A Winter Wedding at Primrose Hall (Primrose Woods #6)

Chapter 31

31

Pia had tiptoed down the stairs first thing in the morning to let the dogs outside. She’d expected to be exhausted after the activities of the last week, but instead she felt entirely energised as she’d gazed out of the kitchen window, watching as the boys larked about, sniffing at the ground. The bare trees were tipped with frost, the cold of the day shimmering in the air. After the hectic energy of yesterday, a peace and calm had descended over the hall. The dogs came running inside, bringing a touch of winter with them. Pia quickly closed the door and warmed her hands on the mugs of tea and they made their way back upstairs to the bedroom, the dogs racing to get ahead of her. They pitter-pattered around the bed, just as impatient as Pia was for Jackson to properly wake. She sat down on the edge of the bed next to Jackson, whose eyes were just beginning to open as he stirred from what was an uncharacteristically long lie-in.

‘I’ve brought you a cup of tea,’ she said, placing the mug on the bedside cabinet and leaving a kiss on his cheek.

‘Thank you,’ he muttered through half-opened eyes.

It was the morning after the night before and still Pia couldn’t stop herself from smiling as images of the previous evening flooded her mind.

‘Well, that was quite a move by Rex last night. Did you not have the slightest idea what he was planning?’

‘No.’ Jackson shuffled up the bed, rearranging his pillows to sit upright. ‘He didn’t whisper a word to me, but then again, my parents have always been full of surprises.’

‘Your mum’s reaction was so sweet, it made my heart melt. They are made for each other, those two, and I really hope it means your mum won’t feel so insecure in their relationship now. Something else it means is that we’ll probably have two more weddings on the calendar for next year. That’s if Ronnie and Rex, and Luke and Rhi, decide to hold their weddings here, of course.’

Jackson dropped his chin and cast her a gaze.

‘Well, we know that’s a given, but can we not start thinking about next year’s schedule just yet,’ said Jackson with a lazy smile.

They’d made the decision early on, or else Jackson had, that he didn’t want to make the barn a dedicated wedding venue, as he’d realised that they could quickly book out every single weekend, as well as additional days during the week. Instead they reserved that facility for close friends only.

‘At the moment the only wedding I’m concerned about is our wedding. I don’t want to think beyond that. Anyway, tell me, what are you doing up so early when we could legitimately be having a well-earned lie-in?’

‘The dogs woke me and to be honest I couldn’t sleep. My mind was full of everything that happened last night so I thought I might as well get up.’

‘You’re mad, do you know that? Let’s make the most of the peace and quiet while we can. Why don’t you come back to bed?’ Jackson patted the space beside him and Pia thought how tempting it looked. In her head, she’d thought she would go down to the office, open up her laptop and deal with her emails and job list, but she breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that there was nothing that pressing and if there was, she could deal with it tomorrow. She jumped up and walked around to the other side of the bed, wriggling out of her cotton pyjamas, before pulling back the duvet and climbing into bed to snuggle under the covers with Jackson. He pulled her into his embrace and kissed her on the head, and she stretched out her body along the length of his long limbs, wrapping her arms around him. She loved his solid, masculine form, the scent of him, both when he was wearing his familiar citrusy aftershave or like now, when his natural earthy aroma toyed with her senses.

‘Great news about Tom and the new business,’ she said, twisting her head to look up at him.

‘I know, right?’ His hand aimlessly stroked her head. ‘Tom held out on me for a long time, and I was beginning to think I might never be able to persuade him to come and work for us, so I was pretty relieved when he finally said yes. The reason it was so important to me was because I knew it would be the right thing, not only for me and the business, but for him as well. All those things he tells me he’s been striving for, financial security, a place to live, a future, will be achievable for him as the business develops. I’m even more invested now in making it work for Tom’s sake.’

‘Well, I know someone else who was especially pleased by his decision: Sophie. And your dad. I think it’s good news all round.’

Jackson exhaled, his eyes fluttering closed again, and Pia rested her head on his body, enjoying the sensation of his chest rising and falling in a steady motion beneath her.

‘I hope Rex and Ronnie don’t decide they want to go and find a place of their own once they’re married. I’m so used to having them around now that I would miss them if they were to leave.’

‘Knowing Mum like I do, the only place she’ll ever want to go is back to her van and I’m not sure that holds the same appeal these days. You know Ronnie. She won’t want to feel as though she’s missing out on anything and she’ll want to be around to help out when we have some children.’

‘Is that right?’ said Pia, with an air of mischief to her voice. ‘So that’s when now and not if?’ she teased. ‘I remember a time when you were indifferent to the idea of kids.’

‘Well, that was before I met you,’ he said, running a trail with his finger up and down her arm. ‘All I want is to make you happy, Pia, so we’ll have to see what happens.’

‘If you’d told eighteen-year-old me, all those years ago when I was nursing my broken heart, that one day we would get back together, and make a life and home together, then I would never have believed you.’

‘Hmm, are you ever going to forgive me for walking out on you?’

‘I forgave you a long time ago, but sometimes it strikes me just how far we’ve come together. I only wish Mum and Dad were here to see everything we’ve achieved, to meet Rex and Ronnie, and Tom, plus the animals. It would have been lovely to share all this with them. They would have been amazed to see this place.’

‘I’m really sorry that I didn’t get to meet them. I know they’d be so proud of how you’ve turned your life around. If they were still here, I would want to thank them for bringing you into my life.’

‘Ah, that’s such a lovely thing to say. I love you, Jackson.’

‘Yeah, but I love you more,’ Jackson insisted as he hooked his leg over hers, turning to face her, hovering his body weight over her so that she could look into his dark brown sparkling eyes, which always held the power to seduce her.

Pia smiled as he leant down to press his mouth against hers, and she accepted his sweet, gentle kisses readily, a swirl of anticipation and desire travelling around her body as she felt the touch of his hand as it ran along the curves of her bare skin.