CHAPTER 37
CHRISTMAS 2014
CERYS
“I’m a real princess!” shrieks Ella as she runs across the snow-covered grounds. “I’m staying in a castle!”
“We’re not staying in the castle, Ella, but in a cottage,” I tell her.
The Norman castle set in the Welsh countryside close to the beach is worthy of a fairy tale. The privacy we can achieve here and the fact it’s close enough to St Davids and Liam’s family made the location an obvious choice to get married. That and Ella’s opinion that a castle would be the most romantic place for her mum to marry Liam.
Liam drags a large suitcase out of the car as I run to keep up with the excited girl heading across the wooden bridge into the grey walled castle bailey. Liam grabs my hand and pulls me back.
“Have you persuaded her to wear the bridesmaid dress yet?”
I shove him in the chest. “All your bloody fault! You were the one that said she could wear her Elsa costume.”
“I didn’t think she’d take me seriously.”
“One day, you’ll learn,” I mutter.
“Naw, well I don’t care. She can wear her cat pyjamas for all I care, as long as you’re there.”
We follow Ella’s footprints across the snow-covered gardens and reach the stone cottage where the footprints stop at the door. I find her in one of the bedrooms of the renovated cottage, lying on one of the beds staring up at the wooden beamed ceiling.
“Shoes off, missy!” I say and sit next to her.
“I’m sleeping here,” she announces.
“Tonight you are, but tomorrow you’re staying with Linda and Jim.”
“And then I can come back?”
“And then we’ll go back to London for Christmas, remember?”
“And then you’ll stay with Emily while your mummy and me have a holiday,” says Liam from the doorway.
“Honeymoon,” Ella corrects him.
This time last year, I stayed with Ella at Liam’s parents, not knowing what the future held for us. This Christmas, I’m attending a wedding at Manorbier Castle. Our wedding.
Liam’s mouth tugs into a smile at Ella’s words. “Honeymoon. Since I’m not allowed to stay here tonight, are you going to make sure Mummy looks extra pretty for tomorrow?”
“Mummy always looks pretty.”
“And you’ll wear the special dress that matches Auntie Louise’s?” he asks.
Feigning deafness, Ella opens her small rucksack and begins arranging her dolls on the pillow.
“Ella?” asks Liam
“Yes…” she sighs and gives an eye roll worthy of any teenager. “Now, I’m unpacking.”
Liam beckons me toward him with one finger and we leave the room for the small lounge. Two red velvet sofas are arranged in front of a small fireplace, old portraits of past castle owners hang on the distressed white painted walls either side.
“So I’m not allowed to stay?” asks Liam, sitting on one of the sofas and stretching his legs in front of him.
“No, so don’t make yourself comfortable. You’ll see me tomorrow.”
I wish I could bottle the happiness emanating from Liam’s smile because it fills the room. “I sure will.”
Louise appears in the doorway, wrapped up in a thick grey coat, holding the handle of a large, wheeled suitcase. “Oh! You! Out! What’s he doing here?”
“Dropping Cerys and Ella off, don’t worry, I’m not staying,” says Liam with a sigh.
“Damn straight you’re not, go in the other room while I bring Cerys’s dress in! You can’t see!” demands Louise.
“Lou, it’s covered in a garment bag,” I say. “He won’t be able to see anything.”
She ignores. “Okay. Liam, I want you gone so I can spend my last afternoon and evening with Cerys before she becomes my sister-in-law.”
“Fine! Sheesh!” Liam stands and heads toward the door. As he reaches me, he slides his hands behind and cups my backside as he presses his mouth to mine again. The nerves about tomorrow disappear with his kiss, soft mouth moving against mine, calming me by pulling me into the peace of our world.
A cushion hits the back of my head, thrown by Louise. “You have the rest of your lives to do that. Put my brother down and help me out.”
Liam kisses my nose. “See you tomorrow, beautiful girl.”
Liam Oliver walks away from the cottage, and the realisation tomorrow I’ll be Cerys Oliver hits again.
