Page 6 of The Forever Match

Victoria cracked a smile at that. Good old Gran.

The Queen exhaled. “Now we just have to hope it stops raining, otherwise the ceremony might be a mud bath.”

Debra waved a hand. “It’ll stop. It always does. And if it doesn’t, isn’t it lucky to have rain on your wedding day?”

“Alanis Morrisette doesn’t think so,” Victoria quipped, before getting up and walking to the enormous windows overlooking the Palace gardens. Outside, the rain continued to pour. “I hope Debra’s right.” She shrugged and walked back to her seat. “Plus, I’d rather it happen now than on the day.”

“Everything will work out just fine,” Debra reassured her.

When Victoria first met Debra, she’d been a bundle of nervous energy who simply wouldn’t stop talking. Thankfully, she was far calmer now. In fact, compared to her own mother, who always seemed to have an agenda, Victoria found Debra a breeze. She could have far worse mother-in-laws.

“Do you look back with fondness on your wedding day, Cassandra?” Debra asked.

The Queen had insisted that Ash’s parents call them by their first names to make things a little more normal. But Ash had told Victoria that Debra still found it odd.

“Of course,” her mother said. “I got to marry Oliver, which was the prime goal. Was everything as I wanted it? No. But I wanted to marry him, and I was allowed to. That was enough.” She smiled over at Victoria and Ash. “I hope you both enjoy it a little more, but I suspect your emotions will be similar. I had my reservations about your union, but even the newspapers are on our side now, more worried about the procession route and the venue than who Victoria is marrying. That’s a win. Take the small ones where you can.”

Chapter 3

Days Until The Royal Wedding: 10.

Debra was having a meltdown about her fascinator, which was anything but fascinating. She’d rejected the ones the royal designer had offered, declaring them “too fancy”. Now, she pulled a face in the full-length department store mirror, shook her head, unpinned the baby blue one, then picked up another. This time, it was coral, which matched her dress perfectly. She pinned it, then caught Ash’s eye in her reflection.

“Better, or worse?” She tilted her head one way.

Ash nodded. “Better.” They’d been on the fascinator fast train for the past half an hour, and she was eager to get off at the next station.

However, her mum screwed up her face. “You don’t think the blue would be better? More contrast? I watched that interior design show the other night, and they did a lovely room with coral and baby blue.”

“The only problem is, you’re not a room, Mum. Go with the coral. Matchy matchy is all in.”

Her mum frowned. “But does it say Mother of the Bride?”

Ash rolled her eyes internally, got up, and put an arm around her mum. “It doesn’t need to say that, because you are the mother of the bride. It’s simply a fact.”

But Ash knew what her mum wasn’t saying. That there was another mother of the bride, who happened to be the Queen. Which was why she was putting the weight of the day on a six-inch piece of feathered millinery. Coral or blue, she’d still fret.

“Do you know what colour Cassandra’s wearing? Do Queens wear fascinators?”

Ash bit down a smile. “I’ve no idea to both questions.”

Debra frowned again. “I’m going to get them both and decide at home.”

“Good choice.”

They walked out of the changing room, the woman at the door giving Ash a double-take, recognising her face, but struggling to place it. She got that a lot these days.

Being England captain had given her a tiny slither of niche fame. Marrying the heir to the British throne meant she was in the tabloids weekly. However, not many people expected to see her in John Lewis shopping with her mum, so they mainly looked confused.

The only real change to their routine was the car. Ash had stopped taking the tube the day she was made England captain, but the chauffeur thing was still new to her mum. Debra liked to pretend she missed her freedom. Ash knew she secretly loved being driven places for free.

They walked through the store, past the handbags section, then through the haze of the perfume and makeup departments, before exiting onto a side street and getting into Ash’s royal car. She wasn’t even married yet, but the privilege had already started.

Her mum slid onto the black leather seat, pulled on her seatbelt, and wiped her face where the rain had caught her. “This bloody weather.” She turned to Ash. “Did you reply to Jaz and Beth, by the way?”

Her aunt and cousin were also having a mini-meltdown. It turned out if you married into royalty, it caused a million questions from family who suddenly had no idea what to wear to a wedding, even though this was not their first rodeo.

Ash rolled her eyes again, this time externally. “Yes, and I told them to wear what they’d normally wear to a wedding. But that didn’t go down well. Jaz has got something made especially, and Beth raided Ted Baker. My whole family are going to upstage me on my big day, aren’t they?”