‘I’m not really that keen on the name tag,’ she said. ‘So instead of me being a politician’s wife, perhaps you could see fit to be a shopkeeper’s husband instead. What do you say?’

Charlie laughed in relief. ‘I would say yes, yes and all things yes.’ He dipped his head and kissed her. ‘So long as the wedding ceremony is right here in Willowbury. I wouldn’t want to be accused of taking you away from your roots and principles.’

Holly cocked an eyebrow. ‘Are you sure? Weddings in Willowbury tend to be a little… alternative.’

‘I wouldn’t want it any other way,’ Charlie said. And the deal was sealed with a long, sweet kiss, and a cheer from the residents of the weirdest and wackiest town in Somerset.

Epilogue

Midsummer’s Day – A Year Later

The day could not have been planned any more perfectly, Holly reflected as she smoothed down the skirt of her ivory lace dress. The flower wreath in her hair, created for her by the florist on the High Street, was, for the moment, sitting nicely in her freshly curled dark red tresses. Eschewing any thoughts of a veil, the only other adornment to the dress was a long string of pearls, which trailed down the deep V of the dress’s back and were casually knotted to carry the weight. Despite her mother’s slight stiffening of her lip when she’d tried the dress on, one delicate wing of Holly’s shoulder tattoo peeked out as usual.

‘Are you ready?’ Rachel called from the other bedroom. ‘We’ll have to go in a minute.’

‘Yup, just finishing off,’ Holly replied, adjusting the stem of one of the early roses that sat in the wreath on top of her head.

Rachel appeared at the door of the bedroom, slightly flushed from having to wrestle the now four-year-old Harry into his shirt and trousers. An increasing bundle of energy as he grew older, in part due to the course of new medication that had made a huge difference to his life, he was turning out to be as wilful as his aunt Holly, and had expressed his opinion loudly on the choice and colour of his clothes.

‘You look amazing,’ Rachel sighed as she caught full sight of Holly.

‘It’s incredible what you can find second-hand on Gumtree!’ Holly quipped. ‘And you look pretty cool, too, Harry.’

Harry, who was still to be convinced over the bright purple trousers and white shirt he was wearing, giggled. ‘Mummy says I can put my shorts on after the wedding.’

‘Of course you can,’ Holly replied. ‘As long as you don’t forget to give me back my flower bouquet at the end of the ceremony.’ Holly hadn’t chosen any bridesmaids, so Harry was going to be official holder of flowers while the service was carried out.