ceremony performed here on the patio at 8 am. The sun will be rising, and it will still be cool.’
‘Married! Oh, Frenchie you sure don’t do things by half measures do you? Oh my, I didn’t even know you could get married here. I am going to want one. I always wanted a white wedding. Can I be bridesmaid?’ She looked at Liv for the answer to this last question.
‘Of course, who else would I have? Is it truly happening?’ Liv asked him, with an excited smile.
‘It is truly happening. We will keep it small. Just a few of my colleagues, Cara and Jac, Chen…’
‘Maggie and Travis from next door. I was planning on taking Liv over there later to meet them, anyway.’ Jane was almost bouncing with excitement.
‘If we must… The patio is not large, you know.’
‘If everyone stands up, it will be fine. If we had to seat everyone, it might get a bit tight. Oh, this is juuuust the best thing to happen in ages!’
‘Liv does not need to be overwhelmed with strangers. She is still finding her feet here, remember.’
‘I am fine, Rene. Don’t fuss.’
He was shocked to hear her address him as Jane would. If he wasn’t careful, Liv would become a women’s libber and then where would he be? The idea amused him. Women’s equality had never been an issue for him. He had never understood people who didn’t see women as equal, or even superior, to males. His Obejwe family had taught him that.
He sat down on the bed, and drew Liv into his arms gently. With utmost tenderness he kissed her lips. ‘I wonder if marrying me will mean your name will be York like mine. How does that sound… Mrs Rene York?’
‘She could be Mrs Livianna North Yorkshire York,’ Jane suggested. Then she raised eyebrows in horror. ‘Maybe not.’
Rene kissed his betrothed again, and laughed.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Liv was given a crash course in Twenty Fourth Century living for the rest of the day. She watched as Rene used the little writing tablet to contact people, and to order in food. She watched as Jane selected suitable music and ‘visuals’ on the entertainment system.
She limped down to the bottom of the hill with Rene, much against his advice, to collect the boxes of little packets of food that arrived on one of the moving pathways. In one of the boxes she discovered, not food, but a bridal veil, a floor length gown, and two bouquets of flowers. The larger of the two was a mix of white roses, yellow centred fuchsias, and angel’s breath. The bridesmaid’s bouquet was smaller, but more colourful, and made up of a selection of flowers Liv had never seen before.
Jane was in a frenzy of activity, which Liv was happy to stay out of. The whole wedding seemed somewhat unreal – like a girlish dream come true. It would have been more real if her family had been present. But of course, that was impossible. The whole point of this was that her family would never know she had married. She would go to her grave as a spinster in their eyes.
The thought of returning to her world without Rene filled her with dread. How would she ever go on without him? Already he was becoming more essential to her than life itself. Everything about him filled her with wonder and awe. This ancient man, in a breath-takingly handsome body, who treated her as a beloved equal, and was dedicated to healing the ‘planet’, was hers. And if they didn’t have forever, as Jane and Julio had forever, they still had the moment, and they could pack a lifetime of memories into a few short months.
No one said how long she would be staying. But it could not be more than a few years at the absolute limit. She could not go home looking much older than she left. Such an anomaly would be picked up by her very observant sisters. Especially Portia, who would have seen her only fifteen minutes earlier. How would she ever get her hair back as it had been?
She ran her fingers through her clean, shining hair. It felt incredible, and smelled divine. Rene seemed to think so too, because he would stop whatever he was doing during the day, run his fingers through it, then lean down and breathe in the scent of it. How long would this devoted attention last? If they were anything like Jane and Julio, three years would