Epilogue

“This is so brilliant.”

Will stopped his new onyx-black Jaguar XF outside his ex-wife’s house and switched off the engine.

“Coming?” he asked.

Amy shook her head. “You go fetch them. I’ll wait here. Just ... don’t take too long. Okay?”

“I’ll be as quick as she lets me.”

He pushed open the gate, trotted up the path and rang the doorbell. Sophie opened the door and held it wide.

“Mom,” she yelled into the house. “Dad’s here.”

“Just a sec,” came the reply from up the stairs.

Will smiled at his daughter. “You look really nice.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “It’s pink,” she said as if it was the worst thing that could possibly have happened to her.

“So?”

“Dad! I, like, don’t do pink. You know that.”

“What about that pink vest thing that you’ve got.”

“That’s, like, Jane Norman—it so doesn’t count. Still, this one’s, like, so much better than the strawberry blancmange she first picked out for me.”

Will smirked. “Are you ready to go?”

She nodded. “Just waiting for Mom.”

“Okay. You can go and wait in the car if you want. Amy’s there.”

“Really? Cool. I, like, so need to show her my new phone.” She picked a small pink clutch bag from the table in the hallway and rushed down the path to the car.

Will stepped further into the house and called up the stairs, “Are you nearly ready? You don’t want to be late.”

“Nearly. Could you just come up and give me a hand with this zip.”

Will found her in what was once their bedroom. Lynn had gotten the house in the divorce and never moved out. It was the only home that Sophie had ever known. She was standing in front of a full-length mirror with her hands behind her back trying to fasten the zip of the elegant white gown she was wearing. She glanced behind when Will stood on the creaky floorboard by the entrance and sighed. “Oh, thank God. Would you mind?”

“Not at all.” He stepped behind her and zipped her up. “There. All done. Ready now?”

“Just about.” She spun around and held her arms away from her sides. “Well?”

Will whistled. “Beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the day we got married.”

“Almost?”

“Okay. At least as beautiful.”

“Better.” She reached out to touch Will’s upper arm. “You look good too. Dressed like this it reminds me why I married you in the first place.”

Will shrugged.

“Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“What for?”

“For today. For doing this. I mean, it should be my Dad, but...”

“I know. Personally, I think he’s being an arse over this. He’ll regret it. I know I would if it was Sophie’s day.”

“But you wouldn’t refuse to do it if it was Sophie’s day. You’d be right there by her side. That was one of the things I loved about you. You’re so understanding. So forgiving. It’s what makes you a great dad. And a good man.”

“Not that great. I almost got her killed, remember?”

“That wasn’t your fault. And don’t ever believe it was.” She chuckled. “The way Sophie tells it, you were the hero. So much so that you even tried to save the guy.”

Will shrugged again. “Come on. Let’s get you to the town hall. It won’t do to keep the other bride waiting.”

Lynn smiled. “No. It won’t.”

Like any father, Will dreamed of one day walking down the aisle with his daughter. But he didn’t expect her to be in front of him while he walked next to his ex-wife. Officially, it wasn’t a wedding but a ‘Civil Partnership Ceremony.’ Lynn was dressed in a white gown, Jenni in a white trouser suit, Sophie was a bridesmaid and Lynn had asked Will to give her away. She had wanted her father to do it but he had flatly refused, calling the whole thing ‘a nonsense’. Lynn asked Will because she reasoned since she’d be given to him at their wedding, he was the next best choice.

When they reached the front of the room where Jenni waited in front of a table behind which the registrar stood, Will nodded to the ‘other bride,’ Lynn let go of his arm and he went to sit next to Amy in the front row.

Sophie stood just in front of him, to her mother’s left. She turned back to smile at her father and he smiled back and nodded.

After the service, Champagne was served in an adjacent room. Sophie came straight over to Will and Amy while Lynn and Jenni made the rounds of their guests.

“That was, like, so embarrassing,” she said.

“I thought you did a great job,” said Amy. “It’s not easy to read aloud in front of people. And that was a difficult poem to read.”

Sophie grinned. “I really did okay?”

Will smiled to himself, happy that his two favourite women got on so well. He touched Amy’s arm to indicate he was walking away and she nodded back, then he strode across the room to find Lynn chatting animatedly with two men dressed in identical golden suits. She excused herself from them when she saw Will coming. They hugged and she offered her cheek for him to kiss.