Nothing Like the First Time (21 page)

Chapter Fifteen

Sunlight streaming through my window alerted me that it was the morning of Grey’s operation. I turned over to find the side of the bed next to me was empty. I got up and pulled my robe around me.

I opened the bedroom door and could hear my iPod on in the kitchen and the smell in the air said Grey was cooking bacon, eggs
, and other things I couldn’t identify over the strong smell of the bacon.

I walked downstairs to the kitchen and saw Grey with his back to me, cooking on my range and his beautiful voice was singing along to
“Welcome To My World” by Depeche Mode. I was guessing he was in quite an upbeat mood.

“Morning
, beautiful,” he said with his back to me as I entered the kitchen.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I heard you coming downstairs.”

“Oh, I had hoped to sneak up and wrap myself around you.”

“Oh, okay, forget what I said and pretend I don’t know you’re here.” He laughed.

I walked up and wrapped my arms around him, my chest flush to his back. I could feel his muscles moving as he
tossed the eggs and bacon in the pan.

He turned round and pulled me to his chest.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he whispered into my hair.

“Good morning
, gorgeous,” I replied with a smile hidden by his muscular chest.

“Sit down, breakfast won’t be a minute,” he said as he smacked my ass playfully.

I sat down at the kitchen island and waited for my breakfast. I looked at Grey, who had turned back to the frying pan. He looked handsome in his black slacks and grey Depeche Mode t-shirt. The thing about Grey, he could look good in anything or nothing.

Minutes later breakfast was plated up and put in front of me. I gaped as I saw the food on my plate. Bacon, eggs, pancakes and maple syrup; one of my favorite things to eat.

“Thank you,” I said as I began to tuck in. “I feel guilty eating all this when you can’t eat.”

“I wanted to do something nice for you. Plus, I like to watch you eat, it makes me happy,”
he said, placing a kiss on my cheek as he sat next to me.

I ate my
breakfast as we made small talk about the wedding. The plans were all coming together nicely and all we really needed to do as set a date and pick a venue.

“Mother wants us round on Saturday,” Grey said as he loaded the dishwasher.

“Does she? Why?”

“The
engagement party, of course.”

“But we haven’t arranged anything.”

“My mother can arrange anything at the drop of a hat, you know her. We didn’t get the party we wanted because of everything that’s gone on—Mother says all we have to do is turn up at 7:30 p.m.”

“Okay,” I replied hesitantly.

“Don’t worry about it. She knows who to invite, she’s booked the caterer and Aunt Lizzie is making the cake.”

“Sounds good.”

I tried my best to look happier than I felt. Yes, I knew Katrina would organize it. I also knew she would only want the best, meaning the caterers would be expensive. I was worried about the color scheme—it was the little things that niggled at me—I usually like to have a hand in things, I’m not good with surprise parties.

“We better get moving,” Grey said, looking at the time.

We made our way to the car. I was driving—if Grey felt any discomfort from the procedure, I didn’t want him to have to drive home.

We got to the hospital fifteen minutes before his appointment time. The lady at the desk made
me a coffee and told us the doctor would be ready shortly.

Grey held tightly to my left hand.

“We really need to choose our wedding rings, you know,” he blurted.

What a strange thing to say at the hospital
, but I suppose he needed not to think of what lay ahead.

“Yeah, we can go shopping sometime soon,” I said and squeezed his hand gently.

“Good morning, Greyston, Carly,” Dr. Tressenbaum’s voice boomed as he strode purposefully toward us.

“Good morning
, Doctor,” we said in unison.

“Dr
. Fowkes will be ready for you momentarily, I just wanted to check on you.”

“I’m good
, Doctor,” Grey said as he shook his hand.

“In all my life, I have never met anyone as selfless as you
, Greyston.”

“Sorry
, Doctor?” Grey looked puzzled.

“You’re donating your bone marrow to Kai Harriet even after finding out he’s not your son. That’s a pretty selfless act, Greyston.”

“I’m a match, I’ve done my research, and I’m here to donate. It’s as simple as that,” Grey replied as he looked at the doctor with a small smile touching his lips.

“I wish there were more people like you,” Dr
. Tressenbaum said as another doctor walked up beside him.

“Good morning
, Mr. Sterling, I’m Dr. Sue Fowkes,” the pretty blonde doctor introduced herself with a handshake.

“Good morning
, Doctor.”

“If you would care to follow me, my office is just down the corridor.”

