Then in a whirlwind, we sit and sign some kind of declaration that I know is not the legal stuff, but it’s for appearance, I love him for the lengths he has gone to. Max and Jen witness. Some photos are taken, but it’s a bit of a blur.
The next thing I know, drinks have appeared from somewhere and everyone is milling around chatting. I’m scanning the scene and taking it all in, when my hand is taken and Danny pulls me quickly beneath the tree’s canopy.
He presses me against the reclining trunk, exhaling a deep shuddering breath as his lips find mine. He kisses me with more passion than I’ve ever been kissed. To start with it’s almost violent, but as we melt into it, it becomes a more loving passion. He draws away reluctantly and grins.
“Happy birthday, Mrs. Morgan!”
I laugh. “Thank you, Mr. Morgan.”
“You look amazing.” He adds stepping back to look me up and down.
“I’ve a great stylist.” I grin pulling him back to me. “You look pretty good yourself.” I murmur, bringing his lips to mine again, this time for a heart-stoppingly tender kiss. I pour everything I feel at this perfect moment into it.
“I’ve missed you today,” I whisper. “It feels like I haven’t seen you in weeks.”
“It was so hard leaving you asleep this morning.”
“But it was so worth it.” I sigh. “Thank you doesn’t seem enough for what you’ve done.”
He gives me his shy smile. “Sorry it isn’t official.” He shrugs. “I just got this whole surprise idea in my head and then I got so far and found I couldn’t do it legally.”
“Danny, its fine, I don’t care if we never do it. This is enough for me.”
“Oh hell no! We are doing it in two weeks, don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.”
I laugh, of course he has it all planned. “I love you.”
“Oh my God, I love you too.” He lunges at me again. Holding his hands tight to my back, I can feel that he wants to run them all over me, but I’m so made up and literally everyone we know is on the other side of a thin covering of leaves. He forces himself away before it’s too much.
“Shouldn’t we get out there?” I ask.
“Screw them.” He laughs and then sighs, knowing I’m right.
We slip as discreetly as possible into the throng, but straight away we garner suggestive comments and raised eyebrows for our absence.
“I just needed a moment alone with my wife,” exclaims Danny loudly, attracting even more attention and everyone laughs and makes ‘aw’ noises or other more suggestive things.
“We need to get out of here,” Danny murmurs in my ear and starts to lead me towards the path we came in.
Why are we leaving everyone behind? Where are we going? How will they all get there, wherever it is? As if I’m broadcasting these question buy loud speaker, Danny says, “Try not to ask.” I flash him a ‘give me a break, I need to know something’ look and he chuckles. “All will be revealed.”
He takes my almost empty glass from my hand and hands me my bouquet, then taking my hand, he leads me back up the footpath. No one follows us. I laugh out loud, as I’m faced with two old Route Master buses, marked ‘Wedding Special’. But as I walk towards them Danny holds me back.
“They’re not for us,” he says. Leading me past the first bus to where the Shelby is waiting.
“Danny, where are we going?” I beg as the Shelby pulls out of the car park, leaving the buses behind, waiting for their passengers.
“You’ll see.” I huff beside him. “I hope you like it…I just thought that the whole hotel thing wasn’t really our scene. You don’t want a stuffy three-course meal with half a bottle of wine per head do you?”
I shake my head, wondering how I managed to find someone who just got it.
“So, I have something better lined up.”
We chat about the day so far as the car whizzes along, but I’m barely concentrating, trying to imagine our destination.
“This is eating at you isn’t it?” he teases.
“Stop it, Danny.” I sulk. “Just give me a hint.”
“Come on now, you just promised in front of everyone that you would let me do things for you, even though you're a control freak!”
I press my lips together, then we both burst out laughing.
Chapter Twenty-three
Danny
This ain't no ordinary shindig!
“You are just perfect, do you know that?” Liv says, grabbing my face and kissing me. The car has just come to a stop outside our venue. I help her from the car and one of the two photographers is already at work capturing her reaction. The other guy is on one of the buses.
“How did you know?” she asks incredulously.
I smile, I’m so happy she likes the idea. “It was obvious I guess.” I shrug. “It wasn’t about the money.” I’m suddenly worried she’ll think I’m mean. “I looked around at what was available and nothing suited us. I just knew you’d want to have it here.” I stop and kiss her lightly. “Are you happy?”
“Ecstatic!” She beams.
“Me too.” I lead her through the open gate, past the sign saying ‘LADY LUCK’S IS CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE FUNCTION’ and into the garden.
Home.
“Wow,” she whispers as she soaks up the scene. We kept her out all day yesterday and then when she came home she went upstairs and then only came out into the garden, she didn’t see anything in the bar and I had people on standby to stop her if she had tried to go in. The staff worked late on the decorations and started again early this morning. Most of them came to the service, but a couple were here finishing up.
They come out to greet us and we let Liv have a good look at what we’ve done. The stage is back inside, set up for the live music. All the doors of the bar are open and both inside and out the tables have all been decorated with flowers and candles. There are no table settings or place cards, and there is plenty of room for milling around. It’s a really casual affair.
A table is set up inside with our cake, a huge pile of doughnuts. Jen has made tiny flags to stick all over it indicating which ones have jelly and which ones have jam. Liv thinks it’s great. I love watching her laugh as all over the place she is finding the little touches that make today so personal to us. On every table, tucked in the flowers, Jen has printed cards with all the movie quotes I gave her. All the classics, like ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner.’ (We put that one in a corner!), she loves it!
We have a real old-school photo-booth set up for some fun shots later, because it reminds me of our teens. In fact, on an easel beside it there is a grainy, enlarged strip of Liv and I. We must have been about seventeen and we’re kissing, sticking out our tongues, laughing and then kissing again. It’s one of the few things I allowed myself to hold onto.
“Oh my God, look at us!” she squeals.
The buses will be here any minute and I just want her to myself for a moment, so I pull her over to Baby’s table in the corner and sit her down.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” I say hurriedly. She frowns. But I have to get this out before everyone comes. “I chose to do this here because there is nowhere more perfect for us than this world you have created. You made it like this because it made you feel at home, but without knowing or realising, you built me into it as well. The two of us are all over this place and I wanted to celebrate us, in our home. But I know you, and you need some rules. So, the conditions are: You don’t work here tonight, you’re here as the focus of everyone’s attention, the guest of honor. Everyone knows what they’re doing, you don’t need to help. You are mine tonight and I won’t share you with a bar. Everything is paid for, we won’t be discussing that again. I have everything under control. It’s all
