I watched from the side of the room as Amy sat on Lisa's favourite armchair with her beautiful little baby in her arms. Clare sat on the floor beside them, gazing at them with pure love. Jack walked over to them and handed them both a glass of wine. Clare took it but Amy shook her head.
'I can't drink while she's breastfeeding, bro,' she scolded.
'Oh,' he said, a little embarrassed. 'I'll get you some juice.' He disappeared, returning seconds later with a glass of apple juice.
'Thanks.' She smiled up at him.
There were lots of people I'd never met, and every one had come over to me and offered their condolences. All mentioned that Lisa had told them about me, and they were all grateful that she had such a dear friend at the end of her life. I was touched, to say the least.
'Eve?' said Jack from behind me. I turned nervously as he handed me a glass of sherry. 'Good to see you.'
'Thanks, Jack. How are you holding up?' I asked.
He shrugged. 'It's hard.'
'It is. But it must be even harder for you.'
He looked at me questioningly.
'Boys are often a little closer to their mothers. She loved you so much, Jack. She told me all about you as a little boy. She said you were such a rascal, but you were also such a mummy's boy.'
Jack smiled and nodded. 'Yes, you can say that again. She used to spoil me. She never stopped, really.'
'I'm so sorry, Jack.'
His lips pursed as he tried not to well up again. 'I miss her.'
'Me too.'
'I still can't believe she's gone.'
'I know.'
He looked at me in a strange way before walking away, disappearing into the crowd.
'Hey,' said Clare who was stretching her legs and holding the tiny little bundle in her arms. 'How was your trip?'
I looked at her, a little embarrassed. 'Hey, Clare. It was good. Look, I'm sorry I just left like that.'
'Don't worry, we all understood why you had to go.'
I smiled. 'How are you enjoying motherhood?'
'It's so amazing, Eve. I've never felt anything like this before. It's a bit of a struggle with Amy's emotions at the moment though. It's been a tough few weeks, let's just put it that way.'
'It'll get easier. She just needs a little time to come to terms with everything.'
Clare nodded. 'You know we both feel that a little bit of Lisa's soul was born again with the baby?'
I smiled. 'I would agree with that. The way it happened? It was like it was meant to be. Oh yes, Lisa is definitely still here,' I said looking down at the most beautiful little child.
'Would you like to hold her?' asked Amy who was walking towards us.
'Really?' I asked, shocked. I'd never actually held such a tiny little baby before. Not one as young as this, anyway.
'Of course,' she replied as Clare handed her to me.
'We're actually calling her Junior at the moment,' Amy added. 'It's a bit hard to call her Lisa right now,' she said, brushing the tears from her eyes.
'Hello, Junior,' I whispered. The second I said her name, she opened her eyes wide and looked up at me and my heart melted.
'Oh,' I said, breathing deeply.
'What's wrong?' Clare asked.
'Nothing's wrong. She's absolutely perfect,' I smiled.
'Your aura is going through the roof right now,' Clare whispered into my ear and I grinned.
'I can imagine.'
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The following morning, after I'd had a cup of coffee and some toast, I headed upstairs to the room I'd made into my office. It hadn't been decorated like my previous one in my old home, but I had plans.
I closed the door quietly and sat down at the little desk. It was the first time I'd been in there since Lisa had died. Opening the top drawer, I was surprised to find an envelope with my name on it.
Frowning, I opened it and recognised Lisa's handwriting, albeit a little more scrawled than usual. She must have written this near the end.
Evie, my dearest friend.
I know we only had a short time together as friends, but it became clear to me from the start that you were my soul mate pal, if you know what I mean? lol
I just wanted you to know a few things that you might not be aware of. Firstly, I am so happy that you and Adam are together. I know that he and I have had a strange relationship over the years, and when you came on the scene, it might have confused you a little. He and I always loved each other deeply. At certain points we were in love. Possibly even recently, but he is meant for you. You and he complement each other in ways that he and I never did.