We got up and followed Doctor Fowkes to her office. It struck me as a very girly space once we were seated at her desk.

“So, Mr Sterling, we’re here to discuss bone
marrow donation. Do you have any questions for me?”

“I’ve done research online, Dr
. Fowkes. I think I have it all covered.”

We discussed what we’d read online and the doctor confirmed we had our facts straight. She asked Grey a few questions about his willingness to donate and he told her what he had told Dr
. Tressenbaum.

Dr
. Fowkes looked at Grey and seemed to be assessing him.

“I admire your courage and selflessness
, Mr. Sterling.”

“Oh please, call me Grey. You’re the second person to call me selfless today. I don’t feel that way, I just want to help.”

“Well, Grey, you will help, immensely.”

“When can we get on with the procedure?” he asked, seeming eager to get it over as soon as possible.

“Well, Dr. Tressenbaum has a theater slot booked for later this morning in preparation. He didn’t think you’d need my session, and being honest, you didn’t. But I had to see you because of hospital protocol.”

“That’s great
, Dr. Fowkes. Thank you.”

“Well
, Grey, you can go now. I hope everything goes well for you.”

The doctor stood and shook hands with us both before showing us out.

We walked back into the reception and Dr. Tressenbaum was there waiting.

“I take it all went well?” he asked as we
approached.

“Yes
, Doctor.”

“Well
, I just need a quick word with Dr. Fowkes. Would you mind waiting here for me?”

“No problem
, Doctor.”

We sat down and Grey smiled at me. I leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

“What was that for?”

“Because I love you!” I smiled at my fiancé and knew that what the doctors had said was right, he
was such a selfless person—so much so he couldn’t even see it. What I saw only made me love him more.

***

After the procedure, I sat by Grey’s bedside waiting for the anaesthesia to wear off. He looked so peaceful. His face was relaxed in sleep and he looked handsome with his clean shaven chin. He’d obviously had a shower and shave before I had even got out of bed.

Grey started to stir after about half an hour. I took his hand in mine and looked up at him.

He looked at me and I saw the love in his eyes. He was devoted to me and this procedure had proved what a genuinely good man I was engaged to.

“Hey
, sleepyhead!”

“Hey!”

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired but good.”

“Are you sore?”

“A little
.”

“Can I get you anything? Do you want some water?” I asked,
getting to my feet and looking for the jug the nurse had brought in.

“Please.”

I got up and found the jug and a glass. I placed the glass on the table by Grey and went in search of a sink.

I returned with a jug of cold water and poured Grey a glass.

I sat with him as he was drifting in and out of sleep. The anaesthesia was slowly working its way out of his system.

***

“Are you sure you’re well enough to go home, Greyston?” Dr. Tressenbaum asked.

“Sure
, Doctor.”

“Okay then
, as long as you take care of yourself and rest for a day or two, you should be fine. Just take things easy, you hear me?”

“Yes
, Doctor. My fiancée here will kick my butt if I try to overdo it.”

“Okay. I’ll get the discharge papers.”

Once the paperwork was signed, Grey got dressed and I drove us home.

I got Grey settled on the sofa with the throw blanket over him, then I put a pot of coffee on.

That night we had takeaway from our favorite Chinese restaurant and got an early night.

Chapter Sixteen

The next morning, I snuck out of bed, wrapped my robe around me
, and went to the kitchen. I got everything out to make Grey breakfast in bed. Scrambled eggs and toast was on the menu.

A short while later, I returned to the bedroom with a tray in my hands.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I whispered as I put the tray down and kissed Grey on the cheek.

“Good morning. What smells so good?” he said sleepily as he rubbed his eyes and stretched his lean body.

“That would be breakfast,” I said as I pointed to the tray.

“Wow, breakfast in bed. What’s the special occasion?”
He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled my neck.

“I thought about setting the date.”

“Have we even decided on a venue?”

“Not as such, no.”

“What date did you have in mind?” he asked as I slipped from his embrace and passed him the tray.

He began to eat and I thought how good it was to see him fit and well after the bone marrow donation.

“I thought we could book Valentine’s Day.”

He choked on his mouthful and had to drink some orange juice to wash it down.

“You know that will be fully booked everywhere a year or more in advance, right? I mean, do you really want to wait that long to get married.”

“No, we had ten years apart, I’m not waiting any longer, and t
hat’s why I mean this Valentine’s Day.”

“
But Carls, that’s only six weeks away.”

“I know.”

“So you’ll know we have no chance of the caterer, florist and everything being free on that date.”

