grandparents are at the front, ensuring Jamie’s Emma is comfortable with a cushion, and bending to chat quietly to Mack’s young cousins, explaining that if they sit quietly for the duration of the ceremony, he’ll let them dunk him in the pool later, which makes me smile.
I sit at the end of the second row near the railing, with the ocean on my right, and a perfect view of the ceremony. Seagulls cry overhead, mingling with the song that one of Mack’s cousins has just started playing on his guitar. Mack had told me that Sidnie had left the choice of entrance music to him, and I smile as Stevie Wonder’sIsn’t She Lovelyfills the autumn air.
With everyone seated, Huxley joins Mack at the front, and we all turn as Sidnie and her father appear in the saloon. The crew are standing in a line either side of the path through to the deck, all dressed in smart white uniforms, and they toss handfuls of rose petals in front of them as they walk through.
Tears prick my eyes as I get my first glimpse of Sidnie. The floor-length skirt of her gown consists of layers of white tulle, and the bodice has a layer of lace that flows down to her wrists. It’s backless, with a simple tie at the nape of her neck that dangles down her back with a single pearl. Her blonde hair hangs past her shoulders in a riot of curls, with the sides rolled back and pinned over the circlet that holds her veil. The breeze has come up a bit, but it just makes her look as if she’s floating, as her hair and veil and skirt flutter.
I look at Mack, and I can see he’s genuinely taken aback at her beauty. This has all happened fast for him, and I have to admit I wondered whether he was getting married too quickly, but right now I can see that it doesn’t matter how long they’ve known each other. He’s deliriously happy, and he just wants to put his ring on her finger and promise to love her in front of all his friends and family.
I look at Huxley, and my heart jumps. He’s not looking at Sidnie; he’s looking at me. He holds my gaze for a long moment, and I can’t look away, captivated by how handsome he is, and unable to miss how he takes my breath away.
I thought it was all over.Yeah, right, Mack said when I told him that. And he was right. It’s not over. I’m not sure it’ll ever be over. God, I’m such a fool.
