CHAPTER 48
Invitations, guest lists, it’s so much easier for a young girl to get married, she isn’t running a bloody household and someone else does the planning. My parents, for a start, needed reminding. I rang them

“Mam, wyt ti’n cofio’r fodrwy’na, o Tony?”(Mam, you remember that ring, from Tony?)

“Pa ddydd fydda fe?” (Which day will it be?)

Not slow, my mother. I told her we were hoping for June, and ran the important question past her.

“We were hoping to get Pat to do the service. Do you remember him?”

“Yes, the priest. He is a good man, even if he is a Roman Catholic, and blasphemes too much.”

I had to laugh at that. “Mam, he swears like a sailor, but I have never, ever heard him blaspheme. He takes that very seriously indeed!”

“Well, in a Roman church, is it? I’m not sure if your father could support that”

“No, Mam, it would be in an Anglican place, Pat knows the vicar. No, I don’t know whether it is High or not. If it’s a problem, there is always the Registry Office”

“No daughter of mine is going to wed in an office”

“Elaine did”

“That was because they did not allow her to do anything else. If I had had my way, it would have been in the Chapel”

Now and again, my mother surprises me. Just like my father, once Elaine had convinced her to accept me, she almost claimed it as her own idea. She was in full flow of indignation now.

“God made you, and He will see you wed to that good man of yours. You will wed in His sight, and in His house”

I could have teased her then, by pointing out that he had had help from a surgeon, but I bit my tongue.

“You will be thinking that a surgeon made you. I know my own daughter, and I tell you this, it is not the outward show that makes a good person.”

Her voice softened. “Cariad, I look at you now and wonder how your Dad and I ever missed what you were. I thank God every day that your sister saw so much more clearly than us, and I look at poor Alice and see you, as you would have been if Elaine had had any less courage.

“We are proud of both of you, you know. Now….how many guests does your Dad have to pay for?”

I started laughing. “Mam, yes, we were hoping to get some help with some of it, but Enid is also helping, and I have money from the sale of the flat, so tell him he isn’t doing the traditional bit and paying for the lot! I will take some help, indeed, but I just want my family with me so it can be the best day of my life”

“You really do love him, don’t you?”

“I only realised exactly how much a little while ago, Mam”

I told her of my thoughts in Harwich, of his tears. She sighed. “A man who can cry for his family is a good man. You will remember your Dad did”

I did remember, indeed, ‘Two pretty daughters’, something that had kept me going even at the worst of my despair. I laughed, happily, and she asked what was so funny.

“Nothing is funny, Mam, just thinking that I should get you a box of tissues each for the wedding!”

“Ha! Well, we need to know how many bridesmaids, and what colour you will be going for”

“Well, I thought of Alison, Elaine and Siá¢n as the bridesmaids, with Alice as matron of honour. Alison’s three and Jim, of course, as attendants. Tony wants Steve as best man. There will be the people from work, plus some of Tony’s colleagues. Can you speak to your side, Aunty Gwen and Uncle Gethin? And the cousins? I know the Lloyds haven’t been too happy about Elaine and me, but this is the sort of thing to build bridges”

“I know how I can sell that to him, love, just tell him it’s a chance for a booze cruise to France”

Eventually, after the usual torrent of local gossip, I hung up. I had another call to make.

“UKBA, Operations room”

“Hello, I’m trying to contact a Stephanie Jones”

“Tall, red hair?”

“That’s the one”

“Can I ask what it is concerning?”

“It’s a wedding invitation. I’m marrying one of her old team mates”

I realised whoever was on the phone wasn’t just going to connect a random stranger to an internal phone, so I drip-fed him information till he was satisfied.

“I’m Tony Hall’s fiancée”

“What, Tony the Tank? Would you be that blonde lady that was at the final year before last, up Brum way?”

“Yes, that’s me”

“Lucky man! Look, she’s on duty at the moment, in the South, so I’ll put you through. She’s not Jones any more, though, she’s Woodruff.”

“Ta!”

The miserable cow! She’d beaten me to it!

The phone made a burble, then started to ring again. Some woman with a strong south London accent answered it, and I asked for Steph Woodruff.

“Hello, can I help you?”

I switched to Welsh.

“Sorry to call out of the blue, but I don’t know if you remember me”

She laughed. “Not many women ring me up and speak to me in West Welsh. You’re Tony’s other half, er, Sarah?”

“Yup, guilty. I have an invitation for you, and there is a bit of devious logic behind it. I’ve had that little adjustment, and the wedding is in June, so, if you want, I would like to have you along as a guest”

“Does he know you are asking me? And what about my husband?”

“Yes, you sod, I know you beat me to it, and no, I haven’t spoken to him. I just thought, from my point of view, it is the best moral support I could have, and you and your husband get a decent meal out of it”

She laughed. “Trust me, all the moral support I needed at our wedding was Geoff. Now, I am somewhat disqualified from this one, but I am sure as an old team mate I should have an input into his stag night. I shall speak to Dave.”

“Was that that rather dishy prop?”

“You like them chunky, don’t you? Yes, the big lad.”

There was a long pause. “ Now, I better let you in on a little secret. Tony sent me an e-mail yesterday. Dave and the rest of the team already know, but I am really touched you thought of me.”

“Shit, I feel stupid now!”

“Don’t. Just realise how much in tune the two of you clearly are. Now, unless you want me at the hen night, I shall see you at the church”

We said our goodbyes and I was left feeling a little deflated. I should have realised, the rugby team hadn’t gone away while I tried to sort Alice. Tony had his own past, as did I. I started to giggle at the thought of sending an invitation to Joe, telling him some old friends would be there for him.

Oh, how well a sunny future drives out the shadows of the past.. Now, dresses…..