‘Of course we are. We’ll always be okay.’
It was what she needed to hear as she closed the door and made her way up the stairs to find Remy, still undecided if she should share the awkward conversation with her sister or not.
Not, she decided, as she reached the guest room in which Remy, Midge and the kids were staying, believing the old adage, least said soonest mended. It seemed obvious that if no one knew what had happened then she could simply make out it hadn’t. Plus, telling Remy was as good as telling Midge, and who might he then tell? She knocked quietly in case little Harper was napping.
The door opened, but no more than an inch, as Remy, hair wet, pressed her face to the gap.
‘What are you doing? Can I come in?’ Ashleigh pushed the door with her foot.
‘No! No, you can’t! Say what you need to say and then go away, far, far away!’
‘Why are you being so weird?’ She tried the door again; this was the last thing she needed right now, her sister playing the idiot. Remy didn’t let it budge.
‘I’m not being weird, I’m being prudent.’
‘Remy, it’s not funny! I just want to talk to you! I’ve got so much to do and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed.’ Hating the emotion in her voice, she was aware of how on the edge she sounded.
‘Fine!’ her sister huffed, ‘I’ll meet you on that patio that runs along the back of the house. We can talk there, outside.’
‘The terrace?’
‘I don’t bloody know! Yes! The terrace! Whatever you want to call it. Who needs a house this big! It’s ridiculous!’
‘I know, right, Rem! All that hoovering and dusting, just more rooms to worry about.’
‘Exactly!’ Remy sighed as if, finally, someone got it. ‘I’ll see you down there in five.’
Ashleigh flinched as her sister unceremoniously closed the door.
Walking quickly past the library, she kept her eyes trained forward, not wanting to see Guy, not right now. It was a relief to find the terrace empty as she took a seat on one of the steamer chairs positioned with a view over the lawn. Truth was she was still a little stunned by their odd exchange. Howlonghad she known Guy? He hadseenher in her underwear! They had shared abedwhen there was no choice! She’d helped him court and ditch any number of great girls who had caught his eye, and she’d talked to himendlesslyabout how much she loved Archie! Never, ever had she thought ...
‘What’s up, dove?’ Remy pulled the lounger next to her another few feet away and sat on the end of it.
‘What’s up with you? Your behaviour is stranger than usual! It seems to be the day for it.’
‘Nothing’s up with me! I’ve just seen Mum, Dad and Archie’s parents all standing around in the garden room. Mum was offering everyone a Mint Imperial.’
Laughter burst from her. Remy, as ever, providing just what she needed.
‘Was she really?’
‘No, but I like to think she might.’ Her sister waggled her eyebrows. ‘That little paper bag with all those fluffy mints stuck in a lump in the bottom.’
They both laughed, and it was good, and she felt some of the tension leave her shoulders.
‘Rem, I’m exhausted, could quite easily sleep all weekend and forgo the whole walking up the aisle thing. I love the man, you know I do, but all this fuss!’
‘Well, you might have to forgo the whole thing if everyone starts yacking up. The kids are sick.’ Remy pulled a face that suggested even saying the words was torturous. ‘That’s why I’m being weird, that’s why I’m sitting over here, keeping my distance,and why Midge, Harper and Soph are confined to barracks. I don’t want everyone to get sick!’
‘What do you mean,sick?’
‘I mean, vomiting in the bin sick. Throwing up in the bath sick! A bug maybe, I don’t know, but they’re clammy, clingy, and poorly.’
The awful possibilities filled her mind. ‘Shit!’
‘Not yet, but . . .’
‘Poor Soph. She was so excited about wearing her dress!’
