Unplugged (37 page)

CHAPTER
37

CHRISTMAS 2014

CERYS

“
I’m a real princess!” shrieks Ella as she runs across the snow-covered grounds. “I’m staying in a castle!”

“
We’re not staying in the castle, Ella, but in a cottage,” I tell her.

The Norman castle set in the Welsh countryside close to the beach is worthy of a fairy
tale. The privacy we can achieve here and the fact it’s close enough to St Davids and Liam’s family made the location an obvious choice to get married. That and Ella’s opinion that a castle would be the most romantic place for her mum to marry Liam.

Liam drags a
large suitcase out of the car as I run to keep up with the excited girl heading across the wooden bridge into the grey walled castle bailey. Liam grabs my hand and pulls me back.

“
Have you persuaded her to wear the bridesmaid dress yet?”

I shove him in the chest.
“All your bloody fault! You were the one that said she could wear her Elsa costume.”

“
I didn’t think she’d take me seriously.”

“
One day, you’ll learn,” I mutter.

“
Naw, well I don’t care. She can wear her cat pyjamas for all I care, as long as you’re there.”

We follow Ella
’s footprints across the snow-covered gardens and reach the stone cottage where the footprints stop at the door. I find her in one of the bedrooms of the renovated cottage, lying on one of the beds staring up at the wooden beamed ceiling.

“
Shoes off, missy!” I say and sit next to her.

“
I’m sleeping here,” she announces.

“
Tonight you are, but tomorrow you’re staying with Linda and Jim.”

“And then I can come back?”

“
And then we’ll go back to London for Christmas, remember?”

“
And then you’ll stay with Emily while your mummy and me have a holiday,” says Liam from the doorway.

“
Honeymoon,” Ella corrects him.

This time last year, I stayed with Ella at Liam
’s parents, not knowing what the future held for us. This Christmas, I’m attending a wedding at Manorbier Castle. Our wedding.

Liam
’s mouth tugs into a smile at Ella’s words. “Honeymoon. Since I’m not allowed to stay here tonight, are you going to make sure Mummy looks extra pretty for tomorrow?”

“
Mummy always looks pretty.”

“
And you’ll wear the special dress that matches Auntie Louise’s?” he asks.

Feigning deafness, Ella opens her small rucksack and begins arranging her dolls on the pillow.

“Ella?” asks Liam

“
Yes…” she sighs and gives an eye roll worthy of any teenager. “Now, I’m unpacking.”

Liam beckons me toward him with one finger and we leave the room for the small lounge. Two red
velvet sofas are arranged in front of a small fireplace, old portraits of past castle owners hang on the distressed white painted walls either side.

“
So I’m not allowed to stay?” asks Liam, sitting on one of the sofas and stretching his legs in front of him.

“
No, so don’t make yourself comfortable. You’ll see me tomorrow.”

I wish I could bottle the happiness emanating from Liam
’s smile because it fills the room. “I sure will.”

Louise appears in the doorway
, wrapped up in a thick grey coat, holding the handle of a large, wheeled suitcase. “Oh! You! Out! What’s he doing here?”

“
Dropping Cerys and Ella off, don’t worry, I’m not staying,” says Liam with a sigh.

“
Damn straight you’re not, go in the other room while I bring Cerys’s dress in! You can’t see!” demands Louise.

“
Lou, it’s covered in a garment bag,” I say. “He won’t be able to see anything.”

She ignores.
“Okay. Liam, I want you gone so I can spend my last afternoon and evening with Cerys before she becomes my sister-in-law.”

“
Fine! Sheesh!” Liam stands and heads toward the door. As he reaches me, he slides his hands behind and cups my backside as he presses his mouth to mine again. The nerves about tomorrow disappear with his kiss, soft mouth moving against mine, calming me by pulling me into the peace of our world.

A cushion hits the back of my head
, thrown by Louise. “You have the rest of your lives to do that. Put my brother down and help me out.”

Liam kisses my nose.
“See you tomorrow, beautiful girl.”

Liam Oliver walks away from the cottage
, and the realisation tomorrow I’ll be Cerys Oliver hits again.

“
First things first,” says Lou from behind, “Wine!”

“
Maybe bring everything inside first? Before you get too drunk to navigate the snow?”

A huffing Louise follows me out
, but her face is as lit up as the Christmas tree in the corner of the small cottage lounge room. “You marrying Liam is the best,” she says. “You totally deserve each other.”

“
You’ve changed your tune since last Christmas!” I say, handing her bags from the car.

“
I was looking out for you! I didn’t know he was secretly, madly in love with you!”

I giggle.
“I don’t think he was…”

“
Well, he certainly is now. I can’t believe you’re going to be my sister!”

“
Well, we always had the love/hate thing going on as teens, I guess it’s appropriate,” I say. Louise pushes me and we set about preparations for tomorrow.

For the day
, I marry Liam Oliver.

****

LIAM

I arrive at the castle with Bryn. The mid-morning winter sun shines on the snow-covered castle keep and across the grounds toward the coast. The journey from the hotel in Pembroke was short and most of it was in silence. But I know the words are coming, Bryn won’t be able to resist.

“
Go on,” I say to Bryn as we step out of the car into the snow.

Bryn straightens his jacket, the grey suit
and waistcoat matches mine, the same crisp white shirt and red tie to match the white rose and berry buttonhole. “Go on, what?”

“
A comment about the last wedding we attended. Get it over with.”

“
Oh, Liam, man!” Bryn throws an arm across my shoulder. “If I thought you were going to abandon another bride, I wouldn’t have agreed to be your best man again.”

