‘In the short time I’ve known him, I’ve grown to love Adam. Before he proposed to Anna, he asked me for her hand in marriage; not a lot of young men would do that nowadays and I appreciated the gesture. Anna’s dad would greatly have appreciated the gesture too and I know that he’d be just as fond of Adam.’ I nodded. ‘But the most important thing of all is that they love each other, and any fool can see that they do.’

‘Even me.’ Josh raised his glass.

‘A toast. To Mr and Mrs Curtis.’

Mrs Curtis.

I couldn’t stop smiling.

It was time for the first dance. We had told Josh and Nell what our song would be and why, but I’d wanted it to be a surprise for Mum and Nan. We’d chosen ‘Love Me Tender’. Adam took me in his arms and we swayed along, intermittently kissing. After the first few bars I watched as Josh strode purposefully towards Nell. Even if it hadn’t been tradition for the best man to dance with the chief bridesmaid, he would have wanted to. Nan was sitting on the edge of the dance floor, wearing such a wistful expression that Josh hesitated as he passed her. With one last, lingering glance at Nell, he offered Nan his hand. Her face lit up as Josh led her onto the dance floor.

Smiling, I broke away from Adam and beckoned for Mum to come and dance with me while Adam did the same to Nell.

I couldn’t take my eyes off Adam as he twirled Nell around the dance floor and I remember now with clarity the happiness that filled me as I watched them.

My husband. My best friend.

I never thought I’d lose him.

Never thought I’d lose them both.

Part Two

‘We can’t always fix things for those we love.’

PATRICIA ADLINGTON – ANNA’S MUM

Chapter Fourteen

Adam

There was a pub called The Star. It was a bit of a dump but when I had first moved here, over two years ago now, the name had made me smile when I’d driven past it.

‘Fancy going out for a drink?’ I had asked Anna when I arrived home. ‘You’ve a pub named after you, Star!’

‘I’m living the dream,’ she had laughed.

The floors were always sticky and the very fabric of the place stank of cigarettes, but still we came regularly with Josh and Nell to play pool. Not many pubs had games rooms anymore, or dark wooden beams that striped the ceiling. It was a contrast to the other local pubs that were part of a chain. Here, we were largely ignored by the older clientele who perched on stools at the bar, nursing frothy pints of ale, leaving us to sprawl in front of the crackling fire and chat without too-loud music or extortionately priced beers.