By the time they all regrouped at the bottom of the stairs, the photographer already had at least five new stunning shots for her website, the bride and groom would have pictures they would cherish for the rest of their lives, and the bridesmaids had memories that they would never forget.

Distracted by the perfect moment, it took a while for Lily to notice the slightly worried conversation between Malie and Zoe that soon included Victoria.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

‘Nothing,’ Victoria replied, although clearly it was something. Zoe was still frowning, and Malie looked torn.

‘It’s really not anything, but V thought it would be nice to have Todd and Finn walk with us down the aisle, and we thought that maybe …’

‘Henry might be here to walk me down too,’ Lily concluded a little sadly. ‘It’s OK,’ she insisted, ‘just because he’s not here, doesn’t mean that has to change.’

‘If Lils is walking down the aisle on her own, so am I. And before you say anything,’ Zoe rushed on, ‘I am perfectly capable of wheeling myself down that aisle.’ She was adamant.

‘But you don’t have to,’ insisted Lily.

‘You’re right, I don’t have to. But I want to.’

Lily felt her heart pressing against her ribs and tears beginning to well in her eyes. She reached out and placed a hand on Zoe’s arm. Zoe had taken Malie’s hand in hers, while Malie had her arm around Victoria’s shoulders. Victoria entwined her fingers with Malie’s own.

They stayed like that for a moment, connected, until Ellen cleared her throat impatiently. They turned to find a look of pure indulgence from Stella and saw David repeatedly dabbing his eyes. Zoe and Malie fired off texts to their partners, giving them an update on the procession, then tucked their phones back into their bags and left them by the doors.

‘Is he going to be OK?’ Zoe asked Victoria in a hushed voice, referring to the bride’s father.

‘Probably not, no,’ she said with more love than sincerity. ‘Come on, Dad, we can’t be late.’

The photographer scurried out of the hallway to get herself in place to take the best shot of the bride arriving.

‘What does it look like?’ Malie whispered to Lily.

‘You haven’t seen it?’ Lily asked, shocked.

‘We went straight up to the suite, so didn’t have time.’

‘Oh,’ said Lily, secretly pleased. ‘Then you tell me.’

She led the party from the hall’s back doorway and out towards the bank of grass that looked out over to where the vineyards dropped away to reveal the bay and the sea beyond.

Zoe gasped, Malie gently cursed, and Victoria stopped in her tracks. Even Stella squealed a little at the beautiful sight before her.