‘Three little words,’ she said, not taking her eyes off him. Wanting him, needing him to feel her words as much as hear them. ‘They’re said millions of times a day, all over the world, in hundreds of different languages. Their meaning is shown a thousand different ways, in a touch, a hug, a kiss. They’re said in private, in thought, in secret … whispered, said out loud, screamed from the rooftops and written in the sky. They’re said to those both underserving and deserving. They’re said between friends,’ she said, looking out at Zoe and Malie, and then back to Victoria. ‘They’re said between family and lovers.’ She looked at Ollie, Todd and Finn, who had become part of her family too.

‘But the greatest crime of all, would be not to say them at all. Today V and Oliver declared their love in front of you. They shared their love with you. And we are all greater for it. Because love isn’t something to hide from. It’s something to be given freely and willingly. It’s given with trust, and with a leap of faith.’

She turned her gaze back to Henry, seeing his eyes sparkle, feeling the power of the connection between them, seeing the rise and fall of his chest as he took a deep breath, as if understanding what it was she was trying to say.

‘Life is short. We know that,’ she said sadly, thinking of Blake, of her father, even of Claudia. ‘So find your person, turn to them. Look at them, so that they know you see them – the entirety of them – so that they fully understand, believe and accept it when you say … I love you.’

The half sob that rose in Lily’s chest was drowned out by eighty voices gently cresting over each other, filling the orangery with words of love. Goosebumps swept over her skin in waves as people laughed and cried and shared the greatest gift a person could give. The room erupted into a thunderous round of applause and Victoria dragged Ollie by his tie into a passionate kiss, Malie wiped her eyes, not even caring about her mascara, her hand sneaking around Todd’s neck and pulling him to her, and Zoe leaned into the crook of Finn’s arm. But Lily had eyes for nobody other than Henry. And instead of taking her seat, she made her way past the tables and guests who were already lost in each other and felt the beat of her heart, only for him.

Up until that moment – the moment he finally laid eyes on Lily – Henry had felt utterly exhausted. Physically, emotionally, mentally even. But as he’d heard her voice ring out, clear and true, calling for the guests to declare their love for each other, to claim it and to own it, it had cut through all the tiredness caused by the last forty-eight hours.