Back at Tutto Mio, Isabella added the name Millie to the bottom of her to-do list. She ran a finger down it, checking the items in her head as she went. There was a lot to do before opening night, but she was feeling in control. Happy, even.
Amber had come over the day before and presented her with a list of people she thought they should approach for waiting staff. Most of them were people she knew from school or the rowing club. She’d already run the numbers on how many staff hours they needed and worked out potential shift patterns. She promised to sound out the potentials and then bring the interested ones to interview with Isabella. It removed six points on Isabella’s to-do list in one go. She could have kissed her, but instead they clinked their mugs of tea together and celebrated with a Hobnob.
Her phone rang. Gabriella. She lay back on the sofa, preparing for a long catch-up, but Gabi’s voice had a strange tone to it, one that didn’t bode well.
‘What’s new?’ Gabi asked, but Isabella got the feeling she wasn’t listening to her reply.
‘Sounds like things are going well,’ Gabi said and Isabella heard her sigh at the other end of the line.
‘Is something wrong?’ she asked. ‘You don’t sound too happy.’
There was a silence, and she could imagine Gabi biting her lip as she always did when trying to think of the right thing to say.
‘Gabi?’ She was worried now. Gabi was normally so full of energy, and fearless, that this nervous version of her was terrifying.
‘I need to tell you something,’ Gabi said quietly, and Isabella realised how hard she was clutching the phone. She forced herself to breathe.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked. Her mind immediately went to bad places.
She couldn’t bear it if Gabi was ill.
‘I’m fine,’ Gabi reassured quickly. ‘Nothing wrong with me.’ Isabella shut her eyes in relief. ‘But I heard something today that I have to tell you. I didn’t want you to find out online.’
Isabella knew then that it would be something about Daniel. And that it would hurt. Sure enough, Gabi took a breath and continued: ‘Daniel and Vicky are engaged. It’s all over their socials.’
She had expected it would hurt but she wasn’t expecting the gut punch pain of it. She opened her mouth but had no words.
‘Apparently, he took her out to dinner last night and popped the ring in her drink. Highly original.’
Isabella could picture it. The ring glistening at the bottom of the champagne glass. The waiting staff all watching to see whether they should put another bottle on ice for celebration or quietly prepare the bill so that the couple could leave. She could picture it exactly in fact, as it was precisely the same way Daniel had proposed to her. For all the good it had done.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Gabi said quietly.
Isabella forced herself to respond.
‘Well, I guess he has been divorced almost a whole ten and a half months. I don’t know what kept him!’ She dragged out a laugh.
‘Itispretty quick, isn’t it?’ Gabi agreed.
‘It’s fine, Gabi, honestly. We both know I’m better off out of it,’ Isabella made herself say. ‘But I’m glad you told me.’
Four hours later, Isabella was prowling the flat. How had her good mood and happy day changed so quickly? The news about Daniel had sparked such a jumble of emotions, she wasn’t sure whether she was sad, angry, upset or jealous. But what she did know was that she didn’t want to be on her own. She needed company. A drink. A chat. Someone to make her feel better. She wanted her mamma, but a quick check of the time told her it was the middle of the night in Thailand, and it wouldn’t be fair to ring her now.
She texted Jesse, with a quick note.Got time to chat?And he replied immediately, as always, but with aSorry! I’m interviewing my potential future husband over a prosecco. When a second later he followed up withEverything okay?she quickly reassured him to let him get back to his date.
Opening her phone, she was about to call Rosie when she remembered the play that Wren had tickets for.
She went to message Amber but remembered she was taking Jayden to see the new Marvel film.
She threw her phone on the sofa and stood up, then sat down, then resumed pacing the room. She felt more alone than she had done since she signed her divorce papers. Without taking a second to consider what she was doing, she picked up her phone, and went to see the only other person she knew in Honeybridge. . . Etienne.
Chapter Twenty
Etienne
Sunday nights were always quiet at The Bistro. By 9 p.m., there was only one table left and soon those customers would be asking for the bill. He’d let Katie go early, promising it wouldn’t affect her wages; she’d grabbed her coat and left before he changed his mind. He was studying the staff rota for the next day and wondering how long the lingering diners could make a shared banana split last when the front door opened. He lifted his head to say that the kitchen was now closed, and there was Isabella. Her heels had been replaced by trainers; she looked Sunday evening casual. But her jumper still didn’t quite meet the low waistband of her jeans, and that belly button sat perfectly symmetrical in the curve of her stomach.
She paused before shutting the door and threw him an almost apologetic smile as if she wasn’t quite sure what she was doing there.
