It was now the beginning of March. Clare had been at home for three days. After her time in the ICU, she'd spent another six days recovering in her private room. She still felt tired, but every day that passed brought new strength.

She was looking out of the lounge window at the daffodils in the garden when the door bell sounded. Her mother was taking her shopping; Clare's first trip outside, since her illness.

Clare let her mother in, giving her a hug and a kiss."Hello mum. You'll be getting fed up with me." she said, smiling.

"Yes, you're such a nuisance aren't you?" Kathy replied. She paused, then changed her tone. "Oh darling, you know I love you, I would do anything for you."

"You're the best mum ever. I'll have to think of something extra special for you for Mother's Day." said Clare.

Kathy's dark eyes lit up. "There is something you can do. We've decided on a date for our wedding and I want you to give me away. Sandra doesn't mind as the girls will be Bridesmaids and Toby a Page Boy. What do you think?"

"Oh wow! That's wonderful. Of course I will. When is it? The wedding I mean."

They were still standing at the front door, so Clare shut the door and they walked into the lounge.

"It will be a mid week wedding as they couldn't fit us in on a weekend until August. We didn't want to wait that long, so it's the 26th May.

"I'd better mark that in my diary." said Clare. "What do you want me to wear?"

"I'm wearing a pale peach dress and jacket. You can wear anything you like. A dress or a suit, I don't mind as long as it's a pale colour, perhaps cream? We can go shopping one weekend. Oh, I'm so excited! I feel like a teenager!"

"And I feel like that too, since me and Alan got back together. I have a feeling it's going to be such a good year."

They shopped at the supermarket and Clare coped with the outing. Fortunately, the sun was shining and it was a dry day, so that was a help. They had afternoon coffee together, then her mother left. Later Clare would be cooking a meal for herself and Alan when he returned from work.

Alan arrived at 6.30 pm having changed from his office suit into casual clothes. When Clare let him in the door, he pulled her close and kissed her lips. His blue eyes were sparkling and he seemed very excited.

"What's happened? You're in a good mood!" Clare remarked.

"I've got lots of news. Let's go and sit down."

They went into the lounge and sat together on the sofa, holding hands.

"We had a meeting today, Bob, Angie and me." said Alan.  "While you were ill and I was at the hospital, Geoff stood in my place and Angie happened to say 'Why was Geoff never made a partner?' and Bob said it was because Halfpenny didn't like him. And the upshot of it is Geoff is being promoted to partner for the next few years until he retires and Bob was mortified that he hadn't thought of it before! Oh Clare, you should have seen Geoff's face when he came out of Bob's office, it was priceless! He was so pleased he didn't know where to put himself! And Angie sang and danced him all down the corridor. We all laughed! It was a wonderful afternoon! Bob even broke out the whiskey and even Geoff had one, and he doesn't usually drink."

They laughed together and Alan rubbed his forehead against Clare's.

"I'm so pleased. I often wondered why Geoff had been overlooked." said Clare.

"Edward Halfpenny was a nasty man. If he didn't like you, you knew it. Why he didn't like Geoff, I can't figure, he's such a good guy. He was on the phone to Frances straight away to tell her. She was as proud as Punch." 

"I've never met Frances." said Clare. 

"You'd love her Clare, she's a lovely woman. She does a lot of good work. She does hospital visiting for people who have no one to visit them. When we get married, I want us to be as happy as Geoff and Frances." Alan said. "They're a dream couple."

"A dream couple – yes, I hope we will be." Clare smiled and rubbed Alan's nose with hers. "Anyway, come on, we'd better eat, or our dinner will be ruined."

Alan poured them both a glass of wine while Clare prepared their dinner, which was cottage pie with cauliflower and carrots. They ate in the lounge at the dining table, beneath the large window overlooking the garden. "And this is the best news of all." said Alan, fork in hand. "Frank told me the Minister at his Methodist church will marry divorced people. We could get married in church, perhaps on a Friday and then honeymoon over the weekend. The banns have to be called and we could be married within the next 6/8 weeks."

"Really? His Minister will marry someone who's divorced? Oh, that's perfect! Getting married in a Methodist church would be special, seeing as we started out there as children. It's a shame it's not our old church, but that was knocked down and flats built on the site."

"I didn't know that. What a shame." Alan said.

"I felt really sad when mum told me. Nothing stays the same does it?"

They finished their meal and stood at the sink, washing up together. As Clare stacked plates in the drainer, Alan wiped up.

"Can you make an appointment for us to see Frank's Minister?" she asked.

"Yes, of course."

"I think it would be best if we kept it secret. There won't be much time to have a big wedding, will there? Mum and Frank could be our witnesses and perhaps we could have a party some time in the future?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking, Clare." Alan replied. "Oh, I nearly forgot. Philip rang last night, they're home with a baby and a toddler from Romania. They're brother and sister. A nine month old baby boy and his two and a half year old sister. They'll have their hands full, but what a lovely thing to do."

"How exciting! When can we meet them?" asked Clare.

"Philip said they have to give them a couple of weeks to settle down and then gradually introduce them to other people. They have a long list of instructions to follow."

They returned to the lounge and sat together on the sofa. Alan draped his arm around Clare's shoulder.

"It's so sad your mum and dad aren't here for our wedding."  said Clare.

"Yes, it is sad. That's something else I wanted to say. Would you come with me to Canada? I want to visit mum and dad's graves, in Toronto."

"Of course I will. What a lovely idea! I'm glad we've got a boss like Bob, he can never say 'no' which is just as well, with all the time we'll need to take off."

"Don't worry. I'll offer to pay for any temporary staff we might need while we're away. We could go for two weeks as a sort of belated honeymoon."

"Perhaps I should pay. I can afford it, but you can't." said Clare.

Alan laughed, heartily.

"What's so funny? I've got the money Hal left me. Enough to buy an expensive house outright without selling this flat and even then, I'd have money left over."

Alan laughed again.

"Did I not tell you? I can't believe I didn't. When Philip and me came back from Canada we had 1.5 million pounds each in our pockets. The demolition business was booming in Canada. We only came back because I hated it so much. Before dad died, he told Philip to make sure I was okay as he was worried about me (he knew I was unhappy). Philip was all for staying and intended to go back, but when we came to Bristol he met Libby, so that was that. He went back to Canada, sold the business and we're now wealthy. Geoff gave us financial advice and we've both been very careful with our money. Half of mine is invested and can't be touched, but the other half is in high yielding accounts which I can access if I need to."

Alan beamed at Clare and she laughed at him.

"It seems wealthy men find me attractive." she said. "I can't seem to avoid them can I? Did you know that Michael Graves asked me out on a date, when we had our falling out? He's wealthy to!"

"Just as well our wedding is only weeks away then isn't it?" said Alan. "Because then you will be all mine and have 'Alan' stamped all over your heart."

"I think you'll find that I always did." said Clare.

* * * * * * * * *