Yorkshire Lady

Yorkshire Lady part 14

Part 14

The following weekend Rick and Simone tied the knot at Halifax registry office. The only witnesses there were little Henry, Freddy and Charley with John and Caroline.

Simone looked utterly ravishing in a floaty pale blue sleeveless dress combined with the glow of happy love. Rick looked as if he'd won the lottery and a first at Chelsea Flower Show.

They joined family and other close friends at an Italian restaurant for a meal after wards. Rick made a short speech but that was all and the rest of the time was just relaxed and informal.

During coffee ( with wedding cake of course) the head waiter primed by Rick put on a CD,

Rick took Simone in his arms to dance to Meatloaf's 'You took the words right out of my mouth'.

The wedding Party had an evening at the 'Duck and Drake' to celebrate with Rick and Simone's village friends. The newly weds were heading to Paris for a week and had an early flight, so they headed off to their wedding night just before midnight Henry was staying with John and Caroline for the week so he went off to the Manor along with Freddy and Charley to bed that night.

On Sunday morning John and the boys played football in the garden while Caroline went to church. They collected Caroline from her Sunday worship and went for a pub lunch followed by a walk around Hardcastle Crags.

Caroline had already made up a 'buffet tea' with sandwiches, scones and a cake and the boys were more than ready for a quiet hour before bed.

For the rest of the week with the help of Phyllis, they split time between entertaining 3 boys, the swimming pool and the village's excellent playground were very much appreciated and getting work done as usual. They had days out one to Chester zoo and one to Scarborough. They spent a happy day on the beach the 3 boys happy to play ball, build sandcastles and paddle in the sea.

Caroline had during the past year been discovering all she could about John as well as letting him find out about her. She was often moved to tears by the details of John's miserable, loveless childhood. Meeting Ralph and Esther and discovering their secret had only worsened her opinion of them.

She found it amazing that such a terrible beginning could have produced the man she loved. He had admitted to her that he had very little experience of beaches and the building of sandcastles. John's father Ralph Standring had never thought to take John for walks or days out to the beach or the zoo and nor had his Esther. ' I want to give Freddy and Charley the sort of childhood I never had', he told her.

'I get angry at Andy all the times he takes no notice of them, I know how it feels for a child not to be loved. I know they'll never be short of love with you around though and now neither will I', he added kissing her forehead.

She'd watched him happily on their trips with the 3 boys sharing their enthusiasm for the animals at the zoo and their simple joys on the beach.

Caroline was making a special Sunday Lunch to welcome Rick and Simone back from Honeymoon but first was the Sparthwaite village fête on the Saturday afternoon.

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At the Standring house in Hebden Bridge Greg Standring arrived back home after paying his debt to society with no intention of going straight. He had always been his father's favourite being in Ralph's opinion a 'real man' unlike John 2 years his brother's junior.

Esther presented a cold cheek to her eldest Grandson saying she hoped he had spent the last 10 years learning the 'error of his ways'. Ralph had been his only prison visitor when he'd been able to go and now he hugged his beloved boy , in a away he had never done with John.