Down London Road

fuchsia in her wedding,’ Joss finished for her drily.
    Braden and Adam immediately began working diligently on their meal and I wondered just how many times they’d been pulled into a disagreement about the wedding between the bride and the maid of honour.
    ‘Why don’t we go more muted on the bridesmaids’ dresses?’ I suggested, throwing Ellie a pleading look.
    Ellie looked so adorably disheartened I wanted to hug her. ‘But fuchsia is such a romantic colour.’
    Clark’s eyebrows dipped together. ‘What colour is fuchsia again?’
    ‘Pink,’ Joss bit out.
    Braden snorted, and apparently unable to help himself, he gave his wee sister an incredulous look. ‘You’re really trying to get pink into our wedding?
My
wedding … to
Joss
?’
    ‘It’s not just
pink
,’ Ellie argued as if they were idiots. ‘It’s a luxurious pinkish purple magenta colour.’
    Joss raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s pink.’
    Ellie pouted. ‘You’ve not taken on any of my suggestions for the wedding.’
    ‘Ellie, I love you dearly, I do, but you are all sweetness and rainbows and I am everything that is not that.’
    I ventured forth with another idea. ‘What if we go for something in a metallic for our dresses?’
    Ellie stewed over that for a moment and then her face brightened. ‘We would all look good in champagne. I think even Rhian would wear champagne.’
    Rhian was Joss’s best friend from university and the two didn’t get to see each other as much as they used to because Rhian lived in London. They kept in contact all the time, though, and they were to be in each other’s upcoming weddings.
    ‘Hmm.’ Joss swallowed a piece of chicken and shrugged. ‘I could work with that.’
    Everyone stopped eating to look at her. She glanced up,her eyes round at all the attention. She grimaced and shot Braden a dirty look. ‘What? I can compromise.’
    He laughed. ‘It’s just the first time I’ve heard you actually agree about something to do with the wedding.’
    ‘That’s because our wedding planner sucks. No offence, Els.’
    Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Well, you could plan it yourself, you know.’
    ‘I only agreed to marry him under the condition that I didn’t have to do that.’
    Cam swallowed a chuckle beside me.
    Braden narrowed his eyes on his fiancée. ‘Why don’t I plan the wedding, then?’
    All of our eyebrows rose at that suggestion.
    ‘You?’ Joss gaped.
    ‘Me.’ He shrugged and took a sip of water before adding, ‘We have the same taste, so you know you’ll probably like what I decide. And I think I can get it done faster than you two squabbling mares.’
    ‘But you’re so busy as it is – I can’t ask you to do that.’
    He shrugged again and gave her a ‘So?’ smile.
    ‘Then I’ll help,’ Joss announced determinedly. ‘We’ll do it together.’
    ‘Really?’
    ‘Really.’
    ‘But –’ Ellie’s crestfallen opposition to being ousted from the plans was cut off by Adam as he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. He pulled back and they had one of those silent conversations that seemed to be all the rage these days. Whatever passed between them, Ellie’s shoulders slumped and she nodded, giving in.
    ‘I’m glad that’s sorted.’ Elodie beamed at us all. ‘If I’d had to deal with one more phone call asking me to referee, I was going to scream.’
    ‘Hear, hear,’ I murmured, ignoring Ellie’s look of betrayal.
    ‘So, Mick, Olivia’ – Braden sharply changed the subject – ‘Jo tells us you both found flats.’
    Olivia nodded. ‘On Jamaica Lane. And Dad’s just round the corner. We move in soon. It’ll be nice to get out of that hotel. Oh, and Dad’s got his first job lined up, thanks to you, Braden.’
    That was the first I’d heard of it. ‘Really, Uncle Mick? Where?’
    Mick appeared more than a little pleased as he replied, ‘Doing a couple of show homes for a new development in Newhaven. Starts in two months. Gives me time to get a team together.’ He eyed me down the length of the table. ‘How about it, Jo? Do you feel like packing it in at the bar and the estate agency to become an apprentice?’
    My fork clattered to my plate in shock. Was he … did he … was Uncle Mick really asking me to work for him? ‘Eh?’ I answered intelligently.
    ‘I asked if you wanted to work for me. It’s a risk for us both, what with it being a new business, but I have every faith I can do this. I’ve done it twice before. So will you trust me? Will you come and