The Family Screw Up Finds Himself A Girl

Chapter Twenty Three

I can't bring myself to go back to my hotel right now, the thought of being stuck in a room all by myself makes me shudder. I have to book a ticket to London and get back to my normal life there, hopefully Matt will give me my job back and I will just slip back into my old routine. Toby really is a man who likes to splash the cash, but ultimately his intentions were purely out of care and love. Ever since I introduced him to the girls, he offered to pay off all their credit debts; he spoke to Clyde on the quiet and offered him money so that he could leave Duck Tape. I wondered at the time why he wasn't as accommodating towards Charlie and Adam, knowing what I know now, I realize that because of their history together he didn't want to look too close to the two of them out of fear of being rumbled as the mastermind behind Ruby and Hannah's relationships with them both. As annoyed as I was when I found out, how could I be angry when two of my best friends are happy as they are now? I would never squeal on Toby, and I hope that he would do the same for me regarding Flip Zimmerman.

I look in my bag for something sweet to eat, as I dig further I can feel some paperwork at the bottom. I don't remember putting anything like this in here; I think to myself. I take it out and look down at the first page, oh sweet Jesus, it's Toby's grooms speech for our wedding day. It's all written in pencil so that parts can be erased, I had no idea that he had worked on this already, we hadn't been engaged for that long, he must have slipped this into my bag the night before I left. I sit down on a nearby bench and with an incredibly painful and heavy heart start reading.

"On behalf of my wife and I, we would like to welcome you all to our special day and thank you all for coming. We are thrilled to have so many of our family and close friends surrounding us today, and some of you have travelled a long way to be here and for that we are honoured. I personally would like to start off by thanking my father-in-law, for giving me permission to take on the role of loving and protecting his daughter. I know how important Sam is to you and Karen, and I promise to always make your daughter my top priority and never leave her side.

Can you please put your hands together for Sam's bridesmaids, Jackie, Hannah and Ruby who I'm sure you will all agree look absolutely stunning. I want to thank them for all the support they've given Sam into making sure she has a wonderful wedding day. Thank you all too for embracing me into your lives with so much love and kindness, our friendships mean the world to me and without you ladies the world would blur, that's for sure.

My guys Clyde, Adam and Charlie, thank you for organising my stag do! I want to thank all of you for being the bestest friends that any man could ask for, I won't get all sappy on you, I'll save that for Sam, but thank you for everything you do for me.

Of course, I'm saving the best till last. Sam, where do I begin to say how much I love you and how happy I am that I can now call you my wife. Writing this was truly easy, because I switched off my brain and let my heart do the talking. Words can't describe how beautiful you look today. Just knowing I'm sharing the rest of my life with you makes me already feel like I have succeeded in life. I feel so lucky to have found a bride that not only has the same sense of humour, loves Pretzels and Snickers as much as me but is beautiful, loving and kind. You have a gorgeous smile and seeing that smile anytime of the day puts a smile on my face. I don't always make the right decisions in life, but one thing I know for sure, marrying you will never be one of them. We've definitely come a long way together and have had some challenging times. But I feel like we have taught each other so much along the way. No relationship is easy, and there will always be challenges waiting for us. But I can honestly say with confidence, as long as we always face them together, we can do anything. You are my rock and I love you with all my heart. Thank you for giving me purpose. Now can I ask you all to stand and raise a glass to the love of my life, Sam."

I fold the speech into my hands and hold it close to my heart, there are no tears just plain and utter emptiness. My last conversation with Toby haunts me, and keeps replaying itself over and over again in my head like an echo. I was so cold and detached from him, when all he did was love me with every ounce of his being. This was the greatest love of my life and I will never find anyone like him ever again. I suppose what they say is true that in the game of love you reap what you sow. I place the folded speech back into my bag, remembering my earlier sweet tooth I go over to the shop across the road.