I realise my passing is going to be exceedingly hard on him, and I'm sure he will feel alone and lost. I was always the one he turned to, so I need you to become that person, Eve. I need you to not only be his lover (!), but to be his best friend. He needs you more than you know. Just like I needed you more than you realised.
Eve, you don't realise what a remarkable woman you are. I just wanted you to know that. My kids are very fond of you too. I know shortly after my diagnosis, they struggled with the idea of you, but seeing you care for me and seeing you love their father has changed that. You were never a mother, Evie, but you will make a damn good stepmother and a wonderful grandma. Lucky you! That is my only regret, that I will never get to meet my grandchild.
Thank you for being you, Eve. And thank you for loving us... when you really didn't have to.
With much love
Your soul mate pal, Lisa
xxx
Tears flooded my eyes and I sobbed and sobbed for what felt like hours. If I'd found this letter before I'd disappeared to Canada, would I have still gone? I couldn't stop crying. Until, that is, the sight of the sunlight catching the little crystal near the window caused beams of colourful light to fill the room. I felt like Lisa was there with me, warming me and encouraging me to be the real me again. Something I needed to do for myself and for Adam.
I smiled. 'Thanks Lisa,' I whispered and stood up, leaving the room.
Adam was nowhere to be seen. I looked in every room in the house before a thought occurred to me and I headed outside, through to the swimming pool.
Adam was sitting with his feet in the water. He looked up, surprised when I approached him.
'Hey,' I said.
'Hey.'
'How are you feeling?' I asked as I rolled up my jeans and sat beside him, letting my feet dangle in the warm water.
'Okay, I guess,' he said with a sad smile.
'I miss her too.'
He frowned and nodded. 'I'm so glad you're here.'
'I'm glad I'm here too.' I smiled.
'It's strange that it's all over.'
'You mean the memorial service?' I asked him.
He nodded.
'Lisa will always be here with us, Adam. We won't ever forget her. But it's you and me now, babe.'
'You and me.' He smiled. 'I love you so much, Eve. Come on, let me prove it to you.' A wicked grin spread across his face as he started removing his clothes.
'You coming in?' he asked me.
I didn't need asking twice.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Wandering through my favourite city of Bath, hand in hand, Adam pulled me towards the jeweller's he'd previously mentioned.
'This is the one,' he said, dragging me inside.
'Adam, we can't start looking yet. It's not right.'
'Why not?'
'Because we need to wait for my divorce to be finalised.'
'You spoke to your lawyer yesterday, right?'
I nodded.
'And she said it should be a matter of weeks?'
I nodded again.
'Well, there you go. Then we can get married.'
'But I won't feel right buying our wedding rings until then.'
'Okay, but there's no harm in looking, is there?'
Shrugging, I let him pull me to the counter while he asked the assistant to show us their selection of wedding rings.
They were pulled out in a large case as we perused each and every one.
'This one's beautiful,' Adam said, pulling out a ring that was a little too masculine for me.
'I thought you wanted matching rings?' I asked, disappointed.
'Yes, you don't like this?'
'It's huge. I've only got skinny fingers, babe.'
Adam laughed and handed it back to the assistant.
'How about this one?' I pointed to one which would look lovely on both of us.
'It's a little boring, don't you think?'
'Not really.'
'How about this?' he said lifting an exquisite ring that had little diamonds running all along it.
'Oh yes, that's stunning,' I sighed. 'I bet it's ridiculously expensive though.'
'The price isn't an issue, so don't worry about it. Try it on,' he said taking it out of the assistant's hand and placing it carefully on my finger.
'Wow,' I sighed. 'It really is something special, isn't it?'
Adam nodded, 'I think we've found our wedding rings.'
'But we have to wait. Okay?'
'Sure. Thank you,' he said to the girl behind the counter. 'We'll be back in a few weeks to order them.'
She smiled and nodded. 'Great. See you then. Enjoy your engagement.'
