Love at the Little Wedding Shop by the Sea - Jane Linfoot Page 0,141

in Australia?’

Nic smiles. ‘I found a very good skipper to step in for me. As for us, not wanting to resort to bribery here, but maybe we could get our very own puppy to sit by our fire with us. Or better still, find another Merwyn from a rescue?’

‘I do love you so much, Nicolson Trendell.’ I’m laughing across at him. ‘For all of that. Somehow I doubt we’ll ever find a dog with quite as much side-eye as Merwyn. But yes please to all of it.’

He’s smiling down at me. ‘And you do want babies too? Kids of our own?’

I’m laughing at how, after all the holding back, he’s all over this now. ‘You do realise you’ll need a whole new manual for those?’

He’s grinning back at me. ‘And a cottage to keep them in might be handy. With a view of the sea, obviously. And maybe a jetty to tie up the boats.’

‘So long as we’re together and in love with each other, I don’t mind about any of the rest.’ My face is aching with all the smiling. ‘You know, Jess said Brides by the Sea works its magic, and it has done for us hasn’t it?’

‘It has.’ He gives a shamefaced grin. ‘I really won’t mind helping you with Brides Go Wild rather than delivering boats.’

I can’t help laughing at the change in him. ‘You really love your weddings, don’t you?’

He grimaces. ‘I haven’t given up on boats altogether. In fact, I’ve got something to show you, over there.’ He takes my hand, leads me down towards the end walkway, and stops by the second largest boat in the harbour. ‘So what do you think of her?’

‘That’s not Snow Goose?’ The rigging and the mast are similar, but the shape and the colour are different. For a non-boat-y person, I’m proud of that summing up.

There’s a smile playing around Nic’s lips. ‘No, this one’s got a better bathroom and a much bigger bed. It came in a couple of days ago and, so long as you like it, it will be ours.’ His face breaks into a beam. ‘See what you think of the name.’

I’m walking along the quayside, and when I come to the back of the boat and read the neatly painted letters, I let out a cry. ‘Milla Vanilla? How cool is that? You called it after me!’

‘I hope that’s okay? You know what a boat fiend I am. It was the best way I could think of to show you I was here for good, that we’re going to be forever.’

I’ve got tingles running up and down my spine. ‘It’s amazing. How am I ever going to get back at you for that?’

He laughs and pulls me into another kiss that leaves my knees collapsing. Then, when he finally lets me go again, he grins down at me. ‘I can think of a way, but let’s leave the serious stuff for further down the line. There are so many things we need to do before that. First, I need to kiss you some more … and take you to bed, like, immediately … And, back in February, I offered to make you pancakes and you still haven’t had those.’

As I rub my palm over his face, I feel like I’m going to burst with happiness. ‘And best of all, I think my mum would approve of all of that.’

He laughs again. ‘Are you ready for me to carry you onboard then? I reckon it’s time to try out this enormous bed.’ He sends me a wink. ‘Luckily for me, you came in your pyjamas. Unless you’d rather have breakfast first?’

I’m laughing back at him. ‘After so long keeping my hands off you, breakfast will have to wait!’

And as this wonderful man who almost slipped away takes me by the hand and leads me down to the jetty, I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. I know we couldn’t be any happier or more in love. And I know I’m going to love Nic as long as there are stars above us. And longer too.

P.S.

Happy endings come in all shapes and sizes. For anyone wanting a home-shaped happy ending, Nic and I move into Anemone Cottage on the Harbourside just in time for Christmas. We’re really sad to say goodbye to the little attic flat at Brides by the Sea, but it’s worked its charm for us, and we know we have to move on. And hopefully someone else will move