Nicky had to stop herself replying that they all wished so, too.

Ronnie, realizing she was the only one left at the table, looked round in surprise, her eyes alighting on an almost full bottle which she scooped up and put under her arm. ‘Waste not, want not, as Gran would say. Where is Gran, by the way?’

‘She went to bed an hour ago, as did almost everyone else,’ pointed out Nicky. ‘Come on, Mum. It’s after one. The staff are waiting to clear.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Ronnie, in a tone that implied this was not one of her usual considerations. ‘We wouldn’t want to keep the staff waiting, now would we?’

Jean-Christophe was almost the last off duty, but not quite. He was about to head for his van when he noticed Sophie, half hiding in the corridor, looking pale and tired and clearly waiting for Ronnie to finally go up to bed. Even now at after one, she was clutching one of her lists and trying not to fall asleep on her feet.

‘Sophie!’ he called softly, taking the list out of her hand and putting it down on the table. ‘When the celebrations are over – if you haven’t fired me by then – I would be honoured to cook you a proper vegetarian dinner.’

Sophie’s tiredness dropped away, replaced by a twinkling flirtatiousness. ‘Jean-Christophe,’ she replied with absolutely no attempt at maidenly modesty. ‘I thought you’d never ask! I was wondering if I ought to dance naked along the riverbank while you were fishing!’

‘Don’t let me discourage you,’ he grinned, pulling her firmly into his arms and kissing her.

Sophie responded with enthusiasm, deciding this wasn’t the moment to reveal her recent fantasy about enjoying a really good steak.

Twenty-Eight

Sophie woke early and rushed over to pull the curtains. Her first thought was to thank heaven that it was a gorgeous day for their first wedding. Her second was to remember that Jean-Christophe had finally kissed her.

Even at this hour the sky was a deep blue, dotted with a few small, high clouds. There was a strange-shaped one on the far horizon she wasn’t so happy about, but it would probably blow over soon. Down below she could see Meredith out with Nelly, frisking happily along the riverbank.

What would it be like to be Nicky, waking up this morning knowing you were going to vow to love someone forever? Sophie thought of her father and Amanda, and the hurt and distant look that still clouded her mother’s eyes when she thought of him. Love didn’t seem a very reliable prop to lean your life on.

She took a deep breath and blanked out the thought. Weddings were an act of faith and for a lot of people marriage was the most nurturing, healing and fulfilling thing in their lives.

You just had to choose the right person to fall in love with.