TWELVE

      Six months later...

      Lena couldn’t reach the zip on her dress. Fortunately, that was what bridesmaids were for. Poppy and Ruby fussed and tweaked until the silk and tulle sweetheart gown sat perfectly on Lena’s skin, unashamedly romantic with its fitted beaded bodice and floor-length tulle skirt. Lena had chosen the gown, with Poppy and Ruby’s full approval. Ruby had chosen the shoes and the hair accessories, because, frankly, when you had an expert in the family it paid to stand back and let them do what they did best.

      The wedding shoes were amber-whorled white sling-backs. The headband involved an elegant sufficiency of tiny gumnuts and delicate white flannel flowers, perfect for an outdoor wedding that would shortly take place beneath a towering redgum on the banks of a lazy river.

      Ruby and her baby belly glowed in a moss-green full-length gown with an empire waist. Poppy’s dress ran along similar lines except that hers was a pale sky-blue. The old farmhouse bedroom that currently doubled as the dressing room had been finished and furnished last week—an early wedding gift from Lena’s soon-to-be father-in-law. The bed was custom made and enormous. The freshly waxed floorboards had come from fallen timber, sourced on the farm. The silk carpets that covered large sections of floorboards had come from Persia. Lena had bought them at auction three weeks earlier and hiding them from Trig had required great stealth and the assistance of a recently rebuilt chimney.

      Trig had wanted to light a fire in the fireplace last night.

      Yeah, no.

      Not until Damon and Seb had dragged Trig to the other end of the property to cut firewood, leaving Lena, Ruby and Poppy to shift the damn things.

      Ruby was six months pregnant with twins, Lena had a gammy leg and Poppy had been too busy laughing to be of much help at all, but between the three of them they’d hauled the carpets into one of the shower stalls in an unfinished bathroom, and Trig’s brother and father had laid them out in the master bedroom this morning.

      Lena hoped Trig loved them.

      If he didn’t, she could always send him out shopping for more.

      ‘Half an hour until go time,’ said Poppy, and Lena looked out of the big bay window towards the lawn where the after-the-ceremony celebrations would take place. A marquee had been set up on the garden lawn. Inside, a trio of waiters offered liquid refreshments to arriving guests. Parasols, picnic rugs and fluffy beach towels had been made available for the more intrepid guests who wanted to explore the river banks or the river itself. Caterers had taken over the kitchen. Long trestle tables had appeared on the lawn, covered in white linen tablecloths, shiny silverware and white accompaniments. The florist and her assistants were putting the final touches to the table arrangements. The bridal bouquets waited on the sideboard, a romantic mass of flannel flowers, gumnuts and soft green leaves.

      A pair of vintage Aston Martin DB9s stood waiting in the circular driveway, ready to take first Ruby and Poppy and then Lena and her father down the freshly levelled track from the house to the redgum by the river where the wedding would take place. One of the Astons was silver, the other a British racing green. Together, they put Lena in mind of fast men and reckless women. They were a gift to her and Trig from her father.

      Trig didn’t know they owned the Astons yet, or that twice a year at a racetrack in Brisbane enthusiasts still raced the things. Good times ahead.

      The photographer tried to be unobtrusive as she took stills of them getting ready. The photographer had already been out and taken photos of the cars.

      ‘What have I forgotten?’ Lena knew she was almost ready, but not quite.

      ‘Jewellery,’ said Poppy, with the click of her fingers, and reached for a tired velvet case that she nonetheless treated with reverence. They’d belonged to their mother.

      Gently, Poppy helped her put them on.

      ‘Beautiful,’ said Ruby, suddenly misty eyed.

      ‘Perfect,’ said Poppy.

      Lena’s wedding planner stuck her head around the door, her eyes bright and her smile reassuring. ‘How are we going?’

      ‘She’s ready,’ said Poppy.

      ‘Good. The musicians are here and they’re all set up, the caterer wants to take your kitchen with him wherever he goes and the groom and his party have been spotted. They’re down by the river.’

      ‘Hopefully not getting wet,’ Ruby muttered.

      ‘There was some mention of a speedboat,’ the wedding planner replied carefully. ‘A very fast speedboat. Apparently they arrived in one.’

      ‘Fancy that.’ Lena grinned. She hadn’t had time to go speedboat shopping, what with finding and buying the farm and getting it restored and enrolling in university and planning a wedding. Perhaps Trig had.

      The only blight on her otherwise perfect day was the absence of Jared. By all accounts he was still on the floating fortress belonging to the billionaire arms dealer. ‘I wish Jared was here.’ There, she’d said it.

      ‘His loss,’ said Ruby gently.

      ‘Damn right it is.’ But it still stung and not just on her account. She hurt on Trig’s behalf too.

      ‘He’d have been here if he could have,’ Poppy said defensively.

      Or if he’d wanted to. But Lena kept that thought to herself. No point focusing on the negatives. She’d stopped doing that, for the most part. Joy ruled her now, along with gratitude for what was. Happiness did that. And love. Love made so many things possible.

      The wedding planner checked her phone and smiled some more. ‘Your father’s here. He’s out by the cars. We’ve scheduled ten minutes for photos. Twenty minutes until we leave for the river bank.’

      It wasn’t that far. Most of the guests had opted to walk down the hill from the homestead to the river bank.

      The photographer nodded and made her exit. Poppy handed Lena the bridal bouquet.

      Together, Ruby and Poppy floated the bridal veil over Lena’s head.

      ‘You look so beautiful,’ said Poppy.

      ‘You do.’ Ruby nodded. ‘Hope suits you. Happiness suits you.’

      ‘Are you ready?’ asked Poppy and Lena nodded.

      Yes, she was.

      * * *

      Trig hated waiting. He especially hated waiting in front of three hundred or so guests for his bride to turn up, but he made the most of it and greeted people, right up until Damon’s phone buzzed and a text message from Ruby told them Lena was on her way.

      Damon herded him and Trig’s brother Matthew, his best man, beneath the redgum, where they waited some more.

      A dark green Aston Martin appeared on the track down to the river. A silver one followed.

      ‘Nice,’ said Matthew.

      ‘Very nice,’ agreed Damon, and turned to Trig and straightened the little white flannel flower on his lapel. ‘Also a wedding gift. My father said to tell you that one of them’s yours and that the green one’s marginally faster. Welcome to the family.’

      ‘Thanks. I think.’ Trig could barely breathe as Poppy and Ruby emerged from the first car and then helped Lena and her father exit the second. They fussed and they fiddled and generally took for ever.

      ‘Something’s wrong,’ he said.

      ‘No, I’m pretty sure it’s normal,’ said Matthew.

      ‘It’s