“First things first,” says Lou from behind, “Wine!”
“Maybe bring everything inside first? Before you get too drunk to navigate the snow?”
A huffing Louise follows me out, but her face is as lit up as the Christmas tree in the corner of the small cottage lounge room. “You marrying Liam is the best,” she says. “You totally deserve each other.”
“You’ve changed your tune since last Christmas!” I say, handing her bags from the car.
“I was looking out for you! I didn’t know he was secretly, madly in love with you!”
I giggle. “I don’t think he was…”
“Well, he certainly is now. I can’t believe you’re going to be my sister!”
“Well, we always had the love/hate thing going on as teens, I guess it’s appropriate,” I say. Louise pushes me and we set about preparations for tomorrow.
For the day, I marry Liam Oliver.
****
LIAM
I arrive at the castle with Bryn. The mid-morning winter sun shines on the snow-covered castle keep and across the grounds toward the coast. The journey from the hotel in Pembroke was short and most of it was in silence. But I know the words are coming, Bryn won’t be able to resist.
“Go on,” I say to Bryn as we step out of the car into the snow.
Bryn straightens his jacket, the grey suit and waistcoat matches mine, the same crisp white shirt and red tie to match the white rose and berry buttonhole. “Go on, what?”
“A comment about the last wedding we attended. Get it over with.”
“Oh, Liam, man!” Bryn throws an arm across my shoulder. “If I thought you were going to abandon another bride, I wouldn’t have agreed to be your best man again.”
“I can a hundred percent guarantee I will not be leaving here until I’m a married man.”
“I know,” says Bryn with a smirk. “Come on.”
The vaulted chapel rests inside the castle walls, the serenity of the location and the small number of guests milling around are a world away from the pink disaster earlier this year.
Inside, a white drape hangs around the arched window at the end of the chapel, the distressed stone walls showing the age of the building. Chairs are set out in rows for the twenty or so people chosen to attend and the official photographer, negotiated to keep the magazines away, sits on one of the grey chairs at the back of the room. Either that or she’s a wedding guest with a really large camera. With her long brown hair and smart red dress, the young woman doesn’t look very paparazzi; so hopefully, she’ll be subtle about her intrusion into what I wanted to be a private day.
Mum and Dad sit grinning at me on the front row, bridesmaid Louise will be bossing Cerys, I imagine. I stand near the low table at the front and greet the grey haired woman who’s the registrar, then turn back to the half-empty room.
What if Cerys changes her mind?
No, she wouldn’t.
Dylan and Sky sit at the front to the left of me whispering to each other, hands firmly held. When Sky sees me, she nudges Dylan and he comes over.
“You made it, then?” he asks.
I glance at Bryn. “One of you had to say it, didn’t you? Not f-ucking funny.”
Dylan holds his hands up. “Whoa. Okay, stressed much?”
“Dylan, be nice. Of course he’s stressed, it’s his wedding day,” says Bryn.
Dylan wrinkles his nose and glances at Sky. “Yeah, okay. Good luck then.”
He returns to Sky and they continue their conversation. She declined the invitation to be a bridesmaid. She’s wearing a short dress, a weird grey colour that I’m sure Cerys can tell me the name of. I’m not that bothered in studying people’s clothes, I just want this over with.
“He’s pissed off you beat him to it,” whispers Bryn.
“Not my fault if Sky won’t set a date.”
A variety of family and the Blue Phoenix inner circle fill the chairs in the small room. Steve and his wife, Tina and her latest guy, plus cousins I see once in a blue moon crowded together in a bizarre mix of my life. Jem arrives, late as usual, and I’m surprised to see Ruby with him. Of the four of us, he looks the least comfortable at being made to dress in a suit. The pair looks as nervous as me as they head to their allotted seats at the front. Ruby chooses to sit next to Dylan and not Sky, smoothing her red dress as she sits. Jem wishes me luck then sits next to her. I look up at the arched ceiling, not wanting to engage with anyone. Please let this be quick.
