‘She’s very superstitious about us seeing each other before the wedding tomorrow,’ Renzo told Mandy that night as they stood at the window, looking at the moon.
‘She’d be even more superstitious if she could see you here in my room,’ she said.
‘Shall I go? I only want to do what’s right.’
‘You don’t mean a word of that,’ she said indignantly. ‘You’re just trying to wind me up.’
‘I can’t fool you, can I?’
‘You’d better believe it. Are you sure you aren’t having second thoughts? Does any man really want a wife who knows him that well?’
Renzo’s fingertips briefly lingered on her face. ‘He does if he has any sense.’
‘Be warned. I’m a lioness with sharp claws.’
‘Not a lioness,’ he said softly. ‘A little cat.’
There was a joyful contentment in his voice, and her heart lifted.
‘Beware,’ she teased. ‘I’ll lead you a merry dance.’
‘I’m sure of it. I might lead you one.’
‘That’s something that’s not going to change. You always were the most infuriating man I’d ever met, and you always will be.’ She brightened. ‘But at least you’ll never be boring.’
‘We’ll fight,’ he agreed with satisfaction. ‘And I’ll let you win, like I always did.’
‘Let me-You cheeky-’
‘Why don’t we stop wasting time?’ he said, taking her into his arms.
It was going to be a simple wedding. The bride, wearing a dress of ivory satin, would travel to the church accompanied by her bridesmaid, Sue, and Danny. An old friend of Renzo’s was to give the bride away, and Ferrini would be the best man.
Teresa was still worrying because the bride and groom were together before the wedding. ‘It’s bad luck,’ she protested.
But Renzo resisted her attempts to make him hide in another room.
‘We’ve already had all our bad luck,’ he said. ‘No misfortune can befall us now.’
As he said it he gave Mandy a smile that reached across great distances of space and time to a world where only they existed. Teresa saw it and was silenced.
‘It’s time for the groom and me to depart,’ Ferrini said, winking at Mandy, who winked back.
‘What’s going on?’ Renzo asked, looking from one to the other.
‘He’s reassuring me that our little plan is going to work out all right,’ Mandy told him.
‘What little plan?’
‘Wait and see.’
‘Do you know about this plan?’ Renzo asked Sue, receiving a nod in return. ‘But you’re not going to tell me, are you?’
‘She threatened me with dire retribution if I did,’ Sue said mischievously.
With that he had to be content.
As he left for the church Mandy watched him until the last minute. Then it was time for the next car, with all the staff. Finally the best man handed her and Sue into the car, and they made the journey to the church with Danny sitting on Sue’s lap.
As she headed down the aisle she saw Renzo standing before the altar. He was looking back in her direction, relaxing when he could see her.
As she came close, he reached out to her, taking her hand in his own, smiling into her eyes. The priest appeared and the wedding began.
Everything proceeded without a hitch until they came to the exchange of rings.
This was the moment when the plan that she, Sue and Ferrini had hatched together should be put into effect. Ferrini should have handed the rings to Renzo. Instead, he put them into Danny’s plump little hand and stood back to let Sue, holding Danny, move closer to Renzo.
He smiled, understanding, and reached to take the rings from his son. But Danny had his own ideas and refused to let them go. When Renzo tried to ease them away, he found a finger poked into his eye.
‘Ow,’ he said softly, rubbing the affected part.
‘He didn’t mean it,’ Mandy said quickly.
‘Leave it to us,’ Renzo told her. ‘This is between men.’
He confronted his son, who confronted him back.
‘So it’s going to be like that, is it?’ he asked and, to Mandy’s delight, a broad smile spread across his face. ‘You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?’
Danny nodded.
‘Good for you,’ Renzo said. ‘Now, can I have them, please?’
Danny considered, then handed them over, at the same time sticking out his tongue defiantly. Renzo promptly returned the compliment.
The priest coughed.
‘Sorry, Father,’ Renzo said self-consciously.
Mandy smiled with relief that the little plan had worked better than she’d dared to hope. But now she found that Renzo, in his turn, had a surprise for her. As he slid the ring onto her finger he spoke words that had never been said in any marriage service before.
‘Take this ring, whose circle is a symbol of never ending love. Our love began with the approach of death, but it lived, as it will always live, and will last for ever. I belonged to you then, I belong to you now. I will always belong to you.’
She had to pause for a moment to choke back her tears, before managing to say, ‘I have belonged to you from the first moment, though it took me a little time to understand it. But, when I did understand, I knew that there was no going back.’ She paused for a moment before repeating to him the words he’d spoken to her in what might have been their last hours. ‘You are everything to me, and you will be everything, for however long we have-and afterwards.’
He nodded, showing that he remembered. Then he kissed her before the whole congregation.
She recalled little about the rest of the service. She only knew that now she was his wife, a part of him as he was part of her, as fate had always meant her to be.
By the time they left the church the solemn mood had lightened. Looking at the photographs afterwards, she saw Renzo and herself, alight with triumph at having ‘held hands and jumped’ together. His smile was the one she’d seen two years earlier and hadn’t dared hope ever to see again.
The best picture of all showed Renzo with his son in his arms, the two of them exchanging knowing grins.
At the reception everybody toasted everybody, accompanied by witty speeches. Teresa was toasted for producing a splendid meal. Sue was toasted, thanked and wished a pleasant journey for the next day.
But for the most important toast of all there was no speech, when Renzo silently raised his glass to his bride, unnoticed by anyone except themselves.
It seemed an age until they could be alone together, but at last everyone had gone and they lay in each other’s arms.
‘You were wonderful with Danny,’ she said, marvelling. ‘When I think how I used to worry about you two.’
‘No need. I knew we were going to be all right that night when I sat by his cot. And I knew it again today when he put his tongue out. Nonno and I used to play that game when I was a child, and suddenly there I was, playing it again. We just needed time to find each other.’
‘It’s just a pity about your mother.’
‘Forget her. She doesn’t matter any more. Only you and Danny matter. There was a time when even the thought of her was painful, as though a bleak, empty place had opened up inside me.’
His voice was suddenly filled with wonder. ‘But now it’s all gone, the darkness, the emptiness. I look into what used to be a void and I see only you-the one I love, the one I will always love.’
He took her tenderly into his arms.
‘And where you are,’ he whispered, ‘there can never be darkness.’
