shoulder and ties at my waist, falling down into a stunning train. My hair falls in loose waves, parts taken from my face and tied into plaits along with wildflowers Mum picked.
Mum is officiating the ceremony, dressed in a floaty orange dress that blows in the breeze and of course, she’s barefoot. She got ordained online and insisted on blessing our union.
‘I believe in the universe,’ she begins.
Oh Jesus, here we go.
‘But as a little girl Phoebe didn’t believe in most things. She was always very practical, but she’s finally found something to believe in; true love.’
Clooney and I grin at each other like idiots.
‘The fate gods had a hand in putting her and Clooney together. She might laugh and roll her eyes over that, but deep down she knows it’s true. His soul was bound to hers as soon as they were born.
But it’s not just love that makes marriage, or even a long lasting relationship, work. It’s time, effort and understanding.’ She looks lovingly at my dad. ‘It’s compromise and hard work. Tough times and tears. But through it, if you can find that love and laughter, it will see you through it all.’
She rambles on for a bit longer before we say our traditional vows, albeit the promise to obey him, and exchange the plain white gold rings.
‘I now pronounce you husband and wife.’
Clooney grins at me before smashing the glass in the bag on the ground. A little nod to his Jewish heritage. The crowd cheers raucously as he leans down and kisses me like he hasn’t seen me for years, instead of hours.
We turn, raising our joined hands victoriously, to the applaud of the entire town. Then we walk down the pier, past our immediate family and into the green land where the rest of the town claps for our union.
It’s crazy to think how they’ve now welcomed me into their community. It helped that we decided to host some free community events in the pub to bring in more of a crowd.
The scout hut got bought up by the developers, but luckily everyone else is staying firm about not selling to them. For now, all development is frozen. We now host all the kids after school clubs, which means the parents have a drink while they wait and then most of them treat their little ones to our kids dinner deal.
We get hugged and kissed by almost every member of town as we pass through them. We lead everyone back to the pub garden which now no longer resembles a jungle. The same string lighting that the town helped us set up down at the lake hangs over us. We decided we wanted a fun festival vibe for our reception. We’re calling it Cloobe. Clooney tried to make it Cloodles, but I told him I didn’t want to explain the Poodles nickname to everyone.
Everyone arrives, taking a glass of prosecco, cramming in, over spilling into the car park and lake.
Clooney dings his glass. ‘We’re not bothering with speeches, because who wants to listen to a load of bollocks?’ Everyone laughs. ‘I just want to thank everyone for coming and for helping set this up. I also want to thank my beautiful wife, Phoebe.’ He looks down at me adoringly, his eyes filled with warmth that I can feel deep in my bones. Everyone cheers. He wraps his arm round my waist. ‘I’m nothing without you, Poodles,’ he says quietly, so only I can hear. He turns back to the crowd. ‘Now let’s dance!’
He leads me into the centre of the grass which is our make shift dance floor, surrounded by hay bales for seating. “Til There Was You” by The Beatles blasts out of the speakers. He grabs me round the waist while I wrap my arms around his neck.
He takes my hand and holds it to his chest as he sways us. He mouths the words ‘til there was you,’ every time its sung. Goosepimples rise all over my body. This moment right now, in his arms, wearing his wedding ring, surrounded by my friends and family is what I’ll remember about this day. The amazing intense feeling of happiness and contentment.
“Took you long enough…” I start at the voice in my head, whirling us both around. Clooney’s soft gaze drifts over my face.
“What’s wrong?”
I shake me head. “I thought I heard something.”
He continues humming, moving us in time to the beat.
“I think I can leave now, my pub is in the right hands.”
“Breda?” I breathe her name. But she’s gone, and I never knew she was there. Clooney gives me the most beautiful smile and I know she’s right, her pub is in the right hands. Clooney’s and mine.
I know that together we can go through anything and find the other side. My whole life I’ve been looking for a place to call my true home. Now I have it, my heart bound to this man and this town.
Turns out Great Aunt Breda had a master plan all along.
The End
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. Reviews mean so much to us indie authors, so I'd really appreciate a quick review on Amazon/Goodreads.
Thank you first of all to my family for their continued support. That means me being a sleep deprived zombie mum, unable to form a complete sentence and having to take naps to keep up with my crazy writing hours. It can't be easy living with that!
Thank you to Anna Bloom for her insightful input and editing skills. Her suggestions made the book all it could be.
Tammy Clarke pulled another one out of the bag with this beautiful cover. I just love it!
Thank you to all the readers and bloggers who take time out of their crazy schedules to share my posts and help spread the word. Without you I'd be nothing.
Thank you to Nicola Cassells, my cousin in Ireland, who helped research so much for me. If it wasn't for her my characters would probably sound Scottish not Irish!
Special thanks to my Indie author friends that are constantly there for me when I need a rant/share/funny message. You guys rock.
Also by Laura Barnard
The Debt & the Doormat Series
The Debt & the Doormat
The Baby & the Bride
Porn Money & Wannabe Mummy
One Month Til I Do Series
Adventurous Proposal
Marrying Mr Valentine
Babes of Brighton Series
Excess Baggage
Love Uncovered
Bagging Alice
Standalones
Tequila & Tea Bags
Dopey Women
Road Trip
Once Upon a Wish-mas
Heath, Cliffs & Wandering Hearts
Sex, Snow & Mistletoe (short story)