Maddy’s Christmas Wedding (Little Duck Pond Cafe #37)

EPILOGUE

‘Present for you,’ said Maddy, handing over a large, bulky object wrapped in a binbag. She grinned. ‘Sorry about the wrapping paper.’

‘For me? Oh, you shouldn’t have.’ I laughed, knowing exactly what was in there.

‘You deserve a lot more than that for dreaming up the idea for my gorgeous ‘alternative’ wedding. Which, by the way, surpassed all my wildest dreams. Anyway, hope you like it.’ She tapped the package and winked. ‘It might come in handy for the café . . . a Christmassy event some time.’

I peered in the bag and pretended to look thrilled. ‘A snow machine? How wonderful,’ I said, tongue firmly in cheek. ‘This wouldn’t happen to be the one you ordered for your wedding that ended up in somebody’s garage?’

‘The very same.’

‘Gee, well, thanks!’

‘You’re welcome. It was either donate it to you for the business or give it to charity.’

‘Don’t you want to keep it, though?’

Maddy grinned. ‘Don’t need it. I’ve had my perfect romantic snowy winter wedding. And I definitely won’t be having another one.’

‘Well, if you do, you can always have it back.’ Ellie’s eyes sparkled with mischief. ‘Joke. Where’s Jack?’

‘Getting petrol for the drive to the airport. He dropped me off so I could give you this.’

‘So are you all packed and ready to fly off to sunny Antigua?’

‘Yup.’ Maddy glanced at her watch and smiled dreamily. ‘In approximately four hours, I shall be sipping champagne somewhere over the Atlantic with my gorgeous new hubby at my side.’

‘Well, I hope you have a wonderful time and I can’t wait to see the photos.’

Jack’s car drew up outside and Maddy dashed off. Smiling affectionately, I watched her go. It was such a relief to know she’d enjoyed her rather makeshift wedding day. It had taken some organising but everyone had pulled together and somehow, we’d made it!

The registry office wedding the following day had obviously been a much quieter affair, but it was happy and rather emotional nonetheless. It was unusual having the wedding reception before the official bit, but I thought it sort of suited Maddy. She was an unusual girl. In a good way.

‘Who was that?’ asked Zak, coming down from his office into the kitchen.

‘Maddy. She popped in to give me the snow machine she promised me. I guess it’ll have to live in the garage until next Christmas when I can dream up a use for it.’

Zak grinned. ‘It might not be living in the garage for very long.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve got some news. You might want to sit down for this.’

He pulled out a chair for me and I stared up at him, bemused. ‘What is it? Tell me!’

‘Well . . . you know the dodgy offer we made on that house?’

‘Yes?’

‘It’s been accepted.’

‘What?’ I squeaked. ‘But . . . we offered way below the asking price.’

He grinned. ‘Well, apparently they want to sell it to us. Maybe they’re after a quick sale. Either that or no one else is interested and they’re getting desperate.’

I gave him a sideways look. ‘You’re having me on.’

‘I’m actually not.’ Chuckling, he pulled me into his arms and murmured into my ear, ‘We can change our minds, obviously. And I kind of hope you do. But as of now, we are the proud prospective owners of a house called . . . Bogg View.’