“
I can a hundred percent guarantee I will not be leaving here until I’m a married man.”

“
I know,” says Bryn with a smirk. “Come on.”

The vaulted chapel rests
inside the castle walls, the serenity of the location and the small number of guests milling around are a world away from the pink disaster earlier this year.

Inside, a
white drape hangs around the arched window at the end of the chapel, the distressed stone walls showing the age of the building. Chairs are set out in rows for the twenty or so people chosen to attend and the official photographer, negotiated to keep the magazines away, sits on one of the grey chairs at the back of the room. Either that or she’s a wedding guest with a really large camera. With her long brown hair and smart red dress, the young woman doesn’t look very paparazzi; so hopefully, she’ll be subtle about her intrusion into what I wanted to be a private day.

Mum and Dad sit grinning at me on the front row,
bridesmaid Louise will be bossing Cerys, I imagine. I stand near the low table at the front and greet the grey haired woman who’s the registrar, then turn back to the half-empty room.

What if Cerys changes her mind?

No, she wouldn’t.

Dylan and Sky
sit at the front to the left of me whispering to each other, hands firmly held. When Sky sees me, she nudges Dylan and he comes over.

“
You made it, then?” he asks.

I glance at Bryn.
“One of you had to say it, didn’t you? Not fucking funny.”

Dylan holds his hands up.
“Whoa. Okay, stressed much?”

“
Dylan, be nice. Of course he’s stressed, it’s his wedding day,” says Bryn.

Dylan wrinkles his nose and glances at Sky.
“Yeah, okay. Good luck then.”

He returns to Sky and they continue their conversation. She declined the invitation to be a bridesmaid
. She’s wearing a short dress, a weird grey colour that I’m sure Cerys can tell me the name of. I’m not that bothered in studying people’s clothes, I just want this over with.

“
He’s pissed off you beat him to it,” whispers Bryn.

“
Not my fault if Sky won’t set a date.”

A variety of family and the Blue Phoenix inner circle fill the chairs in the small room. Steve and his wife, Tina and her latest guy
, plus cousins I see once in a blue moon crowded together in a bizarre mix of my life. Jem arrives, late as usual, and I’m surprised to see Ruby with him. Of the four of us, he looks the least comfortable at being made to dress in a suit. The pair looks as nervous as me as they head to their allotted seats at the front. Ruby chooses to sit next to Dylan and not Sky, smoothing her red dress as she sits. Jem wishes me luck then sits next to her. I look up at the arched ceiling, not wanting to engage with anyone. Please let this be quick.

Ella appears
at the back of the chapel and to my relief she’s not dressed in any of her Disney princess dresses. Her short cream dress is tied around the middle with a red ribbon to match her shoes and the one in her thick brown hair. I wave at her and she rushes back in the direction she came.

My heart is fighting with my mind that
’s convincing me Cerys is running too, that six months is too soon, and I’ll get my retribution for what I did to Honey.

I don
’t need to worry. The woman who appears with her daughter’s hand firmly held is the person who fate pulled me to. Here, in this moment, I understand why I was pulled back to Wales last Christmas. My soul mate walks along the narrow space between the chairs and I’m unaware of anything but her. Couldn’t tell you what music was playing or if anyone was still in the room, just the magnetic pull to the place I need to be: Cerys.

The intense love for her explodes
through my soul, filling my heart until my chest hurts. I fight against going to her, hoisting Cerys over my shoulder and running. The crazy thought puts a smile on my face and Cerys returns one of her own. We’re locked in this moment, the push and pull of the fates finally over.

She
’s absolutely, fucking gorgeous. To me, Cerys is beautiful in scruffy, dress down clothes and no make-up, so in the floor length, ivory gown that moulds around her gorgeous breasts and pulls in at her waist to define that killer ass blows my mind. I immediately worry she’s cold until Louise appears behind her and drapes a shawl across her shoulders. Louise’s dress matches Ella’s but without the ribbon and she gently guides Ella toward where I stand.

Finally
, close enough to touch her; I take Cerys’s soft hand in mine. “Your hands are cold,” I whisper and rub her fingers.

Cerys
’s longer hair is braided away from her face with tiny white flowers in the plaits, the brown eyes wide and tearful.
Oh fuck, don’t cry, Cerys
.

When tears spill down her cheeks I do what I always
do; I take her face, rub them away with my thumb, lean in, and kiss the salty warmth from her cheeks.

“
You look fucking amazing,” I say.

“
Don’t swear,” she whispers, indicating Ella with her head, but smiling at my slip-up.

“
But you do, you’re beautiful.”

Then I catch sight of her necklace with the gold heart pendant resting just above my favourite part of Cerys. She squeezes my hand in a small warning and I grin at her.
“You’re wearing my heart.”

“
Always,” she whispers.

Nobody else exists outside this moment, a snapshot in time that I
’ll hold in my heart forever. Cerys touches my freshly shaved cheek, the emotion in her face unmistakable and I can’t breathe.

“
I love you, Liam.”

So, I
’m supposed to wait until we’re married to kiss the bride? Fuck that.

****

CERYS

Liam’s hands roam around to my backside and he pulls me into him as we move together on the dance floor. I rest my head in the spot beneath Liam’s chin, the perfect fit as if made for me. Placing my lips on his neck, I relish the comfort of his arms around me. The giddy feeling of being loved completely has followed me since the moment I saw the terrified Liam in the chapel, and the transformation on his face when he saw me is etched in my mind forever. Any remaining doubt I had that we were marrying too quickly evaporated with his inappropriate kiss and reluctance to let me go.