Immie dives forward as she hears this. ‘Really. How did he look?’
‘Still very spotty.’ If Poppy’s laughing, it’s only because she knows how delighted Immie’s going to be because Mr Perfect Complexion has tumbled off his pedestal.
I’m fumbling with my phone, hesitating to spill the beans. ‘She did send us the secret screen shot she took of him. She was very proud to have pulled that one off.’
‘Make my day, why don’t you?’ Immie’s punching the air, then an anxious look passes across her face. ‘Youaregoing to show me?’
I pass my phone across. ‘Just a quick flash.’ Despite sitting back in the shadows, Jules is still looking very peaky.
Immie lets out a whoop. ‘Trumping frog bollocks, nowthat’swhat I callspotty. At this rate he won’t be coming out of the house again till spring.’
Poppy’s already seen it, but she still comes back for seconds. ‘He has got it badly. But the good news is he was over the moon with the pictures his stand-in delivered from Port Giles.’ Thankfully she’s moved Immie on before she had time to demand a copy of her own. ‘And the bride and groom love the rushes too. So well done for that, Hols.’
Immie’s nudge on my arm is so forceful I nearly fall off my chair. ‘There, what did we tell you? We knew you’d do brilliantly. With Jules’s spots as they are, you might have got a job for life, Hols.’
‘Totally not.’ I can’t help jumping straight in, because I can’t make this clear enough. ‘Once my beach wedding’s done I’m never going near another one again. When I agreed to that one, it was like a challenge to stretch myself. But now I’m landed with the others, truly, I already know I’m not cut out for the stress.’
Immie lets out another chortle. ‘There won’t bethatmany brides out there with camera-eating dogs, you know. Mind, you have to watch out for pigs around here too. When the porkers we had as our ring bearers got loose they nearly totalled the wedding down the yard.’ In fact, before they went on the rampage Immie’s piggie ring bearers were so cute their pictures went viral and that brought in a lot of business for Rafe and Poppy.
Poppy gives a shudder. ‘Never work with animals. Two pigs almost running riot through the farmhouse when it was all set out for a wedding wassucha near miss. By the way, is Gracie okay?’
Immie gives a nod. ‘Fine, I’ve got my eye on her, she’s still singing with Santa. When she moves on we can all go with her.’ Immie takes another swig from her bottle and chokes. ‘Jeez, bat piss would taste better than this.’
Poppy sends her a puzzled glance. ‘So why not have a bitter? It’s not as if you’re driving.’
Immie’s frown is so intense, her eyebrows end up somewhere near her top lip. ‘Don’t tempt me.’ The sigh she lets out couldn’t be deeper. ‘Chas and I have made a pact. We’re both cutting back on the booze.’
Poppy’s jaw drops. ‘Frigging heck, what happened there? You have remembered Christmas party time’s coming up?’
Immie grunts. ‘We’ve gone alcohol free to help our fertility. But I had no idea it would be this hard.’
It must be tough for someone who enjoys her beer as much as Immie does. Especially when she works at a pub. ‘So how long since you started?’ I ask, ready to jump in with congratulations for how long it’s been.
Immie gives a groan. ‘About twelve hours.’
‘That long?’ Poppy and I exchange hopeless shrugs behind Immie’s head.
Poppy makes her tone bright. ‘It’s really good practice for when you get lucky. You’llhaveto give up then.’ She didn’t go through any of this, because she was already quite a few months pregnant by the time she found out.
‘If cutting out the alcohol helps it to be sooner rather than later, I’m happy to make the sacrifice.’ Immie forces a smile. ‘We’re giving up getting stressed too. It’s statistically proven – conceiving is easier if you’re relaxed.’
There’s a supervisor dressed in a dirndl dress walking past our table, and from the way her eyebrows shoot upwards, it’s obvious she’s heard. She leans towards us, speaking in a loud whisper. ‘Very true. The minute you stop worrying about them, that’s when babies show up. Just ask Jenny-on-pots.’ Then she waltzes away.
Due to having a voice like a foghorn, Immie’s comments often resonate beyond our group. Her loud cough of complaint is very restrained, considering it’s Immie. ‘Who the eff does she think she is, joining in our conversation? And what the jeez is she wearing?’
I jump in to smooth things over. ‘She’s meant to be Snow White. There’s a matching set of dwarves too, but they’re mostly in the other bar.’
Before her struggle to find a dress for her wedding last summer, Immienevernoticed what people wore. She gives a snort. ‘In that case, I’ll let her off, then.’ For once Immie’s guffawing voice goes so small we have to lean in to hear. ‘I’m really lucky, because I’ve already got Morgan. But it was different with him, because he was a happy accident. And I know Chas and I have only been trying to get pregnant since August. But every time I’m a day late, I can’t help thinking we’re on our way. For that one day, in my head I’ve already had the baby and got it as far as school. Then when it doesn’t happen there’s this crushing disappointment. And I know it’s early days, and it’s nothing compared to what a lot of people go through trying to have kids, but it kills me every time.’
‘Poor Immie.’ I’m aching for her. I squeeze her hand, because I know exactly what she means. ‘It’s true. As soon as you’re late, it’s like your whole world perspective changes. By the time it’s a week, you feel like you’re practically ready to give birth.’ As I hear the words come out, and both Immie and Poppy turn to me, my face goes hot. And damn for oversharing here. At least Snow White isn’t joining in this time.
Poppy leans forward and puts her hand on mine. ‘You know that feeling?’ Her voice is a low whisper.
I sigh. ‘It happened after Luc left. Looking back, it was probably the shock of the break-up. I emailed him to warn him I was late and going to do a test, but he didn’t ever get back to me. I spent ten days trying to get up the courage to pee on that stick. In the end my period came before I did it.’ I blow out a long breath. Even now the disappointment makes me strangely raw inside. Like my heart is being twisted in my chest. ‘Those ten days were the longest of my life. Waiting to hear back from Luc, then when I didn’t, planning how I was going to manage on my own. But then I didn’t need to anyway. It was something and nothing. But Idoknow how you feel, Immie.’
Immie blows out her cheeks. ‘Maybe he didn’t get the email, if he was between countries?’ We both know she’s only making excuses for him to make me feel better.
I pull down the corners of my mouth. ‘It had to be a mix-up with the emails. But when you’ve sent one with news like that, you don’t want to send another to check the first arrived.’ Somehow I couldn’t get over the feeling he’d made his new start, and he wasn’t turning back whatever happened. ‘It doesn’t matter now. There wasn’t a baby, and Luc is a hundred per cent in the past. We’ve both moved on.’ Poppy’s the only one I’ve told I haven’t completely let go.
