To Have And To Hold

‘You think they’ll have guessed?’

‘They knew I didn’t stand a chance.’

Alix laughed richly. ‘When did you realise?’

‘Realise what?’

‘That you were in love with me, of course.’

‘Oh…’ His voice became flippant. ‘When you glared up at me and told me you weren’t a boy, you were definitely a girl, of course.’

‘Really? Was it that long ago for you, too?’ Alix’s voice was all eagerness.

‘No, idiot. I was only kidding. I’ll tell you when I get home. OK?’

‘OK,’ she agreed, a little wistfully. ‘Will you write to me—a proper letter?’

‘Wouldn’t you rather I called?’

‘I’d like you to do both. Oh, Rhys. I wish you were home. I wish you were here with me.’

‘It won’t be long, just a couple of months.’ There was a noise in the background. ‘Alix, I have to go now. My car’s arrived to take me to work.’

‘You’ll call me tomorrow?’

‘As soon as I can. Bye, urchin.’

‘Goodnight, Rhys.’ Then, experimenting with happiness, ‘Goodbye, darling.’

Being an only child, Alix was used to sharing everything with her parents, and it wasn’t in her nature not to, so, even though it was almost midnight, she hugged her joy to herself for only a short time before picking up the phone to call them.

‘Daddy,’ her voice was still breathless with excitement. ‘I’ve got something to tell you. No. No, I haven’t been mugged. I’m quite all right. Fine. Yes, I know you told me to be careful.’ She raised her voice. ‘Daddy, will you please listen?’ Alix paused till he was quiet. ‘I’m going to get married. I’m engaged!’ she told him, the thrilled wonder of it still in her voice. But then she frowned. ‘No, I am not at a party and I’m not drunk. Of course it’s someone you know—it’s Rhys.’

She grinned with supreme pleasure as she heard her father excitedly telling her mother. Then of course her mother came on the line, wanting to know every detail. ‘Yes, he phoned me from Australia. I know, isn’t it wonderful? What do you mean, you’re not surprised? I was. But Rhys said you wouldn’t be.’ She listened, then said, laughing with excitement, ‘No, Ma, of course we haven’t set a date yet. Rhys didn’t even talk about that. We only got engaged half an hour ago, for heaven’s sake! Oh, and he said we weren’t to tell everyone yet, not till he comes home and makes it official. No, you can’t tell Uncle David and Aunt Joanne because I want to tell them myself. No, Rhys had to go to work. OK. Yes. I promise to ring them right this minute. Yes, I am brilliantly, fantastically happy. More happy than it’s possible for anyone to be. Yes, tomorrow. Goodnight, Mum. Love to Daddy. Night.’

The next twenty minutes and more were almost exactly identical as Alix told Rhys’s parents the news. Next to her own parents, she was closer to them than to anyone, even her own relations, and had always called them aunt and uncle; the knowledge that their relationship was soon to become even closer gave them all the greatest of pleasure. ‘We’re so pleased, darling,’ Aunt Joanne told her. ‘We’ve been looking forward to this day for years.’

Alix accepted their happiness as perfectly natural, quite sure that their pleasure wouldn’t have been half so great if Rhys had chosen to marry some other girl. She had been a proxy daughter to them for so long, and now she was to officially become part of their family. Everything was perfect for them all.

It never occurred to Alix that his parents’ love for her might have influenced Rhys’s decision to propose to her. And it certainly never occurred to her that her own overwhelming love for him wasn’t reciprocated a hundredfold. Everything in the world was wonderful—except for the long, long wait for Rhys to come home and claim her as his own.

Keeping her engagement a secret for the next two months was terribly difficult, especially as her happiness shone from her face and was obvious for all to see.

‘You’re in love,’ Kathy accused her when she went into work the next day.

‘Yes,’ Alix admitted. ‘I am.’

‘Who with? Who did you meet over the weekend? It must have been love at first sight,’ Kathy said enviously.

‘Yes, it was. Isn’t life wonderful?’

‘I thought you were crazy over Rhys,’ the other girl said shrewdly.

‘Good heavens, what on earth gave you that idea?’

‘What’s this new man like?’

‘Oh, you know—just fantastic.’

More than that she wouldn’t say, but her whole outlook changed. Instead of window-shopping outside clothes shops in the lunch hour, Alix now wanted to look at cutlery and linens, at china and saucepans.

‘That’s boring,’ Kathy protested. ‘You’re too young and attractive to become a hausfrau. Anyone would think you were going to live with this guy.’

Alix protested, but was inwardly excited at the idea. Surely that was what Rhys had intended by letting her live in his flat while he was away? When he came back he would just move in with her and they would live together, eventually getting married, eventually having children, and definitely living happily ever after.

The rest of the day went past all too slowly. At the end of it Alix would dearly have loved to have gone home to share her excitement with her parents, but Rhys had said he would phone her again at the flat, so she had to stay in town. Only when he didn’t call that evening did Alix remember that he hadn’t promised definitely for that night, just said he’d ring as soon as he could. She fell asleep disappointed, and turned down an outing with some of the girls from the office to stay in the next night, but was overwhelmingly glad she had when Rhys rang again, earlier this time, at ten o’clock.

‘Hi, urchin. Have you changed your mind?’

‘What about?’ she asked, deliberately not understanding.

Rhys chuckled. ‘Marrying me, of course.’

‘Oh, that. No, I guess I’ll make do with you.’

‘Only two days and the woman’s blasé already.’

‘Oh, I’ll never be that,’ Alix assured him, immediately abandoning her mock coolness. ‘I told the parents. They were so pleased, Rhys. You wouldn’t believe.’

‘Oh, yes, I would. They rang me at some Godforsaken hour in the morning yesterday to congratulate me. All four of them. Your father said I should have asked his permission first.’

‘He didn’t!’ Alix exclaimed delightedly. ‘What did you say?’

‘I told him that if he’d refused to give it you would probably have disowned him.’

She burst into laughter. ‘I would, too. Oh, Rhys, I am so happy. But I do wish you were here. Do you wish I was there with you?’ she asked, expecting a tender reply.

‘No, you’d be completely in the way and I’d never get any work done,’ he said prosaically.

That made her laugh again. ‘When do you think you will be home? I want to know the exact date.’

She could almost hear him shrug. ‘Some time at the end of next month; I can’t be any more exact than that at the moment, but everything is going well, no holdups.’

‘Tell me about it.’

‘It would take too long, and these calls cost the earth.’

‘When will you call again?’