I had a confession to make. I’d kind of done some ringing around.

“Well… umm… actually, the florist is free, so are the caterers and your photographer friend. The wedding outfits were sorted weeks ago and the cake has been penciled in for that date, too.”

“What do you mean?  How do you know all that?”

“I’ve been ringing around everywhere to make sure. Now all we have to do is sort the venue for the ceremony.”

“What about the reception at Mother’s house?”

“Well, she said she can pull it off, and if anyone can, it’s Katrina.”

“My
mother knew you were looking at Valentine’s Day? How long have you been planning this?”

“Before you went into
the hospital. I would have discussed it with you sooner but I didn’t want to burden you. You had so much going on.”

“So what about venues? Have you any in mind?”

“Umm… okay, confession number two. Yes! I’ve researched some places and they all have us slotted in to go for a look round. The first one is today, if you’re up for it.”

I admit, I’d looked at several places online and asked if they had Valentine’s Day
free. Three of the five I researched had cancellations on that date so I had scheduled dates to go for a look round.

“I better get showered and dressed then. Where are we going?”

“Pendleton Country Club.”

“Mother’s friend Dania owns Pendleton, you know?”

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I looked it up. Your mother made the suggestion.”

“It’s a gorgeous place. Remember when I had a weekend job there?”

“Oh my, I’d forgotten all about that!”

“Well
, it could be the perfect venue, Carls. Let’s see. Where are the others?”

“Blakelands and Farnham Castle. Both look gorgeous on the websites.”

“Mother knows someone at Farnham Castle, too.”

“I know. Go grab that shower. We’re going to have to get a move on.”

**
*

Admittedly Pendleton Country Club was gorgeous. But both Grey and I agreed very quickly that it wasn’t ‘the one.’ It had a lot of the right elements, we just didn’t feel like it was the right fit.

We went home and made lunch.

“It just didn’t have that special element that stood out. Does that make sense?” Grey asked as we stood in the kitchen making pasta salad.

“It was beautiful, but it was kind of… I don’t know… ordinary
,” I admitted.

“Too ordinary for us. I remember loving it when I worked there but I never saw it through the eyes of a man about to be married.”

“So it’s a definite no, then?”

“Definitely. Let’s hope that the other two are a little less ordinary.”

“I think the other two are gorgeous, but I don’t want my opinion to bias yours.”

“I
’d look on the net but I don’t want to see until we get there. Websites always show the best bits in the best light but you need to see the place in person to really get a feel for it.”

“I have to admit, I’ve been to Blakelands before for a job interview and it’s nice. But I’ll let you decide on Thursday.”

“Okay.”

We ate our lunch and talked about the cake design I had chosen. Grey had been clear that I was the one with the eye for design for cakes. He said he trusted my choice as a baker myself. I told him I’
d only done it as a hobby but he said I was a natural. I had eventually given in and agreed I would choose it.

I’d chosen a four-tier cake in cream. There was going to be some beautiful piping icing in black and hints of purple, a border of purple icing around the bottom edge of each cake and then some purple calla lilies as decoration. The words heart, mind, body and soul would be piped on in purple, with heart on the top tier, mind on the next, body on the next
, and soul on the last. There would be a traditional bride and groom on the top, but I had opted for someone to make them from fimo clay for us. I had already placed the order and it had been shipped. The photo I had seen of it was amazing and I couldn’t have asked for better—I just hadn’t been able to find one I liked so I had commissioned someone to make a one of a kind.

We had a late supper of
sea bass, new potatoes, and vegetables with a lemon and herb butter sauce. Grey was an amazing cook, whether it was something simple or a little more extravagant.

***

Thursday rolled round quicker than I thought. We dressed smart and went to look round Blakelands. It was as gorgeous as I remembered.

“I remember you from your job interview,” the gorgeous
redhead Colette said as she walked us round.

“Yes, I interviewed last summer, I’m surprised you remember.”

“I couldn’t forget you, you were the best candidate. It’s a shame you got something a little closer to home. You know, if you ever change your mind, we could always use someone like you around here.”

“Thanks
, Colette.” I smiled. It was nice that she remembered me. I had almost taken the job before I got the job at Jim’s. The only reason I had chosen Jim’s was because it was closer to home and Jodie had gone out of her way to get me the interview.

Colette showed us around the beautiful grounds and we really liked what we saw.

Later that evening, Grey talked animatedly about the viewing of Farnham Castle the following day. Turns out he remembered our school trip there just as much as I did.

