‘They are. Really lovely. He adores her so much. Well, obviously she does him but when he looks at her…’

‘Yep. He’d do anything for her. That’s pretty obvious.’

‘Yes. And I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier. I suppose part of me didn’t want Izzy and Rob thinking anything was going on.’

‘Wow, I’m that bad.’ It was a statement rather than a question, which he spoke with a chuckle.

‘No, it’s not that. It’s just…’

Lorcan turned his head as we waited at a red light.

‘Just?’

A beep from behind us caused Lorcan to glance in the rear-view mirror, saving me momentarily from answering. Silence drifted down like a blanket over the interior of the car.

‘I’m waiting for the “it’s not you, it’s me”,’ he said, glancing briefly across. In the low-lit intimacy of the car’s luxurious interior I could hear the smile in his voice.

‘Oh, no. It’s definitely you.’

His laughter wrapped itself around me and I felt myself relax into the soft leather of the car seat as we continued in the darkness.

* * *

The leaves on the village green’s trees burned orange and gold before falling, leaving the bare branches to fare against the winter chill. I’d finally seen the sense in Tom’s suggestion of fixing my roof before the winter set in and scraped together a deposit for him to satisfy my reservations. I’d been pleased to see him out a couple of times walking with a petite blonde woman, his arm wrapped around her waist, both of them bundled up against the weather.

‘Looks like you hesitated too long with old Tom,’ Lorcan had teased as he’d entered my cottage one frosty morning, both of us waving to the couple as he came in.

‘They look sweet together,’ I’d replied, pleased to see that Tom had found someone. He was a good man and deserved his affections returned.

‘They do that,’ Lorcan had replied, before heading through to my kitchen to see if Betty had delivered any more goodies recently. Between Lorcan’s unexpectedly regular company, and a rapidly filling work diary, the weeks passed quickly until the big day was almost upon us.

* * *

‘Oh my God! I can’t believe it’s nearly here!’ Peyton squealed in a tone so high I was sure several local dogs were currently looking around with confused expressions.

‘Want to take it down a notch, there, Pey?’ Lorcan asked as Bod looked up, slightly stunned.

‘Oh! Oh, yes, sorry, Bod, sweetie,’ she said, petting the little dog and making baby noises at him, telling him how cute he was, which Bod was making the most of.

‘She’s allowed to be excited about her wedding day, Lorcan,’ I pointed out as we sat in my garden studio and ran through the list for the final time, double and triple-checking.