PROLOGUE........................................................................................................................................................... 3 CHAPTER ONE..................................................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER TWO.................................................................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER THREE............................................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER FOUR................................................................................................................................................. 27 CHAPTER FIVE.................................................................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER SIX..................................................................................................................................................... 41 CHAPTER SEVEN...................................................................................................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 CHAPTER EIGHT............................................................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER NINE.................................................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER TEN.................................................................................................................................................... 70

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.

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The bride emerged from the hotel bedroom, giving her skirts a final shake, turning round to check On the long, flowing satin length of her train before-turning to smile lovingly into the eyes of her new husband.

Her two adult bridesmaids\u2014her best friend and her husband's young cousin\u2014and her stepmother had been dismissed for this, her final appearance in her wedding gown. Chris could be her attendant on this occasion, she had told them.

Arm in arm they started to walk down the stairs, and then, somehow or other, Sally missed her footing and slipped. The small group of people clustered at the foot of the stairs waiting for them, alerted to what was happening by Sally's frightened cry, rushed forward, James, the best man, Chris's elder brother and two of the ushers going to the aid of the bride, whilst the two bridesmaids and the bride's stepmother reacted immediately and equally instinctively, quickly reaching out to protect the flowers that the bride had dropped as she'd started to fall.

it! There'll be three more weddings now.'
'No!'
'Never!'
'Impossible!'

Three very firm and determined female voices made the same immediate denial; three pairs of female eyes all registered an immediate and complete rejection of the bride's triumphant assertion.

Her two bridesmaids had both already separately and jointly informed her that they had no intention of taking part in any silly old rituals which involved the degradation of them vying for possession of her wedding bouquet, and as for her stepmother...

A tiny frown pleated Sally's forehead. When would Claire accept that, at a mere thirty-four and widowed, she was not, as she always insisted, too mature to want to share her life with a new partner?

While Sally and Chris made sure that they spoke with every guest once the speeches were over, the two bridesmaids and Claire worked together to gather up the scattered wedding presents. Poppy, Chris's cousin, suddenly spotted Sally's wedding bouquet lying on one of the tables. Unable to help herself, she went over to it and picked it up, tears filling her eyes.

'Forget it,' Star, her fellow bridesmaid, instructed her, grimly removing the flowers from her tense grip. 'It's just a stupid superstition. It means nothing, and I for one intend to prove it by saying publicly and unequivocally here and now that I never intend to marry.'