Knight in Shining Armour

Scrappy and Ceefa both seemed happy with Sarah and I living in her cottage and they had taken to chasing each other around the garden playfully during the day and snuggling up together in the evenings, so we were living in a state of domestic bliss and I for one had never been happier.

Sarah still called me Galahad but to be honest, with hindsight, I was beginning to realise that Sarah may well have been the one to rescue me, because I had never dreamed that my life could feel so complete or that I would find the love of my life. I only had one little niggle and I was fairly confident that I could rectify that.

The grand opening of The Barn Cookery School was a low-key affair. The hotel staff were all there of course, as were Julia and David and a few other close friends, with a local reporter and photographer in attendance to mark the occasion.

After a short speech by me and another by Sarah, the large ribbon across the door was cut with a pair of comically large scissors and we all went inside for a glass of fizz to celebrate.

After the initial commotion died down, I looked at Sarah, her face flushed with excitement and pride and decided that now was the time, so I pulled her to one side and murmured words into her ear that I knew would drive her crazy. "That fridge on the left is making some really funny noises!"

Sarah looked instantly worried and stalked over to the offending appliance, listening carefully for any strange noises.

"It seems fine to me." She stated

"No, it's when the door is open it sounds odd." So she opened the door and went to stick her head in -- stopping as soon as she saw the small velvet box inside the otherwise empty fridge. Removing the box and turning around, she found me on one knee, desperately trying to dry my clammy palms on my trouser leg.

"Andi? Whats going...is that what I ... are you...?"

"Sarah, you have made me the happiest woman alive and I couldn't imagine life without you. I love you so very much, will you marry me?"

The general murmur of voices died down instantly and the tension in the air as everyone waited with baited breath for Sarah's answer was palpable. She stood there looking thoroughly stunned for so long that I was beginning to think I'd made a dreadful mistake; I had assumed that marriage was probably something that Sarah had thought about but it seems I was wrong?

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity to me, she dropped down onto her knees in front of me and kissed me soundly before pulling back and shouting "YES!" for all to hear. Whoops and cheers erupted around us as I took the box from Sarah's hand and removed the simple but elegant ring that I had spent much too much money on and placed it on Sarah's finger.

She had tears streaming down her cheeks as she took my face into her hands and stared into my eyes as she spoke. "My thoughts on marriage had become a bit jaded but actually, there is no better way that I can think of to show my adoration of you than becoming your wife. Thank you so much for everything you do for me Andi, I love you so much!"

The kiss that followed was only just fit for the company we were in but neither of us cared in that moment. Soon though we were pulled to our feet so that everyone could hug and congratulate us in turn and fresh glasses of champagne were passed around.

Suddenly I found myself squished in between Julia and David as they both hugged me at once, both of them claiming credit for introducing me to Sarah.

I've never particularly liked weddings but I was looking forward to my own and I was going to spend the rest of my life making sure that Sarah was never in any doubt as to how much I loved her.