Page 111 of All Yours

Finally, Isabella appeared in a white dress with a lace overlay, holding Robyn’s handmade trailing ivy bouquet in front of her waist. She glowed. It was the only way to describe her radiant smile, the luminosity of her olive skin and the dewy flush of her cheeks as she approached Etienne, the love of her life. Robyn bit her lip hard as Etienne turned. His face shone with emotion as he got his first look at Isabella as a bride. His eyes flooded with tears, but his smile was wide. Robyn swallowed over a lump that threatened to choke her as the two met and joined hands, eyes fixed only on each other.

The ceremony was a blur as all Robyn could think was why couldn’t Fox look at her like that? The vows, the promises – Robyn hardly heard them. The only thing she could think of was the silence after she’d told Fox that she loved him. She rocked Willow gently against her, praying that soon it would be over and she could walk out into the sunshine. Because days like this, where commitments were made, and love won out, were for other people. They were not for her.

The best Robyn could dare to hope for out of today was that Willow might win. She might win a good man to be her father. And that would be more than Robyn had ever had.

‘You may now kiss the bride!’ the vicar announced, dragging Robyn back to the present.

The church erupted into cheers and applause as Etienne crushed Isabella to his chest and kissed her with a passion that made Nonna fan her face with her order of service.

Chapter Sixty-Two

Fox

By the time Fox had corralled everyone out of the church and escaped into the winter sunshine himself, the congregation was throwing confetti. Reggie, George, Riley and Jayden ran around trying to catch it. Isabella and Etienne kissed again on the steps and held their joined hands in the air between them, victorious and jubilant. But all Fox wanted to do was see Robyn.

He spotted her, pale-faced and with a solemn smile, standing to one side next to Amber, and his feet crunched in the gravel as he walked towards her.

‘Hi,’ Fox said, beside her at last.

‘Hi,’ she replied, and he saw the shadows under her eyes, like tiny purple bruises.

His eyes dropped to Willow, who bounced to see him and reached for him, her hands outstretched. He flicked a tentative look at Robyn and then reached out a hand to smooth Willow’s hair, which as it got longer was starting to grow curls, just like Reggie and George.

‘Hello, kitten,’ Fox said quietly and Willow gurgled happily. He let his hand drop and turned his attention once more to Robyn. He cleared his throat, his heart in his mouth.

‘We need to talk,’ he said.

Robyn nodded and he watched her as she visibly braced herself, hating that he’d done that to her.

‘Amber, would you mind?’ His voice came out more authoritative than normal. He lifted Willow from Robyn’s arms and passed her to Amber, who was happy to hold her.

‘Can you come with me, please?’ he asked Robyn, praying with everything inside him that she would hear him out. He had to try again, to make her understand. Once and for all.

Without waiting for a response, Fox took Robyn by the elbow and led her back into the church, where he knew a way that he could finally make himself clear. He felt everyone’s eyes on him as he led her away. He didn’t stop in the porch, even though it was quiet and empty, instead opening the heavy doors to the church itself. He led Robyn up the aisle, their footsteps echoing as they strode across the ancient flagstone floor. They passed her wreaths that he’d admired earlier, but not as much as he’d been blown away by her beauty, her presence. He hardly dared look at her now until they got to the exact position he had in mind. The altar.

He turned to face her and lifted her chin with his thumb and forefinger until their eyes locked. She looked beautiful, a stray piece of yellow confetti in her hair.

‘Red, there are things I’ve got to say,’ he said. ‘And the first one is that I’m so sorry, for leaving you yesterday. I should never have done that.’ He paused, letting his eyes roam over her face. ‘Can you forgive me?’

She nodded without speaking and he felt weak with relief.

‘Thank you,’ he said, taking her hands in his. ‘Because what I should have done was be brave like you. I should have stayed and told you how I feel. How I really feel about you.’

He felt as though his entire life had been leading him to this moment, standing here at the end of the aisle, lit by a shaft of sunlight, with this woman in front of him. And he could finally see the rest of his life ahead of him too, the life he wanted to spend with her. He had to get this right.

‘I love you, Red,’ he said and it felt like breathing, the most natural thing in the world. ‘I love you, heart and soul. And I’ve never believed in soulmates before’ – he put his hand to his heart – ‘but I think you’re mine.’

He couldn’t help but smile at the simplicity of the words. How it felt right to set them free.

‘And I want to be Willow’s dad.’ He could hear the slight shake in his own voice, but it was sincerity now. Not nerves. He knew this was right. ‘I want to be part of her life, always and for ever. If you’ll let me?’

He watched the words hit home, the rush of tears to Robyn’s eyes. He knew how much that meant to her.

‘I know we have a lot to sort out, and it might be complicated. But that is just because I want to be with you, every day. I know that your plan is to travel, and my life is here in Honeybridge, and we’ll have to navigate that somehow. Together.’

He plucked the piece of confetti from her auburn hair, and it floated to the floor.

‘I don’t ever want to tie you down. I never want to limit your life. And I know you want to travel more – that’s your passion. Your path. But with my business, my boys . . .’ He paused and regathered her hands in his, pressing them to his chest.