We’d been there in our second year of high school and that was where we’d h
ad our first kiss.

“You guys should totally hook up,” Janae said on the coach to Farnham Castle.

“I like him
, but you know, boys are boys and don’t know how to let girls know if they’re interested. I don’t want to make a fool of myself.”

“He totally digs you. I heard him and his friends talking before we got on the coach.”

“You did? What did they say?”

“Well
, he said that if he could get some time alone with you, he’d talk to you.”

“Yeah, talk. That boy is good at talking.”

“Maybe he’s good at kissing, too!” She laughed and punched me playfully on the arm.

I shoved her back and put my earphones in to listen to my MP3 player.

We arrived at the castle in next to no time and walked around with a tour guide. One minute I was walking along listening to her telling us about the history of the castle, the next I was having my arm pulled and being dragged away from the group.

I looked to see who was pulling me and it was Greyston Sterling, the boy I’d had a crush on since school began. He was tall, had chestnut colored hair and intensely beautiful
liquid chocolate pools for eyes.

“Shh!” he said as he put a finger to his lips.

He pulled me around a corner, pushed me up against a wall and kissed me passionately. It was my first kiss and I felt clumsy but I tried to follow what Greyston was doing and mimic his movements.

“Wow!” he said as we pulled apart.

Wow indeed. My first kiss had been with my first crush and I was in Heaven. We’d walked round the rest of the day hand in hand.

“Have you heard a word I have said, Carls?” Grey’s voice brought me back to the present.

I blushed.

“No, sorry!” I admitted.

“I was just saying that Farnham Castle used to be gorgeous, at least what I remember of it. I had something a little more beautiful to focus on that day.”

“And what would that have been?” I asked coyly.

“You. You were my first crush, and that day was my first kiss.”

“Mine too.”

“I hope it lives up to memories tomorrow.”

“So do I,” I said as I leaned over to kiss him.

**
*

Farnham Castle was a glorious sight to behold. It was even more magical now I was an adult and really able to appreciate it. Mr. Sloane showed us around and took us to the room where we would get married. It took my breath away, and as I looked at Grey, he had the same look of awe I could feel on my own face.

The wedding room was painted all cream
. The doors were white and had triangular mouldings above them. There were stained glass windows and paintings hung around to give it a really elegant feel. The tables were covered with white linen cloths and the chairs had white covers with organza ribbons tied around them. They were currently pink, but Mr. Sloane said that they could be changed to purple for our day.

The grounds were glorious and the outside of the castle would be the perfect backdrop for our wedding photos.

As Grey and I drove home, we chatted excitedly about what it would be like to get married there. I think it was safe to say we had our venue.

***

Saturday morning came and we were looking forward to our engagement party. Grey had alleviated my fears about it. I might like organizing surprises but not being on the receiving end. This was where Grey came in—my fiancé could make anything sound better. Plus I was excited to be able to tell everyone we had booked the date: Valentine’s Day at Farnham Castle. We’d called to confirm not long after leaving the previous day.

Later that evening, w
e arrived at the Sterling home to find the outside strung with purple and cream lanterns. It looked stunning. We walked inside and were greeted by a waiter with glasses of champagne.

I was stunned as I saw Katrina’s foyer transformed. Her home had always been one of class and elegance
, but what I saw before my eyes was something new and spectacular. The color scheme was purple and cream with the odd dash of silver. There were ribbons bedecking the columns and balloons in all three colors dotted around the foyer. A beautiful banner congratulated us on our engagement—everything was beyond words. We walked into the kitchen and saw the caterers had brought enough food to feed an army. There was everything from prawn vol-au-vents to quiche Lorraine, cocktail sausages to breadsticks with twenty different dips. There were also samosas, shish kebabs, all sorts of things covering different cultures to make sure everyone had something they enjoyed. The desserts looked amazing. There was a Black Forest Gateau which no doubt had kirsch in, knowing Katrina. But the piece de resistance was the engagement cake made by Aunt Lizzie.

I stood before the cake and I began to cry. It was a
three tier cake and it had edible photos of Grey and me all over it. It was like a scrapbook of our lives brought to life in cake.

“Do you like it?” Grey asked as he moved and put his arms around me from behind.

“Like it? Grey, I love it!”

“Aunt Lizzie asked me for some photos of us throughout the years when we were kids and some more recent ones. I assumed she was going to put together a slideshow or something.”

“This is more special than anything, Grey. It’s perfect.”