Page 53 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
LILY
The morning of Cassie and Jared’s wedding and Lars’s thirty-fifth birthday arrived.
Lars had stayed in Green Gables overnight and it was lovely waking up beside him, wishing him a happy birthday and seeing him open his presents.
We were big on birthdays in our family and he looked close to tears when I presented him with gifts from my parents, Kadence, Hendrix and both sets of grandparents.
‘I haven’t even met your sister yet,’ he said, staring at her gift in obvious disbelief. ‘And I’ve only met your brother and grandparents briefly.’
‘But you’re part of the family,’ I said, hugging him. ‘It’s the way we do things. Hope that’s okay with you.’
‘It’s more than okay. I’m just… It’s… I…’ He rolled his eyes. ‘I’m that stunned, I can’t even form a proper sentence. Thank you all so much. Your family are amazing. You are amazing.’
‘True, but sadly not amazing enough to give you your birthday off work. You’d better get going if you’re going to be taxi service to my granddads. See you at the wedding.’
He kissed me goodbye and headed off to collect Granddad George and Granddad Maurice, who were helping out in Bay Books this morning.
Granddad Maurice didn’t know how to use the till but he knew the shop well so would be a valuable extra pair of hands until they closed at half twelve so everyone could attend Cassie’s wedding.
As I placed the discarded wrapping paper in the recycling bin outside, thoughts of my own unhappy birthday in March pushed their way into my mind but I swiftly dismissed them.
My world was so different now and I knew that Lars would pull out all the stops to make sure my birthday next year was a special one.
I paused to breathe in the fresh, chilled air before going back inside.
A heavy frost but a clear blue sky couldn’t have been better weather conditions for the wedding.
The photos would look amazing. Cassie had clearly had the same thoughts as, when I returned to my bedroom, I spotted a message from her along with a stack of wedding-related and snowflake emojis.
From Cassie
I’m getting married today. Squee!!!!!! Any chance of you getting here earlier so we can get photos in the garden before the frost melts?
To Cassie
Happy wedding day! So excited for you. Yes, no probs. Be there in less than an hour x
* * *
I’d already seen Cassie in her wedding dress because I’d been with her when she chose it from The Wedding Emporium, but seeing her wearing it on her wedding day with her hair and make-up done and her face radiating happiness had me welling up.
She’d originally been thinking of an ivory dress for herself with the bridesmaids looking Christmassy in deep red, but was concerned that it was all a bit too traditional.
Ginny had suggested flipping the colours and showed us a red bridal gown which she thought would be perfect for Cassie.
Lace covered with a tight bodice, capped sleeves and gold and red sparkling embellishments around the waist, it was absolutely stunning and no other dress had a look-in after that.
Today, her hair was styled in a series of loose knots and plaits interwoven with realistic-looking ivy, red berries and gold sparkles.
The bridesmaid dresses had lacy white bodices and dusky pink skirts and Hallie’s flower girl dress was dusky pink all over with gold embellishments.
Jared and the groomsmen would be wearing forest-green three-piece suits with red ties, which I wouldn’t see until we arrived at the venue, but I had a pretty good idea of how they’d look as Rocco was wearing an adorable matching outfit minus the blazer.
He’d chosen a bow tie instead of a regular one, which he kept twiddling while Hallie pirouetted round the lounge in her dress.
The photographer managed to capture several photos in the frost before the December sun reached Cassie and Jared’s back garden and, before long, we were on our way to Sherrington Hall – a beautiful old hotel on the top of the cliff twelve miles south of Whitsborough Bay.
Cassie and Jared’s Christmas wedding was everything I’d imagined and more.
The attention to detail by the wedding planner was exemplary as even the decorations on the many Christmas trees around the building matched the colour scheme.
In addition to the gorgeous floral arrangements Sarah from Seaside Blooms had made, there were hurricane candles on every window ledge with swathes of ivy and shiny baubles.
Fairy lights twinkled everywhere and the whole wedding felt magical from start to end.
Lars looked divine in a grey three-piece suit and it touched my heart seeing him seeking out each of my family members to thank them for his birthday gifts. Kadence, delighted to finally meet him, was full of compliments.
‘This one’s definitely a keeper,’ she said, hugging me during the drinks reception.
My family had been friendly around Ewan and Wes but there was something different about the way they interacted with Lars and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was. I mentioned it to Cassie when I was in the bathroom helping with her dress before the wedding breakfast.
‘Head versus heart,’ she said. ‘They welcomed Ewan and Wes to the family because they’re lovely people and it was the polite thing to do when they knew they were important to you – a head thing.
With Lars, they genuinely love being around him.
He’s captured their hearts, just like he’s captured yours.
You’ve finally found your Gilbert Blythe. ’
My heart leapt because I felt that way too.
I’d been thinking a lot lately about the connections between Lars’s and my story and my favourite literary couple like falling out as children but having a friendship which developed into love, and how Gil’s nickname for Anne of Carrots became a term of endearment, just as Little Miss Perfect (-for-me) had become ours.
Returning to the bar, I spotted Lars at a table chatting to Kadence, Cory, Hendrix and Daisy.
They were laughing together as though they were old friends and I could see exactly what Cassie meant.
The Bay Books team acted the same around Lars too and the wonderful part was that it was all down to Lars being himself.
The boy who’d had no friends and very little family had become the man with a growing circle of friends and a new family and I couldn’t be more proud of him.
When Jared announced in his groom’s speech that it was Lars’s birthday and led the guests in a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday to You’, all the warm smiles in Lars’s direction brought tears to my eyes.
And the enormous smile from Lars when Cassie presented him with a bottle of bubbly was priceless.
Knowing how much of an outsider Lars had felt for most of his life, struggling to fit in anywhere, it gave me so much joy to see him find where he belonged.
‘Best birthday ever,’ he said as we slowly moved around the dance floor to the last song of the evening. ‘Earlier, I was thinking about how I’d have spent today if you hadn’t offered me the job at the shop.’
‘Or if Danika hadn’t stood over you, making you submit your CV,’ I said, glancing across the dance floor at Danika and Milana, both of whom I’d warmed to instantly. ‘What would you have been doing?’
‘Lunch or tea with Nanna and a FaceTime call with Freyja at some point, but I’d have spent most of it on my own.’
I tightened my hold on him. ‘You’ll never need to be on your own again. My family and friends all love you and so do I.’
‘They’re so great. When I saw you with your family in the bookshop and I desperately wanted what you had, I never imagined I’d be lucky enough to get it.’
‘ Tetta reddast ,’ I said, hoping my pronunciation wasn’t way off.
He looked down at me, his eyes sparkling. ‘Thanks to you, everything has worked out.’
As he kissed me on the dance floor, I knew that my Christmas sparkle had well and truly returned and this was going to be the most incredible Christmas. The Christmas that banished all the demons of bad Christmases past. Bring it on!