Page 148 of Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye

“Well, if Italian soldiers can make beautiful lights out of corned beef cans, I can create a ring from sewing supplies.”

Tarquin chuckled as she started winding the thin strip of fabric around and around his left ring finger. “But, Ley, do blokes actually wear engagement rings?”

“Some do!” She tucked the end into one of the layers of fabric. “Ta-da! We’re engaged!”

Tarquin marveled at his hand like she had given him a rare, priceless gem. “Now, come here, future wifey.” He bent down and helped Leia up. “You need a kiss worthy of a—” His happy gaze soured as it skirted her outfit. “Oh, bugger, your dress.”

Leia clutched her coat, slipping from her shoulders, and glanced down. A knee-sized blob of mud and several grassy smudges soiled the white silk. She shrugged. “I don’t care. It was worth it! Kiss me!”

Tarquin leaned in and cupped her face, his mouth gently claiming her lips. Leia curled her arms around his neck and urged him closer as her tongue teased, eliciting a groan of pure pleasure from her fiancé.

“Oh, Leia.” He sighed. “I’m going to buy you the most beautiful diamond—and don’t you dare say no! I’m so going to spoil you, my future Mrs. Balfour.”

“I can’t believe I proposed to you—Mr. Scott!”

He threw his arms around her, lifting her up. “Hey! I got a great idea! Let’s do it tonight?”

“Get married?”

“Yeah! Why fanny about? The vicar’s still at the party! You’re in this beautiful white, albeit muddy, dress”—he chuckled, setting her back on the ground—“and I’m in a tux. We already look like a bride and groom!”

Leia ogled their outfits. “Oh, my god, we do! But I’d hate to steal Simon and Freddie’s thunder.” She pressed her lips tight as something tiny and wet landed in her lashes. “Plus, I’d want Dad here. And I’d really like Ava and Poppy to be our flower girls.”

He nodded. “There is that.”

“Let’s not tell anyone. At least for a bit?” Leia grabbed his hands and kissed him. “Keep it just for us?”

A smile played with his lips. “Ooh, that’s hot! A secret fiancée!”

She gazed into Tarquin’s eyes as a sprinkling of snowflakes danced between them. Her face lit up, all glowing and sparkly, like Alex and Mark’s Christmas trees back in their warm apartment. “It’s snowing! You said it never snows!”

“It doesn’t, not really…but I put in a word with Mother Nature, just for you.” He leaned in, kissing her on the lips again and again until Leia pulled away laughing. “Sorry, but I just can’t stop snogging you! It’s so amazing! Leia, we’re getting married! We’re moving to New York! Two things I did NOT expect to say when I woke up this morning!” He chuckled. “How soon do you have to be back?”

“Right after the holidays.”

“So we could still do Christmas and your birthday here, then? With Sarah and your dad?”

“Or on Orkney?” Leia bit her lip. “Maybe Jordan could rent a car and the three of them could take the ferry over?”

“Great idea! We could show them all the sights.”

“You could play Santa for Ava and Poppy, and I’d get to watch that weird male bonding ritual you call the Ba’.”

“Admit it.” He thrust out his chest. “All that Orcadian testosterone turns you on, doesn’t it?”

Leia giggled. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I can think of a few things.” Tarquin winked.

Epilogue

“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.”

Mary Davis

LEIA

One year and ten days later, Thursday, December 31, 2020