Spenner beamed, his face glowing bright red as the cheers and applause continued, then Lasser raised his hands to quieten them down, though everyone remained on their feet as they waited for him to continue.
'All I can say is that anyone looking at John and Tess can see they are meant for one another.' Lifting the glass from the table and raising it high, Lasser ended his speech, 'Please raise your glasses to John and Tess, already united in heart and soul and now united in marriage, as we wish them a life full of love and happiness.'
Glasses were raised and drinks taken then the applause and cheering broke out again and Lasser smiled as Spenner and Tess hugged one another for all they were worth.
The lights of the Hall had been dimmed and the muted music floated out into the evening air as Lasser and Jackie enjoyed a cigarette, Bannister by their side, the cloud of smoke billowing upwards into the darkness.
'What a grand day,' Bannister said with a grin, his tie askew, his eyes full of merriment as he hiccupped.
'How's Faith?' Jackie asked.
'Oh, she's fine, she's slowly building bridges with her idiot father, so that's good.'
'I take it you had a word with him while he was in the hospital?' Lasser asked.
Bannister scowled and nodded. 'I told him he was being a total bastard and if he ever laid hands on his daughter then I would put him back in the hospital.'
'You went for the gentle touch then?' Jackie said with a wry smile.
Bannister missed the irony and nodded in agreement. 'You know me, Jackie, I have a way with words, and I can normally get people to see sense,' he paused, 'apart from this idiot you're with.'
Lasser sighed as he glanced at the Hall, he could see Odette dancing with Roger, and he smiled as they swirled past the window.
'What are you smirking at?' Bannister demanded.
'Nowt,' Lasser replied.
'Right, I need some sweet pudding,' the DCI said as he headed for the open door to the Hall.
Lasser watched him go and then he pulled Jackie close and breathed in her delicious scent before dipping his head to kiss her.
When he eased away, she smiled up at him. 'I bet you want sweet pudding now, don't you?'
Sliding his hand up her body he gave her right breast a gentle squeeze. 'Mm pudding.'
Jackie threw her head back and laughed as she slapped his hand away.
Lasser watched as she laughed, feeling the love bloom inside as the first of the stars came out in the dark fabric of the night sky.
END
I remember saying at the end of book ten that I was amazed that Lasser had made it to double figures, it felt like some kind of landmark. Yet here we are and at last Lasser and co have come of age. Perhaps I should have bought a cake to celebrate and treated the guy to a sleeve of two hundred cigarettes or better still an E-cigarette.
Though the truth is there was no fanfare and I am already steaming on with number twenty-two.
The fact that I am able to write for a living is a privilege and I would not have got this far without the help of the readers who follow Lasser through his troublesome life and help to spread the word.
Their enthusiasm for the series is never taken for granted and I know that without their support Lasser would never have got this far.
Writing a novel can be a solitary undertaking, though I would suggest that no writer is an island and we all need help to get our mad scribblings into some kind of coherent order. With this in mind I would once again like to thank Val for all her hard work with the books, her tireless ability to improve the novels amazes me. I tend to think a novel is done after a couple of edits, but she has other ideas and only after four or five rounds of edits will she be happy.
Lastly, I would like to thank Amazon, the bottom line is that without their help then the Lasser books would never have been written. Before I self-published I had sent the first Lasser book out to every agent who accepted manuscripts and got nowhere. Now anyone who wants to have a go and write a book has a platform to get their work out there and that is a wonderful thing, not only for the writer but for the readers who are willing to try an unknown author.
Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed Dark of Mind and fingers crossed Lasser will continue to trudge the mean streets of Wigan. (ha ha that doesn't have the same ring as New York or London does it?)
Thanks again for the support.
Rob
Dark of Mind Page 34
