‘I will. I love you, sis. Always have, always will.’

Ruby held her gaze as the band got closer and the music got louder. Merrin took the words and sewed them beneath her heart. They were forgiveness for that terrible row that lived in her memory and the conversation that had threatened to damage them. No matter how far away Merrin might stray, she was bound to this woman and this place: a Kellow.

Finding her way back to Miguel, she slipped her hand inside his again. It might have been her imagination, but Merrin felt sure that as the noisy, dancing troupe made their way past the slipway, along Fore Street and up towards the church, all eyes were on her sister before they sought her out, as if she were a separate spectacle entirely. Miguel’s hand was where she found comfort, holding it tightly as they meandered slowly, waving to tourists and the friends and residents of Port Charles who were not already inside the church.

Don’t be stupid, Merrin, no one cares. No one is thinking about that day . . . She swallowed to try and relieve her dry mouth, watching as Miguel moved ahead in the churchyard, turning to wave at her as he and the rest of the group disappeared inside St Michael’s. She felt the absence of him and smiled at Bella.

‘You okay, doll?’ her friend asked.

‘Yep.’ Her voice was steady; her legs, however, shook.

The jazz band played their encore and peeled off to a waiting van, revelling in their triumph. She, Bella, Ruby and her dad hung back and formed a neat square on the patch of tarmac outside of the main church door.

‘Nearly off!’ Her dad raised Ruby’s fingers and kissed them. ‘You look smashing, and God knows I’m fond of Jarvis. This is a wonderful day for an old dad to see.’

Merrin swallowed, thinking of how her day had cost her parents a pretty penny and had come to nothing. Her stomach bunched and she felt the throb of sorrow in her chest.

The church doors were flung open and the breath caught in her throat, but no, there was no sign of the Reverend Pimm with an anxious look and a nervous stutter, no hurried ushering of the bridal party into the vestry. Instead, the dizzy notes of ‘At Last’ floated from the church and Ruby, with an air of calm, confidence and poise, walked on her dad’s arm into the building where her beloved waited for her at the end of the aisle.