Good Girl or Gold-Digger? (14 page)

‘You look amazing, and I love you so much,’ he whispered as she joined him before the altar.

‘So do you. And I love you, too, Felix,’ she whispered back, then handed her simple sheaf of white roses and purple gerberas to Annie.

The ceremony was simple and beautiful. The sun was shining, the church was packed with everyone
singing the hymns really loudly and Felix found himself wondering how he’d managed to get so lucky.

After the service, everyone pelted them with purple-and-ivory delphinium petals as they made their way through the lych gate to the carriage with its four white horses.

‘Well, Ms Bell.’ Daisy, being Daisy, had elected to keep her maiden name. ‘You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,’ Felix said softly as he helped her into the carriage.

‘You don’t look so bad yourself.’ Daisy laced her fingers through his as he joined her. ‘This has to be the best day of my life.’

‘Mine, too,’ Felix said.

The carriage driver took them to the fairground—which was officially closed for the day, as he and Daisy had decided that the first wedding reception celebrated there should be their own. Felix noted that the sign above the entrance was covered with dust-sheets. ‘Daisy, is there a problem I should know about?’

She waved a hand at him. ‘Minor detail. Don’t worry about it.’

If she wasn’t worried, then that was fine by him.

Once the photographs were over, they went over to the huge marquee that had been set up in the middle of the fairground gardens. ‘I can’t believe you managed to talk the hotel into catering this at such short notice, Felix,’ she said.

‘With you by my side,’ he said, ‘I can do anything. Though I will admit that I took our mothers with me, so they could help choose the menu and feel they were part of it.’

‘Mr Fixit gets it right again,’ she teased.

‘And I believe that Mrs Fixit did the same thing with the dresses and the flowers.’ He grinned. ‘I did wonder if it was really you walking down the aisle to me. And then I saw your shoes and I knew.’

‘They were hideously expensive.’ She looked faintly guilty.

‘I don’t care. They’re gorgeous. And I love that dress.’ He kissed her shoulder, next to the spaghetti strap, and whispered, ‘And I’m so looking forward to taking it off you tonight.’

‘Felix.’ Her eyes went unfocused and her voice was all breathy.

‘Hold that thought, Boots,’ he said softly. ‘There’s something I want to show you.’ He led her over to the small table at the side of the top table.

Her eyes widened in surprise and pleasure as she saw the cake. ‘Felix, that’s…’

It wasn’t often that his Daisy was lost for words. ‘It’s Shelley’s finest chocolate cake,’ he said. It was a three-tier circular cake, and round the outside Shelley had iced exact replicas of the three tiers of gallopers. The cake topper, made of spun sugar, was a bride and groom on a traditional fairground roundabout.

‘I think I’m going to cry,’ she said.

‘Not on our wedding day, you’re not.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘Now you know why I wouldn’t tell you about the cake.’

‘It’s wonderful,’ she said. ‘And so are you.’

‘I’ll remind you of that next time I annoy you by tidying up.’ He stole a kiss. ‘Come on. Better sit down.’

After the meal, Ned Bell made the traditional father-of-the-bride speech, full of anecdotes. ‘I’m not surprised she had wedding photographs taken on the
gondola—the only surprise is that she didn’t arrive at the church by steam train,’ he teased.

Daisy laughed. ‘Felix did ask the parish council if we could build a track down Church Street and they said no.’

‘But luckily I
could
afford a carriage,’ Felix added with a grin, ‘or it would’ve been a tandem.’

‘With a basket on the front for Titan,’ Ned added. ‘Welcome to the family, Felix. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the bride and groom.’

And then it was Felix’s turn to speak. He’d done public speaking before, and he was good at it. But his stomach was still in knots. Crazy. He stood up. ‘Normally words aren’t a problem for me, but today all I can think of is Daisy and how lucky I am to be married to her. She’s everything to me. And a speech isn’t enough to say it, so instead I’ll do things her way.’ He broke into an
a capella
version of ‘I’d Do Anything’.

