Chapter 41

FORTY-ONE

Ed got to his feet and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out something indiscernible. ‘I'd intended to save this for tomorrow, but I think now would be the perfect time.'

‘Save what? Ed, why are you talking in riddles?' Florrie's mind was swirling again.

‘I needed to get it fixed as soon as possible. I'd been looking for it for ages, thought I was never going to find it – it's what I'd been searching for in the attic. Anyroad, when I found it, I saw it had split. I've a friend who said he could fix it for me quickly, while everywhere else I'd asked said they couldn't do it in time. Only trouble was, he was in London and only there till Wednesday – he was flying out to spend Christmas with his girlfriend in Bruges. It all added to the urgency for me to get to London.'

‘Oh right, I see – I think.' Florrie didn't see at all. She hadn't a clue where he was going with all of this gabbling. In fact, she'd go as far as to say she'd never seen him looking so antsy. ‘Are you okay?'

‘Never been better.' He flashed one of his smiles, raked his fingers through his hair and started shuffling from foot to foot, rubbing his hand nervously across his mouth.

Could've fooled me. She studied his face intently, growing more confused by the second. He took a long pause and swallowed audibly before throwing her an uncertain smile. What the heck happened to him down in London that has made him behave so oddly?

Ed reached for her hand and gently pulled her up from her seat . He took a deep breath. ‘Okay,' he said to himself. ‘Time to do it.'

Time to do what? And why is he suddenly looking so… so… weird? ‘Ed, what's going on?'

He paused, ceased his fidgeting and drew in another breath, then turned his full navy-blue gaze onto Florrie, which made her stomach roll over unexpectedly.

‘Florrie.' Another pause. ‘You're nothing short of amazing. In fact, you're without doubt the most amazing person I've ever met. You've got the biggest heart – The Happy Christmas Memory Project is evidence of that. Who else would think of doing something so thoughtful and completely wonderful? I could go on and list a million other reasons to explain why I think you're so special, but we'd be here all day.' He gave a little laugh. ‘So, what I really want to say is that I love you with all my heart. And…'

Florrie looked on, her mouth falling open as he got down on one knee, her thoughts scrambling together, trying to work out if she was hallucinating, or if he was falling. But neither would seem to be the case. She tried to speak, but found herself unable to form a single word. All she could do was look down at Ed's earnest face looking back at her.

Gerty pulled her eyes away from the remains of the picnic and threw Ed a cursory glance before turning her attention back to the food.

‘Florrie Appleton, would you do me the honour of becoming Florrie Harte – or Florrie Appleton-Harte, if that's what you'd prefer?' He opened his hand, a small, battered leather box sitting in his palm. He carefully lifted the lid to reveal an exquisite antique ring glinting up at them. The princess cut emerald flanked by two half-carat diamonds looked instantly familiar to Florrie: Mrs H's engagement ring.

‘Oh!' She gasped, pressing her hand to her mouth. She hadn't been expecting any of this!

‘Will you marry me, Florrie?' Ed asked hopefully.

‘Yes!' She nodded, her eyes blurring with tears as her heart soared with a happiness she'd never thought possible. ‘Yes! Yes! Yes! I'd love nothing more than to marry you, Ed.'

‘Woohoo!' he cried at the top of his voice, making Florrie laugh. In the next moment, beaming broadly, he slid the ring onto her finger. ‘I guessed it would be a bit loose on you and would need adjusting, which we can get done at the jewellers in town, but I didn't want to propose to you with a ring that had a split in the band.'

‘I wouldn't have minded,' she said, gazing down at her hand as Ed pulled himself upright.

‘Yes, but I would. It wouldn't have felt right.' He gave a gentle smile. ‘It's my grandma's engagement ring, but if you'd rather have something new or?—'

‘I love it, Ed. I can remember your grandma wearing it and I always thought it was beautiful. Lark would say it's full of happy energy from all the years your grandparents were together. For so many reasons, it's the most perfect ring.' She could barely tear her eyes away from it. So this is what he'd been looking for when he was spending all that time in the attic! It couldn't be any further from the reason her fears had led her to believe.

He cupped her face in his hands. ‘I don't know about you, future Mrs Harte, but I think this rounds up The Happy Christmas Memory Project rather nicely.'

‘I think it rounds it up perfectly. In fact, I'd say it's the most perfect Christmas memory of them all.'

‘I had to play a part in making some, I couldn't leave you to do all the work,' Ed joked, before kissing her deeply, her stomach performing a series of somersaults.

‘I only wish my grandfather could have been around to see this day.' He heaved a wistful sigh when they finally came up for air, wrapping her in his arms and holding her close.

‘Oh, I don't doubt for a second that Mr H – AKA Cupid Harte – is looking down at us wearing the biggest smile and congratulating himself rather smugly.' Florrie wished they could stay in this moment forever, wished she could bottle the joy in her heart, be able to lift the lid and savour every delicious emotion all over again.

‘Yeah, I think you could be right.'