Ella appears at the back of the chapel and to my relief she’s not dressed in any of her Disney princess dresses. Her short cream dress is tied around the middle with a red ribbon to match her shoes and the one in her thick brown hair. I wave at her and she rushes back in the direction she came.
My heart is fighting with my mind that’s convincing me Cerys is running too, that six months is too soon, and I’ll get my retribution for what I did to Honey.
I don’t need to worry. The woman who appears with her daughter’s hand firmly held is the person who fate pulled me to. Here, in this moment, I understand why I was pulled back to Wales last Christmas. My soul mate walks along the narrow space between the chairs and I’m unaware of anything but her. Couldn’t tell you what music was playing or if anyone was still in the room, just the magnetic pull to the place I need to be: Cerys.
The intense love for her explodes through my soul, filling my heart until my chest hurts. I fight against going to her, hoisting Cerys over my shoulder and running. The crazy thought puts a smile on my face and Cerys returns one of her own. We’re locked in this moment, the push and pull of the fates finally over.
She’s absolutely, f-ucking gorgeous. To me, Cerys is beautiful in scruffy, dress down clothes and no make-up, so in the floor length, ivory gown that moulds around her gorgeous b-reasts and pulls in at her waist to define that killer ass blows my mind. I immediately worry she’s cold until Louise appears behind her and drapes a shawl across her shoulders. Louise’s dress matches Ella’s but without the ribbon and she gently guides Ella toward where I stand.
Finally, close enough to touch her; I take Cerys’s soft hand in mine. “Your hands are cold,” I whisper and rub her fingers.
Cerys’s longer hair is braided away from her face with tiny white flowers in the plaits, the brown eyes wide and tearful. Oh f-uck, don’t cry, Cerys.
When tears spill down her cheeks I do what I always do; I take her face, rub them away with my thumb, lean in, and kiss the salty warmth from her cheeks.
“You look f-ucking amazing,” I say.
“Don’t swear,” she whispers, indicating Ella with her head, but smiling at my slip-up.
“But you do, you’re beautiful.”
Then I catch sight of her necklace with the gold heart pendant resting just above my favourite part of Cerys. She squeezes my hand in a small warning and I grin at her. “You’re wearing my heart.”
“Always,” she whispers.
Nobody else exists outside this moment, a snapshot in time that I’ll hold in my heart forever. Cerys touches my freshly shaved cheek, the emotion in her face unmistakable and I can’t breathe.
“I love you, Liam.”
So, I’m supposed to wait until we’re married to kiss the bride? f-uck that.
****
CERYS
Liam’s hands roam around to my backside and he pulls me into him as we move together on the dance floor. I rest my head in the spot beneath Liam’s chin, the perfect fit as if made for me. Placing my lips on his neck, I relish the comfort of his arms around me. The giddy feeling of being loved completely has followed me since the moment I saw the terrified Liam in the chapel, and the transformation on his face when he saw me is etched in my mind forever. Any remaining doubt I had that we were marrying too quickly evaporated with his inappropriate kiss and reluctance to let me go.
Time on the dance floor is the only way we can be alone together; even though this is a small wedding, everyone wants a piece of us and I’m exhausted. The love songs playing currently, no doubt hurt Liam’s ears; a world away from most of Blue Phoenix’s work, but we stay on the dance floor away from the guests. We decided that the band wouldn’t play; I didn’t want Liam away from me.
“How long before we can leave?” Liam whispers, tugging my earlobe with his teeth.
“A few hours yet.”
He groans and drags me closer. “You’re driving me f-ucking crazy. I need to see what you’re wearing under there.”
“All the best things in life are worth waiting for,” I say and giggle, heady with champagne and the emotion of the day.
