One Step at a Time (29 page)

‘Don’t sit down!’ John’s mother caught her arm. ‘You might crease the dress. The car will be here in fifteen minutes.’

‘Right.’ Amy smiled at the mothers with pride. Mrs Sterling was elegant in cream, and Mrs Dalton resplendent in pale blue. ‘You’d better go now or I shall beat you to the church.’

John’s mother picked up her bag and slipped her arm through Mrs Dalton’s. ‘Come along, Jean, we’ll just have time to see that the men are doing their jobs properly.’

‘Jean?’ Amy smothered a giggle. ‘Gosh, I’ve never heard Mrs Dalton’s Christian name before, Ted.’

‘It’s rarely used.’ Ted picked up her bouquet of roses and handed it to her. ‘They seem to be getting on well, don’t they?’

‘Yes, and that’s nice. I think they’ve had a marvellous time making the arrangements together.’

‘I’m sure they have. Ah, here’s the car.’

John watched Amy walk towards him, his heart beating erratically. When he’d bribed her to go to the café with him, on the promise of buying a painting from the shop, he had decided then that she was going to be his. And soon she would be.

He heard his best man, a colleague from the hospital, whistle softly through his teeth.

‘No wonder you were in a hurry, John. She’s really something, isn’t she?’

Without taking his eyes off Amy, John nodded. Harry Tenant was a paediatrician and a damned good one. He’d never seen Amy before, but had readily agreed to be his best man. John could have asked Ben or Howard, but it hadn’t seemed right somehow.

He reached out for her hand as soon as she was close enough, and felt a thrill as her delicate fingers tightened around his. This petite girl always declared that she wasn’t pretty, but in his eyes she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

After smiling at him, she turned and gave her flowers to Mrs Dalton who was in an aisle seat, and the ceremony began.

Everything went as they had rehearsed it, but this time it was for real. They both spoke clearly, without hesitation, secure in their love for each other.

It had been necessary to restrict the amount of guests attending the church because it was so small, but everyone present sang the hymns with enthusiasm.

Soon the vicar was saying that they were now man and wife, and John wanted to swing Amy round and round in sheer joy, but he managed to restrain himself and kiss her briefly. He would rectify that when they were alone at last.

The signing of the register came next, and he watched her, his hand on her shoulder, knowing this was going to be the hardest part for her. Ben had told him that if she was nervous or flustered she
found reading or writing became even more difficult.

She made a perfect job of it and he was so proud of her, but he didn’t miss the quiet sigh of relief when she put down the pen.

‘Well done, my darling.’ He spoke softly. ‘That was excellent.’

Her smile at the praise was radiant, and once again he blessed the day he had walked into their shop in the King’s Road. He had bought a painting and a vase, but he’d found something far more precious: the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Amy couldn’t believe it was all over and she was now Mrs Sterling. The ceremony had gone in a flash, or so it seemed, and the part she had been worried about hadn’t been a problem. She had been afraid that nerves would make her mess up signing the register, but she had managed it quite well by taking her time. How she had improved since her school days.

Taking John’s arm, they walked out of the church and into the sunshine. There had been concern that the outbreak of war would have put a damper on this day, but it hadn’t. Nothing could.

After the photographs had been taken they all went back to the house where more guests were waiting for them. A mouth-watering buffet was enjoyed, then the speeches, toasts and cutting of the cake. Amy had never seen so much food in her life, but was too excited to eat, and she only sipped her drink.

‘This must have cost a fortune,’ she whispered to John. ‘I had no idea it was going to be so lavish. Mrs Dalton wouldn’t tell me what they were planning.’

‘Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.’

‘But I do. I paid for my dress, but Mrs Dalton wouldn’t let me give her anything towards the other things.’

John led her away from everyone to a quieter place in the garden. ‘I can see this is going to fret you, so I’ll explain. This wedding has been a joint effort. My parents have supplied the drink and some of the food; Mrs Dalton the rest of the buffet. Ben bought the cake, Howard paid for the cars and Ted the flowers. They all insisted.’

‘Oh.’ Amy’s eyes misted. ‘They didn’t tell me. Everyone’s been so kind.’

‘That’s because they love you.’ He kissed her firmly. ‘I have paid for the church and the honeymoon.’

