As soon as we walk in, Starship’s ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ pipes up. I start to laugh and look for Bridget, who’s grinning back at me from the front of the room. This is one of the songs they played at our first eighties club night, and I squealed when it came on again last night. She starts to melodramatically lip-sync to the words and I really want to join in, but then she suddenly seems to realise she’s being completely inappropriate and gathers herself together.

Alex smiles at me when we reach the front.

‘I love you,’ he mouths, squeezing my hand.

‘I love you, too,’ I mouth back, tears filling my eyes. He’s not letting me go, even though my hand is clammy.

And then we both turn to face the beaming registrar.

Ten minutes later, we’re married.

Later the following year…

We’re lying on our sides, facing each other, the lights in the room dimmed right down. It all happened so quickly, at the end. I can’t actually believe we did it. I did it.

Alex runs his hand gently over the head of our tiny sleeping son, nestled between us. His eyes are blue.

‘All babies’ eyes are blue at first,’ he said earlier.

‘Our son’s eyes will be blue,’ I replied determinedly.

‘Okay, I’ll give you that, as long as our daughter’s eyes are green like yours,’ he stipulated.

I stare down at her now, emotion catching in my throat as I brush my finger across her tiny cheek. Not one, but two babies. Twins. Theo and Abigail.

I meet Alex’s eyes, which are swimming with joy and pride as he stares back at me. I tear my eyes away from my adoring husband and look down at the tiny sleeping bundles again, my heart threatening to burst with more love than I ever thought a human being could be capable of feeling.

Fate finally got it right.

And the timing was absolutely perfect.

‘The Last Piece of My Heart’ Excerpt

Read on for an extract Paige Toon’s beautiful new novel, out now

The Last Piece of My Heart

Prologue

Prologue

The problem with giving your heart away to someone is that you never fully get it back. Long after you’ve fallen out of love with them, they still own a little piece of you. That’s why first love is always the strongest: it’s the only time you ever love wholeheartedly. And I do mean that literally.

I came up with this theory a few years ago when I was belatedly reflecting on why on earth I had ever broken up with David, my boyfriend at university. He was great, but something was missing, so I called it off and started a new search for the complete package. Over a decade later, I’m still looking.