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” he continues and as the music plays around us, he stops in the middle of the dance floor and proceeds to go into great detail about the night ahead of me. I squirm as his words pull vivid images into my head and a dampening heat between my legs. To shut him up I drag his mouth onto mine. Kisses shouldn’t feel any different to twenty-four hours ago but they do. The giddy feeling from the slide of his tongue and the taste of him rushes to my head, joining the constant dreamlike feeling of the day. This is different because I’ll never have to be without these kisses again.
The number of guests drop off as the evening gets later. An exhausted Ella kisses me goodbye and disappears with her new grandparents. Again the pang of disappointment that my parents didn’t come edges in. But that was my choice, just as it was their choice not to acknowledge me or Ella for the last five years.
Sky and Dylan sit at a white-clothed table we return to, half-hidden in the darkness. Sky hugs and kisses me which takes me by surprise, but she’s generally friendlier after a few glasses of wine. I sit on the chair next to her, and smooth my dress.
“You look beautiful,” she says. “And thanks for not telling me what to wear.” She indicates her dress, dove-grey, fitted at the top and floating to above her knee.
“Thanks. I think,” I say and look at Liam who shrugs.
Dylan pokes Sky who giggles again. “Too much champagne,” he says and pulls an apologetic face.
Sky makes a ‘pfft’ sound and puts a hand on his cheek. “You won’t be complaining later.”
“Okay! Too much information!” says Liam and holds his hands up.
Dylan smirks, leaning back on his chair, the action stretches the white shirt across and defines his muscular chest. He’s dispensed with his suit jacket and hung it on the chair behind.
Sky cranes her neck. “Did the photographer finally leave?”
“I think so,” says Liam.
“Awesome! Dylan?” Sky excitedly climbs onto his lap and unbuttons the top button of his shirt.
Dylan catches her arm. “Are you sure?”
I prepare to head off and quickly, I didn’t realise she was that drunk. There’s PDAs and there’s completely inappropriate.
“Yes!” says Sky, “Come on!”
“We should go,” says Liam and I glance at his bemused face.
“No, wait, you have to see this,” says Sky, dragging Dylan’s tie from around his neck.
“I very much doubt I should see this,” replies Liam.
Dylan hooks his fingers through a chain on his neck and pulls it out from beneath his shirt. In the dim light, I can’t make out what’s hanging on the chain. Sky unclasps the necklace and tips the attachments onto her hand.
Rings.
Dylan takes one of them and pushes it onto Sky’s finger and she does the same to his. Onto their wedding fingers. Then they put their heads together in a conspiratorial giggle.
“Holy f-uck!” says Liam. “Did you get married?”
Sky rests her head on Dylan’s shoulder. “Yep.”
“When?” I ask.
“Last week. Everyone was so focused on your wedding, we thought we’d take advantage of the distraction,” says Dylan
“Why the f-uck didn’t you say anything? Where?” continues a stunned Liam.
“We didn’t want to say anything until you’d got married. We agreed to keep this hidden until tomorrow.” He pulls a stern face at Sky. “We haven’t worn the rings since we got back to the UK in case someone spotted them.”
“I know and it feels wrong not wearing your ring after the months of you whinging about setting a date,” says Sky. “Anyway, you’re usually the one who can’t keep his mouth shut!”
“I’m keeping them close to my heart,” says Dylan and kisses her nose.
“Nobody’s going to see now,” I say, “And I don’t care, I’m happy for you.” I lean down and encompass Sky in another hug.
I pick up a glass of champagne and toast Sky as an incredulous Liam grills Dylan. “Who’d have thought? Two Blue Phoenix guys married, their image is shot! Now the fun really starts,” she whispers, “We have to keep them in line.”
I laugh, knowing full well Sky already does a good job of keeping Dylan in line; this is the girl who tamed Dylan Morgan.
She tips her head. “Jem’s still with the weird girl.”
I look over to where Jem and Ruby continue an intent conversation, his hands over hers, faces close.
“Looks that way.”
“Does she speak to you much?” Sky asks.
“I’ve only met her a couple of times.”
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” says Sky quietly, which surprises me because I didn’t think her and Jem got on well.
