Henry let Lily draw him down another aisle, unable and unwilling to take the smile from his face. She had looked so mortified when she’d seen the straws; he shuddered again at the thought of them, that he’d not been able to help himself. She’d looked adorable. He doubted she realized how expressive her features were. The way her cheeks would flush, the way her eyes became large and round, the way her shoulders flew back when she was preparing for a fight, and the way she ducked beneath her hair when she wanted to hide.

It was rare that Henry ever spent so much time around a woman he was attract— A woman, he clarified mentally. Just a woman. Other than Mina or his mother, of course. The last time he’d been with a woman romantically had been … He frowned. When had it been?

He’d dated, of course he had. He’d just never let it go beyond a month or two. He never lied, never cheated and never made promises he wouldn’t or couldn’t keep. It was just easier that way. No one would build expectations of anything more than he was willing to give. Which, on reflection, was very little indeed.

And he knew – he’d known for long enough now – that Lily deserved more than that. More than he was able to give. In just a few short weeks, he’d seen that she deserved it all. The white picket fence, the family, the perfect husband. He was so far from that he couldn’t even see it. Because Hawke’s Cove would never be his, not like it was for Lily.

He watched her walking along the aisle, knowing when she saw something she liked because her eyes lit up. There was even the occasional gasp if she found something beautiful. She traced her fingers on glass candleholders, down trails of fake ivy and paused when she came to a display of what looked like jam jars with baby’s breath nestled inside, plus more of the fake ivy draped on wine barrels and boxes.

He held himself back, because she looked momentarily lost in her own world as she took it all in. He caught the eye of a man who was trailing behind a woman Henry presumed to be his fiancée. The man rolled his eyes at him in rueful sympathy. It was then that Henry realized he and Lily must look like a couple. Like an engaged couple, planning their own wedding. He nodded back, not bothering to try and explain that they weren’t and joined Lily by the display.

‘It’s pretty,’ he commented.

‘It is. V has baby’s breath in her bouquet and these would look beautiful on the tables in the orangery.’

‘Are these fake?’ Henry asked of the flowers.

‘Yes, but I can always get in touch with the woman doing the flowers for the ceremony for more.’