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He loved her.
Loved her enough to put her before the job she thought was his life.
And he was telling her that she could have it all. She didn’t have to wrench herself away from their family, she didn’t have to give up her job to follow him—this time, he was making the changes. He’d found a compromise that would work for both of them. And he wanted to marry her again.
All she had to do was say yes.
‘You shouldn’t have to do all the compromising,’ she said.
‘You did all the compromising last time,’ he said. ‘So I think it’s my turn.’
‘Not necessarily,’ she said. ‘Maybe I could open a branch of Scott’s in Norwich and run all the admin from there. Then you wouldn’t have such a long commute.’
He coughed. ‘Abby, that was a yes or no question. And you’re killing me, making me wait for the answer. I’m not promising you perfection, because I’m only human. But I’ll try my hardest not to let you down again. To be a much better husband than I was before and a good dad. I love you. Nobody else has ever come close to making me feel the way I feel about you.’ He looked up at her, his eyes dark and beseeching. ‘Will you marry me again? Make a family with me and our baby?’
She took his hand and drew him to his feet. ‘I love you, too. Always have and always will. Yes, I’ll marry you.’
He wrapped his arms round her and kissed her lingeringly. ‘I was so scared you’d say no.’
‘I never have been able to resist you, Brad. But it took me a long while to pick myself up again when you filed for divorce.’
‘It was the worst mistake of my life,’ he said. ‘No more hair shirts and no more white chargers.’
‘Agreed.’ She paused. ‘Though, this time round, I think we owe our family the party we deprived them of last time.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘And your sister gets to be my bridesmaid.’ She smiled. ‘And we pour a glass of champagne on your dad’s grave so Jim gets to share it, too.’
‘I’d like that.’ He kissed her. ‘All that time we wasted... We’ve got some making up to do.’
She grinned as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her out of the kitchen. ‘I thought you’d never ask...’
EPILOGUE
A year later
‘OK. YOU’RE DONE,’ Gina, the hairdresser, said with a smile.
Abby looked at her reflection. ‘I can barely believe this is me.’
‘Wait until you’ve got the dress and shoes on,’ Ruby said.
‘Mummy looks amazing, doesn’t she, Jessie?’ Annie said, cuddling her granddaughter.
The baby gurgled, as if to agree, and everyone smiled.
Ruby helped Abby into her dress, straightened her veil and then stood back. ‘Wow. You look amazing.’
Abby’s dress was cream, with a full-length tulle skirt, and a bodice of raw silk with a spray of roses across it.
‘So do you,’ Abby said. Ruby’s dress was similar to Abby’s, but in duck-egg blue.
Ruby hugged her. ‘I’m so thrilled to be getting my sister back. Not that I ever didn’t see you as my sister. And I still can’t believe you got back together with Brad at my wedding.’
‘Contagious things, weddings,’ Abby said with a grin, and hugged her back.
There was a knock on the door. ‘Am I allowed in?’ Stuart asked.
‘Sure. It’s just the bridegroom who’s not allowed,’ Ruby said.
Stuart came in with a large box. ‘Flowers.’
Both Abby and Ruby had simple bouquets of cream roses and there was also a single red rose from Brad.
I love you and I can’t wait to marry you.
Abby blinked away the tears. She couldn’t wait to marry him, too.
‘You look beautiful, love,’ Stuart said. ‘Let’s go downstairs and have a glass of champagne while we’re waiting for the cars. And I need a cuddle from this young lady here.’ He scooped Jessica from his wife’s arms and blew a raspberry at the baby, who chuckled and waved her hands in glee.
Once the cars had arrived and Annie, Jessica and Ruby had left, Stuart looked at his daughter. ‘You and Brad seem settled,’ he said quietly, ‘but I need to know you’re sure about this.’
