‘Jo,’ Jo replied, reaching back to take Peter’s arm. ‘And this is my husband, Peter.’

Bella’s mother nodded knowingly. ‘Of course. I can see the resemblance! I’m Lynda.’

Peter shook her hand, before they shuffled into their seats beside Ben and Matt.

‘Who’s giving her away?’ Peter hissed as they sat down.

‘No one, apparently. Bella insisted that she didn’t belong to anyone and therefore she was perfectly capable of giving herself away.’

Peter raised an eyebrow. ‘That bodes well. Still, I suppose if the father’s not on the scene, then it makes some sort of sense.’ Bella had always shut down any conversation relating to her father and Ben had told them simply that he hadn’t been around since she was small.

Jo glanced again over to Bella’s side of the room and she felt a stab of guilt. Ben’s side was almost full. ‘Should we ask some of ours to move over?’ she whispered.

But before Peter could reply, the string quartet struck up with the wedding march and it was too late.

All eyes turned expectantly towards the back of the room, as Bella appeared, walking serenely and confidently down the centre of the aisle, clutching a simple bouquet of velvety white roses with both hands. Jo’s breath caught. She had never seen anyone look quite so exquisitely perfect, as Bella made her way up the aisle towards Ben. Her dress was a cleverly cut style, that clung to her slim figure, yet concealed any sign of a bump. Her long, dark hair shone in loose waves over her shoulders and her subtle make-up only emphasized the dramatic loveliness of her features.

Jo glanced at Ben, who was gazing at Bella adoringly. Their eyes were locked onto each other with such intensity that it felt almost intrusive to be watching. As she drew level with Ben, Bella reached out and took Ben’s hand, still holding his gaze.

Jo nodded to herself. Whatever she felt about Bella, there was no doubting the connection between her and Ben. They all needed to accept now that they were together and support them, instead of dwelling on ‘what ifs’ and unanswered questions.

After the short wedding service, they drove to the smart country restaurant where they were having the reception. It was an embarrassingly one-sided affair, with Bella’s mother the only representative of her family. Jo made a bee-line for Lynda and tried to engage her in conversation, to see if she could find out anything more about her new daughter-in-law, but Lynda was just as evasive on the subject of her background as Bella. ‘Is Bella’s father still alive?’ she ventured, hoping that she would learn something a bit more illuminating than the ‘he’s not on the scene’ that she got from Ben.

Lynda’s face remained impassive. ‘I believe so. We haven’t seen him since Bella was very young.’

Intrigued, Jo nodded encouragingly. ‘Oh, so you’re divorced?’

Lynda’s eyes slid away and she pointed to Ben and Bella, who were mingling with the guests as they waited for dinner to be served. ‘Don’t they make a lovely couple? Ben is a wonderful man.’