A Way Back Home

by Alison Sherlock

  Will looked across at Arthur. ‘I want to get married tonight. Will you do the honours for us, Grandad? We can sort out the paperwork and registry office stuff later.’

  Arthur broke into a wide smile. ‘Of course.’

  Will turned back to look at Skye. ‘For the record, though, today will always be our anniversary.’

  She ran a hand through her hair before glancing down. ‘But I can’t wear this.’ She was wearing the same dress that she had worn to Annie and Sam’s wedding.

  ‘I don’t care,’ he told her, pulling her into his arms. ‘I love you, Skye Jackson. Just as you are.’

  ‘That’s marvellous,’ said Rose, stepping forward to take over. ‘But this will absolutely not do at all.’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ asked Will, turning to look at his aunt.

  ‘Give us girls half an hour, ‘said Rose, taking Skye’s hand. ‘One wants to look her best on her wedding day. And I have just the thing.’

  Skye reached out to squeeze Will’s hand before Rose led her away, back into the main house.

  Sam headed over to give his brother a clap on the back. ‘So, you’re getting married?’ he said, sounding surprised.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Will, nodding. ‘I am.’ He had never been so sure of anything in his life.

  ‘Well, good for you,’ said Sam. ‘We all love Skye. She’s great.’ He looked at Alex as he came over to join them. ‘What do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know what he had on his Weetabix this morning, but your brother’s in love,’ said Alex, sounding dazed.

  ‘I am. I bloody am!’ said Will, nodding in agreement. ‘Why didn’t anyone tell me?’

  ‘Because being the most cynical man in the universe, you would never have believed us,’ said Alex. ‘You had to find it out for yourself.’

  ‘Best man?’ said Will, looking at his brother.

  ‘Absolutely,’ said Sam, grinning.

  ‘Too late for another stag night, I suppose,’ said Mick, with a grin as he pinned his buttonhole onto Will’s lapel.

  ‘Didn’t you get in enough trouble last time?’ said Alex, rolling his eyes. ‘Right, I’m going to make sure the bride is looking fabulous.’

  As he headed off, Arthur came to stand in front of Will.

  ‘Well, my boy, it appears as if I may be required to officiate a wedding ceremony.’

  ‘Is that okay?’ asked Will.

  ‘Nothing would bring me greater happiness than to marry you and Skye. She’s a remarkable person and so are you. I wish you both a lifetime of joy.’

  Then they stepped forward and gave each other a hug.

  *

  Skye stared at her reflection in the full length mirror in Rose’s bedroom.

  ‘Am I really getting married?’ she asked, in wonder. ‘Here? Tonight?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Summer, coming over to give her sister a hug. ‘I can’t believe it. I’m so happy for you.’

  ‘I’m so happy for me too,’ said Skye. ‘But what about you? Will you be okay?’

  Summer nodded. ‘It’s time for me to stand on my own two feet.’

  Skye took a deep breath. ‘Me too,’ she said, before smiling once more. ‘I love him so much. I really didn’t want to leave.’

  ‘And none of us wanted you to go, my darling,’ said Rose, looking her up and down. ‘How does that dress feel?’

  ‘Wonderful,’ said Skye.

  She looked at herself once more. It was an off the shoulder cream coloured dress with an ornately embroidered gathered bodice. Underneath, a simple but elegant skirt flowed out to the ground.

  ‘It’s so beautiful. Where did you get it from?’

  ‘Yves Saint Laurent, darling,’ said Rose. ‘In the early seventies. Always thought I might wear it, but it wasn’t quite my style. It is most definitely yours though.’

  Summer came to stand next to her. ‘Hair up or down?’

  ‘Most definitely down,’ said Skye. ‘I’m so glad I dyed it purple earlier this week.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Rose. ‘You must look like you. However, you are missing something borrowed, so I insist you wear my tiara.’

  She placed the sparkling tiara onto Skye’s head.

  ‘Wow!’ said Summer. ‘That looks amazing.’

  ‘Sorry I’m late,’ said Annie, rushing in.

  ‘Where have you been?’ whined Alex. ‘You’re missing all the fun.’

  ‘Being sick,’ said Annie, with a grimace.

  ‘Oh no!’ said Skye. ‘Are you ill?’

  Annie broke into a huge smile. ‘I’m six weeks pregnant.’

  Everyone shouted with joy. ‘Congratulations!’

  As Skye gave her a hug, Annie looked sheepish. ‘I’m sorry to steal your wedding thunder. I didn’t want to throw up and have you think that it was me objecting to the wedding. We love having you as part of the family.’

  ‘And I love you all too,’ Skye told her.

  ‘A real honeymoon baby,’ said Alex, with a sigh.

  ‘I told you about lodges,’ said Rose, giving Skye a wink. ‘Hang on. I’m going to be a great-great-aunt. Surely I’m not old enough?’

  ‘Never!’ said Alex, giving her a hug. ‘Right. Is this wedding ready to go?’

  ‘What about a bouquet?’ said Summer.

  ‘Roses from the vase in the hallway,’ said Annie, holding out a still dripping bunch.

  ‘Rings?’ asked Alex.

  ‘Arthur’s lending Will his, and Skye can have Beatrice’s,’ said Rose, with a teary sniff. ‘She would have thoroughly approved.’

  ‘What about something new?’ asked Summer, frowning.

  Skye smiled. ‘Getting married is pretty new for me. But what about something blue?’

  Annie laughed. ‘I think Hazy Memory will be blue enough for all of us.’

