October
After their eventful
date to celebrate her birthday, on which he made a proposal which she accepted
they ended up at his house where they made love for the first time it was time
to walk her home in the wee small hours.
It was further
to drive from Beechwood to the Vicarage than it was to walk, but it took twice
the time on foot.
They didn’t see
a single soul on the walk through the Village apart from a distant dog walker
on the far side of the green just before they walked hand in hand up to the
front door of the Vicarage where she turned to face him and said
“It’s been a very special night”
“It has” he
agreed “But any time spent with you is special”
“But tonight
was…. more eventful” she suggested
“It was” He
agreed “Not to mention memorable”
Toddy stood on
her tiptoes and kissed him then retorted
“I’m looking forward
to an encore”
“Me too,” he
concurred “Perhaps after your birthday lunch tomorrow”
“I like the
sound of that” Toddy said and kissed him again before opening the door and
saying “I love you Charlie, goodnight”
“Goodnight
Toddy, I love you too”
After rising
early on Sunday morning Charlie showered and shaved and liberally applied
aftershave balm on his smooth face and bald head.
When he was
dressed, he drove to the Stephenson’s Supermarket to buy mocktails for Toddy’s
birthday, because after saying how much they had enjoyed the Mojitos the
previous evening, the waitress Susie had told them, in a hushed whisper
“You can buy
them ready mixed in Stephenson’s much cheaper”
So, he bought
four bottles, two for home and two for birthday lunch at the Vicarage.
When he
returned to the Village he went straight to the Vicarage and was greeted by a
nervous Toddy in the hall who quickly kissed him and whispered agitatedly.
“I haven’t told
them, and I’ve hidden the ring, but keeping it secret is so hard, I didn’t know
what to do, I’ve never been engaged before, I’m so glad you’re here”
“That’s ok I’m
here now and we’ll tell them together straight after Church” he assured her and
kissed her
“Oh ok” she
said and smiled “I feel better now you’re here”
From that
moment on she never left his side apart from when she needed to go to the
toilet, which was when his sister Chloe cornered him and said.
“What happened
last night? Toddy was in a very funny mood this morning, what did you do?”
Before he had to
make a waffly response to his inquisitive sister, Toddy returned, and Chloe
slipped away on a wave of disappointment.
On the walk to
the Vicarage as soon as they were out of earshot Toddy said urgently
“I’m desperate
to tell them, can we do it straight away?”
“Of course,
darling” he said “As soon as everyone is there, and you get the ring from its
hiding place”
“It’s in my bra”
she whispered and giggled
“Interesting
choice” he said as they reached the Vicarage door “Perhaps I should retrieve it”
“Remember where you are, and behave yourself”
she chuckled “Until later”
Their plan to
tell everyone immediately and put Toddy at her ease was thwarted, initially as
the Vicar was delayed at St Agatha’s, and then by the time he did appear Chloe
and Verity were completely engrossed in preparing lunch.
Then when lunch
was ready there was no opportunity, so they had to wait for a lull in the
conversation, but there wasn’t one.
In fact,
because of all the constant jovial chatter throughout the meal, the arrival of
the Birthday cake, the first chance didn’t come until after the cake was eaten
and Chloe began stacking the plates.
Charlie was
alerted to the moment when Toddy kicked him under the table and when he glanced
towards her, she showed him her left hand, so he nodded and said
“Hold on Sis,
before you clear away, I have something to announce”
“Oh ok,” she
said and sat back down “Is it about St Adelaide’s”
“No, it’s not
about the Convent” he replied “it’s more important than that”
“Oh God you’ve
got cancer” Chloe blurted out “I knew there was something going on”
“Honestly Sis
do you really think if I was ill, I would announce it at a Birthday lunch?” he
said “So stop trying to guess what it is and let me tell you what it is”
Then he reached
out and took hold of Toddy’s left hand, squeezed it, and as he lifted her hand
level with the tabletop, he said
“Toddy has
agreed to be my wife”
Chloe and
Verity’s jaws dropped, then they looked at each other and squealed.
After
announcing their engagement at the Vicarage, and the screaming had subsided,
the questions started, when, where and how did he propose? Which was easy
enough to answer, and when and where the wedding was to be and where the
honeymoon would be, which they couldn’t answer because they hadn’t discussed
that yet.
“We’ll get back
to you” he said
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