'Our engagement.' I laughed when we walked out of the shop. I hadn't quite thought of us as being engaged. It sounded a little weird, especially after me running away and the fact that I was still officially married to Matt. Not for long though, and the thought made me smile.
'So we should start talking about the wedding,' Adam said, as he took my hand in his and we started walking down the crowded street in the centre of the city.
'Yes, I suppose we should.' I grinned. 'But not on an empty tummy.'
Adam rubbed my stomach and laughed, 'No. We can't do anything on an empty belly. What do you fancy? Cornish Pasty?'
'Mmmm I haven't had a Cornish Pasty for ages.'
'There's the perfect place just down here,' he said, pulling me down to the corner of the street where the delicious aroma of freshly baked pasties filled the air. 'Smells divine, doesn't it?'
I nodded as we walked in and ordered two to take away. We went back outside, snuggled next to each other on a street bench and tucked in. The meat and potato pasties really were delicious.
Just as we were finishing up, Adam put his hand on my knee and kissed me lightly on the lips. 'Now, I'm not taking no for an answer.'
'No to what?' I asked curiously.
'There's something I want you to do for me.'
'Erm, okay?'
He stood up first and pulled me to my feet. Smiling, we walked for ten minutes until we stopped outside a bridal shop.
'What are we doing here?' I asked.
'I'd like to see you try on some wedding dresses.' He grinned.
'Really? But it's supposed to be bad luck for the groom to see his bride in her dress before the big day?'
'Yes, but there's no harm in trying them on, is there?' he encouraged.
'I don't suppose so,' I relented. 'I've never tried wedding dresses on before.'
'But what about your wedding to Matt?' he asked.
'It was borrowed from my cousin, because we couldn't afford to buy one at the time.'
'Oh that's sad. You deserve to have the full bridal experience. Let's have some fun today. And then perhaps you could come back with Amy and Clare? I'm sure they'd love to be involved with the wedding plans.'
'Really? You think they would?'
'Actually, I know they would. I asked them, and they both squealed like little girls,' he laughed.
'In that case, let's do it. I can get an idea today of the kind of style I'd like to wear when I marry the man of my dreams.'
Adam squeezed my bum as we pushed open the door to the beautifully decorated wedding boutique. It was fitted all in white, pale pink and grey.
'Good afternoon,' said a pretty little woman dressed in a grey pinstripe suit. 'Do you have an appointment?'
'Oh sorry, no. We can come back another day,' I said.
She smiled. 'No need. We actually had a cancellation earlier so feel free to come through. I'm Louise, by the way. I'll be your stylist today.'
'Thank you very much, Louise,' Adam said, as we followed her through to another much larger room, where a couple of wedding dresses were placed on mannequins in both corners.
We could hear laughter in an adjacent room, but thought nothing of it.
'Now tell me, what sort of look are you going for?' asked Louise.
I looked across at Adam. I'd not given it a single thought. I hadn't got a clue. He looked at me, equally lost.
Louise laughed, 'Don't worry. I get a lot of brides coming in that have no idea what they're looking for. When and where are you getting married? Perhaps that will help?
Again, we both looked at each other and laughed nervously.
'Right,' Louise said, clapping her hands together. 'Formal event?'
Adam and I both shook our heads.
'Summer? Winter? Spring?'
I twisted my lips to one side as I thought about it.
'Spring?' we both said at once.
Louise chuckled. 'Looks like we're actually planning your wedding right now.'
'You've no idea,' I said.
'Do you like satin, silk, taffeta, lace?'
'Lace, I love lace.' I smiled.
'White, ivory, cream, Champagne, pink, purple, black?' she giggled.
'Actually, now that you mention it,' I said. 'I do like pale colours with a touch of black.'
Adam raised his eyebrows and nodded. 'Hmm, I quite like the sound of that.'
Louise nodded her head. 'I think I have a couple of options that might just be perfect on you. Why don't you come through, erm, sorry, I didn't get your names?'
'Eve,' I said.
