CHAPTER TWELVE

Imogen had never really had that many friends. She'd told herself it was a consequence of being both intelligent and socially awkward, although in her more reflective moments she admitted that she had other flaws that got in the way as well. She got on fine with her work colleagues, and Angela had been bugging her for intimate details ever since seeing Mark at the siege until Imogen had felt it would be rude not to give her a wedding invitation. But when she came to organising her first hen night, she decided her two bridesmaids were all she needed.

Piper drained her glass, which Imogen suspected she kind of needed to do to get through the evening and possibly the next twenty-four hours. "I still can't believe you're getting married tomorrow."

"Well, it's been fixed for the last three months,"Imogen pointed out. She was torn between taking Piper's glass away from her and refilling it, eventually settling for the latter. She looked at her sister sincerely. "Thanks for agreeing to be here. I know it's not easy, given how everyone else feels."

"Well, I kind of don't have a choice, I live here." Piper sighed. "Okay, you know, despite everything, I do actually want you to be happy. And I do think it's a shame Mum and Dad couldn't be here but…"

"I get it, they want to be loyal to Paige." Imogen looked over at Amber. "At least you came."

Amber gave her a wry look. "Well, it was something of a novelty to actually be invited to one of your weddings."

The awkwardness between the two of them, no matter how much they'd both tried to ignore it over the years, flared up again. Imogen took a deep breath before addressing the elephant in the room. "I'm sorry I stopped you and Daniel being together."

"It wasn't as simple as that,"Amber pointed out.

"I know, but I hadn't spent so much time obsessing over him, maybe things would have worked out between you two."

Amber shrugged. "But then I'd never have had Matilda. And I'd never have married Joe and had Douglas…and he wishes he could be here, by the way, but we didn't want to take the kids on a flight. I think it's all worked out for the best."

Imogen considered this. "Could it be that all three of us are actually with the person we should be with?"

"I think maybe we are,"Piper agreed.

Mark checked his reflection in the mirror as he did his bowtie up. It was astonishing to think back to how much had happened since another wedding just six months earlier. Imogen had gone from a friend to a fling, and from there to the woman who was about to become his wife.

Aaron and Tyler entered. "Feeling nervous?"Aaron asked teasingly.

"You know something?"Mark asked. "I'm actually not, at all. That's a good thing, right?"

Tyler give him an amused look. "Are you nervous because you're not feeling nervous?"

"Maybe,"Mark said cautiously. "I mean, usually my weddings have a whole load of chaos in the build-up…"

"And that didn't happen this time?"Aaron asked. "You know, with your estranged wife catching you together…"

"…and the whole armed siege?"Tyler finished helpfully.

"Well, yeah, that,"Mark conceded. "But ever since we decided to get married, I've kind of felt relaxed. Like this is what I'm meant to do."

Aaron patted him on the shoulder. "Okay. Let's go do it then."

Imogen made her way to the bottom of the aisle with Piper and Amber trailing her. She found Ned waiting for her there and took his arm. He looked her up and down: She was wearing a long, sleeveless wedding dress. "You look great,"he told her.

Imogen smiled. "Thank you. And…thanks for coming."

"Well, hey, I know all about being attracted to inappropriate people. Can't exactly judge you for it." He began walking her down the aisle. "I was just starting to get used to not having Mark as my brother-in-law though,"he added through gritted teeth.

Imogen couldn't help smiling. "Sorry,"she noted, not sounding sorry at all.

"I heard you lot had a weakness for Brennan men. Although I guess they've got a weakness for you too. Anyway, good luck to you. Just don't tell him I said that."

"I promise."

Ned handed her over to Mark with barely a grimace and the minister cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today for the wedding of Mark and Imogen…"

What followed was a blurr. There were vows and the all-important "I will." There was exchanging of rings, all of it done with smiles on their faces that would look dopey to anyone who didn't recognise what it was like to be in love. And at the end of it all, they were husband and wife.

Imogen practically skipped into the honeymoon suite, picking up a bottle of champagne. "Is this the really expensive stuff?"

"Well, I don't know the specifics,"Mark admitted,"but it is definitely really expensive."

Imogen shot him an awkward look. "Can we afford all this?"

"I guess so. I mean, I'm not planning on having any other wedding nights in the future."

Imogen smiled, conceding the point. "I guess not." She hunted around. "Are there any glasses?"

Mark took off his jacket and lay down on the bed. "I don't know but I kind of feel like having a lie down first."

Imogen dropped the bottle back into the ice bucket. "Come to think of it, I can see the appeal of that." She clambered onto the bed and started kissing him, lying on top of him as he unzipped her dress. By the time they'd finished, their marriage was well and truly consummated.