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‘Well, at least this ti in,’ Luc co her back in his arms

Several bliss-filled seconds later, Belle was just snuggling deeper into his embrace when the back door suddenly opened

‘Belle, it’sout cheerfully

Any hopes that she and Luc hadseen were squashed when she heard Jane’s voice change coise in a flustered voice ‘Oh, dear, I’ain as she recognised Luc ‘Luc… But what…?’

‘Luc called round to see Mum and Dad,’ Belle fabricated quickly ‘He hadn’t realised that they’d gone away’ Heavens, it was a how very creative one could be with the truth when the need arose, and she wasn’t even blushing

‘Oh, I see…’

Uncertainly she looked froain

‘How’s your eye now, Belle?’ Luc asked solicitously ‘She’d got an eyelash in it,’ he told Jane straight-faced

‘Oh…I see… Well, I only called round to say hello,’ Jane explained ‘Er… I’ll er…leave you to it…’

‘Now the whole neighbourhood is going to know that you were here,’ Belle groaned after she had gone ‘Oh, Luc…’

‘Oh, Belle…’

‘Nohat are you doing?’ she demanded a little breathlessly as he took her back in his arms

‘Looking for that eyelash,’ Luc told her

‘I just hope that Jane hasn’t seen us driving away together,’ Belle worried half an hour later as Luc backed his car out of her parents’ drive

‘We’ve got a perfectly legiti Joy and Andy a joint wedding present—remember?’

‘Yes, I know that, but we’re not doing that now, are we?’

‘No, we’re not doing it now,’ Luc agreed urbanely

‘So where are we going?’ Belle asked him curiously ten minutes later ‘It’s too early for dinner and…’

‘Wait and see’

As they passed the country church where her niece was to be married, Belle leant forward in her seat

‘Does it bring back memories?’ Luc asked her

‘Yes,’ Belle admitted

They had been married there themselves, and her eyes blurred briefly with emotional tears as she remembered how deliriously happy she had been, how filled with excite Luc

Not that she had originally wanted a big white wedding with all the tri far quieter and more intimate

It had been Luc who had persuaded her otherwise, pointing out to her that the vows they made to one another would be just as precious no matter where they made them, and that it would be unfair of them to exclude their families from the occasion

‘You wanted to be married somewhere private and out in the open air—remember?’

‘Yes, I do,’ Belle agreed, her voice a little husky with ehts ‘An island, or the top of a hill… I wanted our e to be different, special… romantic, a private memory we could cherish for ever…’

‘I know’

‘Instead it was a full faht bridesmaids’

‘You looked beautiful’

‘You could barely get close enough to kiss me after the vicar had said you could because of the width of my dress hoops Remember?’

Luc started to laugh

‘It wasn’t funny,’ Belle protested indignantly ‘A bride whose groo matter’

‘I wasn’t laughing at that,’ Luc told her ‘I was just re the panic we had when no one could find little Timmy and then he crawled out from underneath your skirt’

Belle laughed too