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Back Where The Story Starts Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  65. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ray reached for Leah, taking her in his arms and supporting her head carefully, but then he shifted off the bench and dropped to one knee, sitting Leah on the other whilst he supported her back so that she didn’t fall.

‘Melissa Jackson,’ he said, with a wink, a mischievous grin on his face. ‘Would you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’

Melissa’s breath came fast as her heart banged in her chest. She felt dizzy and she had to steady herself by placing a hand on his shoulder. This was it. The moment that she had always dreamt of. She was going to be a wife and everything was going to be perfect.

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I will.’

19

19

MELISSA – THEN

When Melissa wasn’t dealing with baby Leah (which seemed to take an inordinate amount of time considering how very small her daughter was), she was planning her wedding. Since Ray had proposed, her head had been filled with dresses and bridesmaids and cars and flowers. She couldn’t imagine what she’d ever found to think about before. Her mind must have been a huge void just waiting to be filled with weddingy thoughts.

She had seen the most beautiful dress in Pronuptia in Newcastle. It was a true white, not that insipid cream that seemed to be creeping in to bridal design and which wasn’t, at least to Melissa’s mind, the thing at all. This dress, ‘her’ dress as she liked to think of it, was constructed (that seemed to be the only word for it) from layer upon layer of lace and frill. The skirts were no doubt supported by endless hoops and petticoats as the dress appeared to defy gravity, but Melissa could only guess about that. Of course, she hadn’t been into the shop to try it on. She knew she’d never be able to afford it and she couldn’t bear the snotty disdain of the shop assistants who would spot a time-waster at twenty paces. But she had stood on the pavement outside the shop and stared up at it in the window, trying to commit it to memory so that she could describe the design, in full detail, to Auntie Kathleen, who had a talent for deconstructing clothing with her eye and then recreating it. She could make Melissa a copy of the dress, no problem, and if Melissa played her cards right, Auntie K would give it to her as a wedding present.

Then there was the church to book and somewhere to have a reception. The football club in town would be perfect, she thought. They had a big function room and they did a cracking finger buffet. Melissa could probably negotiate a special rate, not that she was trying to skimp on their wedding, but every penny saved was money they could spend on things for Leah. Babies were so expensive, she was discovering.