  *

  Skye walked down the aisle of the beautiful marquee, unable to stop smiling. She held onto her sister who was giving her away.

  ‘Gladly,’ Summer had told her when asked. ‘And I wouldn’t give you away to anyone unless they made you smile like Will does.’

  Her groom stood at the front of the marquee, so impatient to get going that he had to be restrained from marching down the aisle and collecting her when they had only reached halfway.

  As Summer left her side, Skye looked across at Will. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’ she murmured.

  ‘I am,’ he said. ‘I love you. And I’m never going to stop telling you.’

  ‘I love you too,’ she replied.

  They turned to face Arthur who was watching them both with so much affection.

  ‘Dearly beloved,’ he began.

  Skye held on tight to Will’s hand as the ceremony commenced.

  She didn’t know what the next day would bring. Or the day after that. Only that it would be happy and exciting. She could face any unknown, deal with anything that came her way, knowing that Will would be by her side forever.

  Knowing that he loved her was the best certainty of all.

  Epilogue

  ‘Rose was right,’ said Skye. ‘It’s so lovely here in the springtime.’ She looked across the grounds at the front of the hall to where the soft sunshine dappled through the trees onto the long green grass below. Petals of pink and white apple blossom were carried in a gentle breeze like tufts of candy floss. Birdsong filled the air and the promise of summer lay just around the corner.

  ‘I love you whatever the time of year,’ said Will, leaning in to kiss her before they carried on walking down the driveway towards Willow Tree Hall.

  It was three months after their surprise wedding and Skye still couldn’t believe that she was going to spend the rest of her life with Will. The depth of his love continued to amaze and surprise her and every day felt even happier than the previous one

  They had been busy since the wedding. Will was enjoying his role as Estate Manager and thanks to his hard work and encouragement, the stables were beginning to be let to independent local businesses.

&
nbsp; In addition, word had spread about both the weddings held at Willow Tree Hall and such were the number of enquiries they had received, Will had begun to renovate one of the old barns to hire out as a wedding venue.

  Filled with confidence about her abilities, Skye was now using one of the stables as a workshop. There appeared to be quite a substantial market amongst local residents for upcycled furniture and so she was working on renovating many of the spare pieces that she had found in the garage. She had taken a number of orders during the recent Spring Fair at the Hall and was loving using her creative skills each day. She had even received a request to update the interior of a caravan for one of Rose’s friends.

  The result was that there was more money coming into the estate. Yes, things were still tight for the family but they were all scraping by and the hall was full of life and laughter every day.

  Skye had also begun to learn that strength came in numbers. After so many years of being independent and struggling on her own, she now found that not only did she have Will to support and encourage her but the whole family provided their love and strength as well. Her friendship with Annie grew ever closer, especially as they were now sisters-in-law as well.

  Summer was loving her single life in Liverpool but visited Cranley as often as she could, and was swept into the warm and loving arms of the Harris family whenever she stayed. Skye knew that her sister also loved having her new extended family in her life.

  After she had returned his cheque, there had been enough money left over for Will to take Skye to Venice on honeymoon. It had been every bit as wonderful as she had hoped for all these years. She glanced down at the engagement ring that he had insisted on buying her whilst they had been in Italy. It was antique silver with a square amethyst gemstone. ‘What other colour would I buy you?’ Will had asked her, as he slipped it onto her finger. It matched his grandmother’s wedding ring perfectly.

  Will had given her so many dreams and Venice was just one more gift.

  Most importantly, she had her husband, her best friend and soulmate in Will alongside her, each and every day.

  They walked down the driveway, past the willow tree which was covered in shoots of fresh green leaves as it came back to life after the long hard winter.

  Hand in hand, Skye and Will then turned to walk through the woods which had a carpet of bluebells across the ground. Soon they would be back in their lodge. Their very own forever home.

  We hope you enjoyed this book.

  Alison Sherlock’s next book is coming in summer 2019

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  Acknowledgements

  A huge thank you to my lovely editor Caroline Ridding who once more has been so generous and encouraging.

  Thank you to everyone at Aria and Head of Zeus for all their hard work on this book especially Jade Craddock for her wonderful work yet again on the copyedits.

  Thank you to all the readers and bloggers for their encouragement and reviews which keep me going on the days when the words flow like treacle.

  Thank you to all my friends, especially so many members of the wonderful RNA.

  Special thanks to my best friend Jo Botelle to whom this book is dedicated. It’s only taken me thirty years but hopefully it was worth the wait!

  Grateful thanks also to my lovely DWLC ladies: Kerry, Claire, Adrienne and Kendra whose advice and support is always invaluable and thankfully limitless!

  Huge thanks to my wonderful family for all their support, especially my sister Gill, Simon, Louise, Lee, Cara and Sian.

  Finally, thank you to my husband Dave. As always, I could never have written this book without your love and encouragement.

  About Alison Sherlock

  ALISON SHERLOCK enjoyed reading and writing stories from an early age and gave up office life to follow her dream. Alison lives in Surrey with her husband and a daft golden retriever.

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  We are Aria, a dynamic digital-first fiction imprint from award-winning independent publishers Head of Zeus. At heart, we’re avid readers committed to publishing exactly the kind of books we love to read — from romance and sagas to crime, thrillers and historical adventures. Visit us online and discover a community of like-minded fiction fans!

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  First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd

  Copyright © Alison Sherlock, 2018

  The moral right of Alison Sherlock to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN (E) 9781786694942

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