‘Are we going away? You’ve been very secretive about what we’re doing.’ Now she was excited again. ‘Where are we going? I’ve never been away for a holiday. Are we going to stay in a guest house or hotel?’

He waited for her questions to stop, highly amused. ‘I was going to take you to Paris, but I changed my mind after war was declared.’

‘Paris!’ Her eyes opened wide. ‘Have you been there?’

‘Yes, several times. It’s a fascinating and beautiful city. I’ll take you there when the war’s over.’

‘I’ll keep you to that.’ Slipping her arms around his waist, she smiled up at him. ‘So where are we going?’

‘I’m not telling. It’s a surprise, but’ – he glanced at his watch – ‘go and change and we can slip away, hopefully without too much fuss.’

‘All right.’ She went upstairs to the room she had used last night, being careful not to trip over her long dress. Mrs Dalton had laid out her going-away clothes, as she called them, on the bed.

Mrs Dalton followed her. ‘Let me help you out of your dress. You looked so lovely today. John’s a lucky man.’ She chatted away happily as she removed the headdress and veil, then the dress.

Amy gave her a hug. ‘Thank you for arranging such a lovely wedding, and the food was wonderful.’

‘We all pitched in.’ Mrs Dalton was flushed with pleasure. ‘Had to see our little girl married in style, didn’t we?’

She bustled about packing the dress carefully in a large box, and then left Amy to wash and put on her new outfit.

Everything was new, right down to the underwear, which was silky and delicate. Amy couldn’t help comparing it to the garments they made in the factory all that time ago, but these were much better. Her dress was pale lemon with a narrow ribbon of white lace around the neck and short sleeves. She had also gone mad and bought a beige woollen jacket in case it turned chilly, and a hat to match. It all looked very smart, and she was glad she had saved her money so
there had been enough in her old teapot to buy all this. Especially now they were going away! She couldn’t resist a little jig of pleasure. She had thought he had something planned, but he had stubbornly refused to tell her anything.

With one last glance in the mirror, she made her way downstairs again, to find John waiting for her. ‘How long are we going for?’

‘Four days is all I can manage.’

‘Oh, I’ll need to take more clothes with me.’

‘It’s already done. Mrs Dalton packed a case for you and it’s in the car.’

‘Well I never! You have all been keeping secrets, haven’t you?’

Hearing a chuckle behind her, she turned to see Ben and Howard waiting.

‘I should slip away now, John,’ Ben said. ‘While everyone’s still eating and drinking.’

Amy hugged both of them, then whispered imploringly, ‘Don’t leave until we’re back, will you?’

‘We won’t,’ Ben promised. ‘You both enjoy yourselves, and don’t give anything else a thought, will you?’

‘We won’t.’ John took her arm and they crept out of the front door.

If they thought they were going to slip away unnoticed, then they were mistaken. The car, festooned with ribbons, had a large notice on the back – ‘Just Married’ – and a string of tin cans tied to the bumper.

John muttered under his breath as he caught hold of Amy’s hand and made a dash for the car. ‘Quick!’

Their effort to avoid the confetti was useless; the guests had formed a solid line all the way to the car. Running the gauntlet, they were smothered from head to toe in brightly coloured pieces of paper.

John bundled Amy in, shut the door firmly and rushed round to the driver’s side. ‘Don’t open the window!’ he shouted as he leapt in the car.

But it was too late. Amy, thoroughly enjoying the fun, had wound down her window to wave at everyone. Her mistake instantly became obvious as a hand shot in and filled the car with confetti.

Putting his foot down hard, John roared up the road, the cans clattering behind, and the wedding party shouting at the tops of their voices.

Once out of sight of the house, John screeched to a halt, jumped out, a penknife already in his hand, and cut off the notice and the cans.

Amy joined him, almost helpless with laughter, and began removing the ribbons.

When the car looked respectable again, John grinned at her. ‘Well, Mrs Sterling, everyone’s going to know we’re just married. You’re covered in the stuff.’

‘So are you.’ She reached up and began to pick bits out of his hair. ‘And I don’t care who knows. It was a wonderful wedding, and I’m so very happy to be Mrs Sterling.’

‘Oh, my lovely girl.’ He gathered her into his arms.
‘I must have done something really good in this life to have deserved you.’

‘Me too,’ she murmured, holding on tightly.