Daisy looked stunned at first, and then she joined in, her sweet voice the perfect counterpart to his.

Everyone laughed at the line where she asked him if he’d fight Bill, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when they’d finished.

‘The best man’s speech is meant to be the one that everyone remembers,’ Tristan Gisbourne said, standing up. ‘But I can’t top that. So I’ll skip the words and get to the important bit. We’re so pleased to welcome Daisy to our family. And I want to say a special thank you to Daisy because none of us have ever seen Felix look so happy. She’s the one who’s made that difference.’ He lifted his glass. ‘To Daisy.’

Felix’s hand tightened round his bride’s. ‘He’s right,’ he whispered. ‘You’ve made the difference.’ Daisy had made him tell his family the truth about Tabitha, and
their reaction had shown him that they really did love him for himself.

Once the reception was really underway—after they’d cut the cake, had the first dance and the fairground volunteers had gone to man the rides—Daisy tugged at his hand. ‘Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.’ She led him to the fairground entrance. The sheets had been removed, and the sign was lit up.

Gisbourne & Bell.

Their names together, in lights.

Felix stared at it, completely taken aback. ‘Daisy. I don’t know what to say.’

‘I made a vow today,’ she said softly, ‘in front of your family and mine, and the whole village. For richer, for poorer. Bill’s signed his share of the fairground over to me as a wedding present. So your name needs to be there right next to mine.’

‘Does it?’ He took an envelope from the inside of his jacket pocket and handed it to her.

‘What’s this?’

‘Wedding present. Me to you,’ he said economically.

She opened it, read it swiftly and stared at him. ‘Felix?’

‘I’m giving you my share of the fairground, too. So it’s all yours.’

‘Felix, I…’ She kissed him hard. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much. Though I didn’t marry you for the fairground. You do know that, don’t you?’

‘I heard you say the words “love, honour and cherish” in church,’ he said lightly. ‘And I didn’t hear the words, “for richer, for fairground”.’

‘That’s a bit close to the bone,’ she admonished him. ‘But what I said about your name next to mine still
stands. Because we’re a team, and nothing’s going to change that.’

‘Felix Gisbourne and Daisy Bell,’ he said. ‘There’s a nice ring to it.’

‘Daisy and Felix Gisbourne,’ she corrected.

He frowned. ‘I thought you were keeping your name? Carrying on the tradition of the fairground?’

‘I was. Until I thought about it, and I realised that I wanted all of you. Including your name.’

He shook his head. ‘Daisy, don’t feel you have to change for me.’

‘I know you don’t expect me to change to suit you. So I’m happy to take your name, Felix, to be your wife—because I want to.’ She shrugged. ‘Besides, it’s less confusing for children if their parents have the same name.’

Felix sucked in a breath, joy flickering through his veins. ‘Are you telling me you’re…?’

‘Pregnant? Not yet, though I think we might enjoy changing that. We’ll have to practise a bit.’ She smiled. ‘You know what they say about biological clocks? You’ve set mine ticking.’

‘Funny you should say that.’ He kissed her gently. ‘Because I have a confession to make. We’re not cutting the top tier of our wedding cake today.’

‘Why not?’

‘Something you’ve taught me: traditions are important.’

As she caught his meaning, her eyes widened. ‘The top tier’s not chocolate, is it?’

‘It’s fruit cake,’ he confirmed. ‘Shelley says it will last, we can freeze it until we need it, and she’ll re-ice it when the time comes.’

‘Five months ago, if anyone had said I’d be talking about having babies, I would’ve laughed them out of my workshop,’ Daisy said. ‘And now…’

The look in her eyes made his heart skip a beat. ‘Now, I think we stop talking,’ he said. ‘And we sneak off on honeymoon and I get the pleasure of carrying you over the threshold, before finding out exactly what Mrs Daisy Gisbourne is wearing under that delectable dress. And then,’ he said with a grin, ‘we start practising. Because we have some traditions to uphold.’