have been together now for seven years—’
‘Almost eight years,’ I corrected. Our anniversary was one month away.
‘Stop being a barrister,’ he said, the soft tone he was using not changing, which made me smile.
‘Sorry.’
‘That’s OK,’ he said in his new, I’m-a-zen-like-masseur voice.
‘You quickly became my best friend. You were funny and intelligent and properly hot.’
I snorted inelegantly but Luke’s face didn’t change.
‘You have always been supportive. When I wanted to change jobs, when I persuaded you to move in with me.’
I felt my toes squirm at the compliments.
‘You were there.’ He slowed down a little now, took a breath. ‘You were there when my mother died and helped me through that time. I don’t know what I would have done without you then. You just knew what to do and how to handle me . . . ’
I felt tears build in my throat as he spoke, the whispers in the background fading as I strained to hear every word he was saying. He was giving me too much credit. Who wouldn’t have behaved like that after someone you loved had lost their mother? Their last remaining parent. I squeezed his hand.
‘Don’t be silly, Luke, of course . . . ’
‘Hey,’ he said softly, ‘I still haven’t finished.’
I pressed my lips together.
He swallowed and looked down. ‘You’ve always been the only girl who has made me want to be better, who has challenged me, made me snort-laugh, made me want to throw stuff, and you know, as I said, you’re hhhhhot.’ He coughed, his smile quickly fading. ‘I know recently things haven’t been easy for you, and I hope I’ve been there for you. Like you were there for me when life wasn’t as, as easy’ – he took a breath – ‘as it might have been.’
I swallowed.
‘Because I want to be there for you. For ever.’
Oh God. This is totally happening. There was urgent sshing behind me. I felt my whole body grow still, my breath suspended somewhere inside me. This. Was. Happening.
‘I wanted to ask you something now.’ And then Luke stopped. The speech ended with me practically leaning across the table horizontally.
‘Yes,’ I prompted.
Was this it? Oh God, was this not it? Luke had started to look a little panicky now, eyes wide, swivelling them over to the arch. Was he planning a speedy exit? Had it all got too intense? Had he changed his mind?
I was aware of voices through the archway, a face peering through the foliage.
‘You’re leaning on me.’
‘Why don’t we get chairs?’
‘I didn’t think he’d take that long.’
‘Do we go now?’
‘Has he finished his speech?’
‘Did he say he’d bring us on or do we just go?’
‘We should have had a code word.’
Four old men shuffled through the archway, glancing at each other nervously before lining up in a row next to our table. A few beats later and they were singing a cappella once more, hands timing the beats, voices shaking, concentrated faces serious and trained on Luke. Then with a final hand gesture Grandad produced a small box from his pocket and laid it in Luke’s outstretched palm, before turning to usher them all back.
‘Go, Howard.’
‘Did you give it to him?’
‘My hip.’
‘Quicker.’
‘Don’t step on me.’
Luke was pretending not to be able to hear the harried whispers as they left the way they had come. I pretended not to notice they had all paused on the other side of the trellis: four eager faces peering through the gaps in the wood and foliage.
‘So what I wanted to ask you, Lottie,’ Luke was speaking loudly, trying to drown them out.
‘Did you see the ring?’
Murmurs of ‘lovely’, ‘big’, ‘cost a packet’ made me start to giggle now, and Luke rolled his eyes back in his head.
‘They were meant to make things more romantic. I have regrets,’ he called, loud enough for them to hear.
‘Hey.’
‘We heard that.’
‘That was your fault, Howard, you can’t do anything quietly.’
I was openly laughing, trying to block out the bickering as Luke lifted the diamond ring from the small cushion in the box. Then he got up, moving to the side of the table and got down on one knee.
‘Lottie Campbell,’ he said, holding out the ring, ‘will you please marry me?’
I stopped laughing as abruptly as I’d begun, feeling the world pause for a delicious second.
‘Yes, yes, of course,’ I said, taking the ring in utter amazement and then launching myself at Luke, who was struggling to his feet.
Cheers had broken out and faces were now appearing in the archway