'I'm Adam,' he said.
Louise looked at me, then at Adam with a frown.
'We're actually serious. Adam and Eve, that's us. No joke.'
'Goodness me,' chuckled Louise. 'Obviously destined to be together.'
Fifteen minutes later I stood in front of a long mirror wearing the most beautiful, figure-hugging lace gown in ivory. Around the waist was a black sash and a hint of black lace at the cap sleeve.
Adam wolf-whistled as I walked out for him to see.
'My, my,' he said. 'That's beautiful. You look breath-taking, Eve,' he said deliciously.
'Why thank you,' I said turning back to the other mirror. 'It's definitely along the right lines, but there's a couple of things I'm not keen on, so perhaps I could try the next one?'
Louise nodded. 'Absolutely.'
Just as we were turning to go back through to the changing room, the laughter in the next room intensified and before I had the time to say a word, a couple walked out, and I stood face to face with Matt and Charlie.
'Eve?' Matt stuttered. 'Wow, you look incredible.'
'Erm, hello Matt, Charlie. How are you both?'
'Good, thank you. It's lovely to see you, darlin'. How have you been?' Charlie asked a little nervously as I played with my engagement ring.
'Good, thanks, very good.'
'I see congratulations are in order,' she said. 'When's the big day?'
'We're… erm, not sure yet. Obviously we're waiting for the divorce to come through. You're getting married too, huh?' I asked nervously.
'Everything alright back here?' said Adam as he walked into the hallway and saw who I was talking to.
'Oh, Charlie. Matt.' He nodded, looking at me with wide eyes.
'You're marrying Adam?' Charlie shrieked. 'Oh my God, I can't believe it. That's... that's... amazing!'
'Erm, yes it is, isn't it?' Adam replied with a grin, as he approached me and put his arm protectively on my lower back.
'Congratulations,' Matt muttered.
'What are the chances, eh?' Charlie said. 'And of us meeting in a wedding shop, of all places. You must come to our wedding. It's obviou
sly a sign.' She hugged me. 'I'm so glad things have worked out for you both. I must confess, I'm a little surprised, Adam. I thought you'd go back to Lisa,' she winked.
'Actually Lisa died.'
Charlie's eyes widened and the smile dropped from her face. 'Oh Jesus, Adam. I'm so sorry, darlin'. What happened? When? Are the kids alright?' she asked with obvious concern.
'Cancer. Not long ago. It happened pretty quickly,' Adam answered, choking up a little.
'We're all struggling with it, to be honest,' I continued. 'But at least we all had time to say goodbye. Amy's little girl was born the very same day. Can you believe that?'
'Really?' Charlie said, wiping her eyes. 'That's incredible.'
Adam nodded.
'But what about your little girl?' I asked quietly. 'Where is she?'
'My sister's looking after her today.' Charlie smiled, clearly embarrassed.
Changing the subject, Matt spoke. 'I'm sorry for your loss, Adam,' he said quietly, clearly uncomfortable.
'Thanks,' Adam replied, equally uncomfortable.
'Have you set a date yet?' I asked them both.
Matt smiled. 'Yes. 1st of January. We figured the divorce would be through by then.'
'I certainly hope so, that's months away.' Adam smiled as he tried to finally let go of the past.
'Would you like to come?' Matt asked, looking at us both hopefully.
'Are you sure that's a good idea?' I replied.
'Of course it is. We were thinking of asking you, but weren't sure if it would be a bit too weird,' he said, looking at me before turning his head to Adam hopefully.
'If you'd really like us to come, then we'd be delighted to. Right, Adam?'
Adam slowly grinned and nodded. 'Actually, that would be wonderful. We always used to get on so well, so maybe it's time that we forgive and forget. Why shouldn't we try again?'
Matt visibly relaxed and breathed out a deep sigh. 'I was worried you were going to punch me or something,' he smiled.
Adam and I both laughed.
'Water under the bridge, Matt. Water under the bridge.'