He held her away so he could look into her eyes. ‘Let’s forget about the confetti and go on honeymoon. I can’t wait to make love with you.’

‘Nor me.’

They scrambled back in the car, not caring about the mess, eager to get away so they could be alone at last.

‘We’re going to the Isle of Wight?’ Amy couldn’t contain her excitement as John drove on to the ferry. ‘Have you been there? What’s it like?’

‘Small.’ He helped her out of the car. ‘Come on, let’s go on deck.’

‘I’m gasping for a cup of tea.’ Her mouth was dry after the champagne, though in truth she hadn’t drunk much. Seeing Ben with that gleam of devilment in his eyes had been enough to make her careful and not overdo it. But she hadn’t eaten either, and now her stomach felt quite empty. ‘And perhaps a sandwich?’

‘I expect they’ve got something, but if not it’s only a short journey. We can find a café in Shanklin.’

Amy had never been on a boat before and rushed to the rail, fascinated by the sea. No matter how desperate she was for a cup of tea, John couldn’t persuade her inside.

Watching the different colours as the boat carved
its way through the small waves, she couldn’t help thinking of her father. Was this how he’d felt about the sea, longing to sail away again after only a couple of weeks at home? She closed her eyes for a moment, realizing that the horror of his hanging no longer caused her pain, only sadness that it should have happened to him. She had taken another step forward by letting go of the past.

‘You’re very quiet, darling.’ John bent his head to look at her. ‘What are you thinking about?’

‘The sea is very beautiful and I was wondering if my father felt a love for it.’

‘I expect he did.’ He pulled her close. ‘Does it still hurt?’

‘No.’ She smiled. ‘No it doesn’t. It was terrible, but I’ve moved on now.’

‘Good.’ John pointed ahead. ‘Look, we’re coming into dock.’

‘Oh, so soon!’ Everything else was pushed out of her mind in the excitement of seeing a new place. She sighed blissfully. So many new things to see and experience, and all with the man she adored. She had thought she might be apprehensive about their first night together, but she wasn’t. There wouldn’t be anything to worry about with John, and she couldn’t wait to be his wife in every way.

As soon as the boat had docked, they drove off and made for a café right on the seafront. There they had a pot of tea and cakes. With her thirst quenched at last, they got back in the car. John headed a little
way along the coast and stopped at a small whitewashed hotel.

She beamed at him. ‘Are we staying here?’

He nodded. ‘What do you think of it?’

‘Oh, it’s pretty, and right by the sea.’

‘One of the doctors at the hospital recommended it. He said it was comfortable and the food was excellent.’

They tried to brush off most of the confetti before checking in, but there were still little pieces clinging to them. Amy decided that, as soon as she could, she would find an envelope and put some in as a souvenir of this special day.

The inside of the hotel was bright, homely and not too grand, she was pleased to see. It was all right for John, but this was new to her. While he was signing the register, she peered through a door at the dining room. The tables were beautifully set out for dinner with spotless white tablecloths and a small vase of flowers on each one.

A man came from behind the desk and picked up their cases, his lips twitching when a couple of small silver horseshoes fell off them. ‘I’ll show you to your room, Dr and Mrs Sterling.’

He led them up two flights of stairs and to the end of a short corridor. He opened a door and waited for them to enter. ‘There you are, sir. A nice quiet room for you, and there’s a bathroom next door.’

‘Thank you.’ John’s gaze swept around the room. ‘This will do very nicely.’

‘I’m sure you will be very comfortable, and if
there’s anything you need, please ask.’ He put the cases beside the bed.

Amy watched John give him a tip, and as soon as the door had closed and they were alone, John reached for her.

‘Come and kiss me before I die of frustration.’

She rushed into his arms, just as eager, and in no time at all they were naked and on the bed, lost in the need and passion for each other.

Making love was even more wonderful than she had imagined. As this was her first time, John tried to take it slowly, but she felt only pleasure. When this became obvious, all restraint was abandoned.

Wrapped in his arms afterwards, she sighed and smiled up at him.

He kissed her nose, pulling a face. ‘Oh, damn, I meant to take it easy and leave it until after dinner. I had it all planned. A nice relaxing meal, then a stroll along the seafront before returning to our room, where I was going to undress you slowly, then lay you on the bed and love you. Instead of that, as soon as we were alone, all my plans were forgotten, because I love you so much, my darling.’