Lily climbed into the middle of the back, and Alfredo got in on her left, and Matt on her right. And, torture, she was so aware of everyinchof him. Evenmorenow than she had been when they hadn’t been getting on. Yeah, it did feel like something had shifted between them today. Like now they were friends again.
Not normal friends, though. You didn’t fancy the pants off your friends normally.
‘So when are you going to judge the photos, Lily?’ Felix looked over his shoulder. ‘Because I’m going to win.’
‘As soon as we get back?’ Lily’s leg, shoulders and neck were really starting to hurt from the tension of holding her thigh away from Matt’s and her right arm tight to her body, one, so that she wouldn’t bump too much against Matt’s chest, because it felt kind of personal, and two, so thathecouldn’t bump againstherchest, because that felt even more personal.
Carole drove them back to the house, and Lily took herself off to her room for a quick post-riding-expedition shower, ideal for a little break from being soconstantlyaware of Matt.
She had two missed calls from Aaliyah and three from Meg. She and Aaliyah hadn’t managed to speak yesterday evening after all because by the time Aaliyah was home and had happily reunited with her kids and put them all to bed and then eaten the – apparently not very nice but very much appreciated because of the effort – beef Wellington her husband had made her, it had been late in Greece, and Lily had been in the middle of Carole’s party. And she hadn’t spoken at all to Meg today.
God, what if Meg and Pythagoras had split up?
Lily couldn’t actually deal with talking to Meg about that right now. After the wedding, it had felt like she and Matt had split all over again, which they clearly totally hadn’t because they hadn’t got back together, but whenever she thought about that conversation and the fact that after tomorrow morning she wasn’t going to see him again, she felt like she was falling into a trough of sadness, and dealing with Meg being devastated on top of that would be maybe a bit too much.
It felt like she was being a bad friend, though. If Meg needed her, she should be there for her. Maybe she could deal with talking to Meg if she had a chat with Aaliyah first.
‘Hello,’ she said to Aaliyah, who’d answered on the first ring. ‘How’s your weekend been?’
‘Fab. I agreed with the surgery yesterday that I’m going to work an extra day every week and I’ve agreed that my neighbour’s cleaner’s going to do a day a week cleaning our house and first thing tomorrow I’m signing the kids up for an extra day and a half a week of nursery and they’ve been total hell on legs since I got back because Iabandonedthem last week and I really don’t mind because tomorrow I have my neighbour’s daughter who’s back from uni babysitting and I’m going to work. And that’swaytoo much chat about me. What aboutyou? How was last night? How’s today been? How are you feeling about Matt now? What was the bad conversation you had with him? Have you had to see him much today? When are you going to manage to get home?’
‘Erm.’
‘Okay, yes, too many questions in a row. Tell me about the big one.’
And all of a sudden, words were just falling out of Lily. She told Aaliyah pretty much all the details of her conversation with Matt after the wedding. And then she told her that she knew that she still loved him and always would, although obviously that wouldn’t really matter soon because she wouldn’t be seeing him again but it really hurt right now.
She told Aaliyah about horse riding today and then thought about when they’d all piled out of the car when they got back just now and she and Matt had been laughing together at something Felix had said, and then they’d brushed arms and there’d been that zing that they’d always had but also, instead of the tension there’d been over the past few days, it had felt like there’d been companionship.
‘And now I feel like over the course of today things have shifted back to friendship between us,’ she said. ‘And thatreallyhurts.’ Woah. She was really going for it with the spilling her emotions thing. ‘Anyway, I’ve been talking about myself for too long. I’m so pleased for you that you’ve made all your life changes.’
‘Can I just say,’ Aaliyah said, ‘I totally get everything you’ve said about Matt and that you’ve always held stuff back because of a fear that you’ll lose the person you want to be, who isn’t the sick child that everyone felt sorry for. But you know we don’t all just love you because you’re always so supportive and amazing but because we love your company and none of us think you’re a victim or a different person if you ever act like you need a bit of sympathy or help. And I’m sure Matt feels the same way, or would do given the opportunity. And it sounds like you still really love each other so maybe you should try to find a way to get past this. Anyway, maybe you aren’t ready to hear that so maybe I’m just going to leave that thought there.’
‘Right,’ Lily said. Time to change the subject. ‘Thank you. We’re going to the airport soon to book a private flight for tomorrow to Athens and then we can all fly home.’
‘Okay, fab, so shall we meet at the weekend? Do you want to come over for a barbecue on Sunday?’
‘Perfect, thank you. Has Meg been calling you?’
‘No?’
‘That’s odd.’ Lily frowned. ‘She’s been trying to call me. I was worried she and Pythagoras have split up. I thought she’d have tried you too.’
‘Hmm. Let’s hope not. Good luck with that conversation if she has.’
‘I know. It’ll be torture. She’ll be beyond distraught.’
‘I really thought he was her One,’ Aaliyah said. ‘This time, I kind of feel like she’d berightto be distraught if they’ve split up.’
Lily’s phone was beeping. ‘Someone’s trying to call me,’ she said. ‘Probably Meg. I’d better go.’
‘Good luck.’
Yep, it was Meg.
‘Lily, do you have any leads on a flight off Paros? Pythagoras and I need to fly to Edinburgh tomorrow if possible because he has an interview for a head chef job on Tuesday and it would be alotbetter to do it in person than on Zoom. We can come over this evening if necessary, or in the morning. Pythagoras’s cousin can bring us over on his boat.’
‘Oh, wow, that’s amazing.’ Relief. ‘We’re going to the airport soon to get booked on a flight for tomorrow. I’ll book you on the same one and let you know when it is.’