“Come on, wife,” says Liam, pulling me up from the chair.
“Excuse me?” I say and push his chest. “Wife?”
“You are, aren’t you? Come on, I have wifely duties for you to perform.”
“Just because I’m your wife, that doesn’t mean I’ll do what you want.”
Liam hoists me over one shoulder, and I find my head tipped down against his back. “Yes it does.” He slaps my backside. “Time to go.”
I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or amused and I fight against him, attempting to get off his shoulder. I already know how strong Liam is and how if he wants something, he usually gets it.
“Only when I let you,” I remind him, as he carries me out into the quiet of the snow-covered grounds.
Liam sets me onto the snow and I shiver as the snowflakes drift onto my bare shoulders. He kisses away the flakes settling onto my face, the way he did almost a year ago and rubs my cold back.
“I found him,” I say.
“Who did you find?”
“The snowstorm of a man who showed me how to love myself by being passionate about everything I am. Remember?”
The memory catches up with Liam too and he kisses my cheeks, nose, eyebrows, everywhere the snow lands. “I love you, Cerys Oliver.”
“And I love you.”
With the snow flurrying around us, we stand with cool hands on each other’s faces. The silent communication in this moment is that of two souls made for each other and with that connection, I trust Liam with my heart, my life, my everything. Some soul mates never meet, or their paths cross at the wrong time, and those people will always have an emptiness they’ll never understand. Liam came into my life years ago and left again. On the day he kissed me at Christmas, my life fused with his. With that kiss, our souls surrendered and our hearts aligned leading us to this moment and to our forever.
Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed Unplugged. Please consider leaving a review at the site where you bought the book. If you’d like to contact me, my author links are on the page with my author bio. I love hearing what readers think about my books.
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Links to the Blue Phoenix Series
Summer Sky
Falling Sky
Jem and Ruby’s story releases late December 2014
Rising
Acknowledgements
My biggest thanks again go to Lou of Seraphim Book Reviews for her continued support and love of the Blue Phoenix boys. Thank you for being there as a friend and listening on my bad days. I promise I’ll make Bryn’s story awesome!
Thank you to some lovely ladies who continue to support me with beta reading, getting the word out about my books and for generally being wonderful people: Leeann, Mikayla, Victoria, Dawn and Nicola.
Thanks go to my fabulous editors Peggy and Becky at Hot Tree Editing and Najla at Najla Qamber Designs for shaping the finished product into a well-edited, beautifully covered book.
Thank you to the bloggers who have supported my indie publishing journey - so many of you to mention so I won’t in case I leave someone out and offend! Without bloggers, the life of an indie author would be twice as hard. The amount of work you put into supporting and promoting authors is amazing. A special thank you to Rose for all your help through the last year.
An acknowledgement is due to Tonya Ridener who won the competition to name the new band in this book. Her suggestion, Ruby Riot, received the most votes from my Facebook page fans. You will see a lot more of Ruby Riot in the next book, Rising.
Thanks to my family for allowing me to spend so much time at my laptop in my Blue Phoenix t-shirt as I lose myself in their world (although I feel closer to the characters wearing the t-shirt, a trip to LA would help more, just saying). Apologies to Miranda for being spotted picking her up from school in what suspiciously looked like pyjamas under my hoodie. They weren’t. Honestly.
And thanks to everybody who has done any of the following: read my books, left a review, signed up to my mailing list, spoken to me on Facebook or emailed me. You make my dreams a reality. I’m overwhelmed by the support for the Blue Phoenix series and can’t wait to share more with you! I love chatting about my imaginary friends so please contact me if you want to, I always reply.
About The Author
Lisa is an author of new adult romance and writes both paranormal and contemporary.
In between running a business, looking after her family and writing, Lisa sometimes finds spare time to do other things. This often involves swapping her book worlds for gaming worlds. She even leaves the house occasionally.
Lisa is originally from the UK but moved to Australia in 2001 and now lives in Perth in Western Australia with her husband, three children and dog.
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