‘Yikes,’ Ginny said with a lively grimace.
‘Are you having the baby there?’ Toni asked, hoping all of this didn’t mean she’d be required to travel to more weddings in her own future. She was done with other people’ssymbolismand time away from Cillian.
‘I’m going to spend the first part of my maternity leave there,’ Sophie explained. ‘Andreas does a lot of work over the winter and if I’m here, either he’ll be turning down work, which we can’t really afford, or I’ll never see him.’
‘That’s complicated,’ Toni commented in dismay.
‘From what I’ve seen, falling in love involves a lot of commuting,’ Ginny commented drily, giving Kira a nudge. ‘Why aren’t you off to Woking tonight?’
Her boyfriend was a member of a London opera company, but he’d rented an apartment in Surrey so it was easier to see Kira, while still being able to commute to London.
‘Mattia’s in Japan for a festival,’ she explained with what would have been a pout if Kira had been the type to pout. ‘But driving to Woking isn’t quite like flying to Italy. Mattia and I at least attempted to solve our geographical challenges.’
Toni fiddled with the stem of her wine glass, annoyed she was thinking about another geographical challenge. The distance between Weymouth and Elba was only the most obvious reason a relationship with Gabri would never work.
Although he’d seemed to think the only problem was that Toni still wasn’t ready. Shewasn’t, but… well, they’d got as far as they’d got, which meant something.
‘Anyway, Sophie needs to get married – fast,’ Ginny continued. ‘But no compromises. You can’t have a simple wedding when you work for I Do Destinations. Everything you’ve been dreaming about, we’re going to make it happen.’
‘Ginny, I can be reasonable about this. I know exactly how long these things usually take to arrange, not to mention all the other weddings on the books right now.’
‘We’ve got the three of us,’ Ginny said expansively, ‘plus Reshma and Tita. Whatcan’twe achieve?’
Toni shared a glance with Kira and they burst out laughing. ‘Have you forgotten I burned my blouse at the last wedding?’ Kira asked.
Sophie buried her face in her hands. ‘I will never forget that! The priest fired the extinguisher at you and you still had powder on your face when you got changed – into my clothes!’
‘I am a bad luck charm for weddings,’ Kira said emphatically.
‘What about when you get married to Mattia?’ Ginny prompted.
‘That boy is only twenty-eight years old. He’s too young to marry,’ Kira said with her chin in the air. It was a milder answer than Toni had expected from her. Until recently, no one at Great Heart had known Kira had had her heart broken at nineteen. She’d been a firm romance denier ever since – until sensitive, starry-eyed Mattia had stolen her heart.
‘I’m sure you’ll help to plan Sophie’s wedding anyway, even if we have to keep you away from the candles.’ Ginny turnedto Toni. ‘Reshma said your wedding went off perfectly, so you’ll help.’ It wasn’t a question. ‘And Cillian can be ring bearer.’
Toni would help, of course. For Andreas, she’d do a lot more than help plan another wedding, even if it was so soon after the trauma of the last one. But she didn’t quite muster the necessary enthusiasm in time.
‘What?’ asked Ginny. ‘I haven’t heard much at all about that wedding.’
‘It went off perfectly,’ Toni repeated. When Kira, Ginny and Sophie just watched her, expecting more, she sighed, staring up at the ancient beams in the ceiling. ‘The wedding was fine.Iwas not. I’ll help you, Sophie, but I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do another wedding for… well, a long time. Especially not on the island.’
‘Why? Was it?—?’
It was clear, the moment Ginny realised why Toni had struggled. She’d been killing conversations for nearly a decade. It was a familiar problem.
‘Actually, no, it wasn’t that,’ Toni said. Sophie’s earnest look made her wonder how much Andreas had told her. Probably everything, which was a surprise from her stoic friend. ‘I mean, yes, I know more about how marriages end than how they begin and it was the first time I’d attended a wedding since my own. That milestone wasn’t fun.’
‘But you said that wasn’t the problem. What happened?’ Sophie asked.
Aside from falling irrationally in love with the stubborn, idealistic, frustrating florist?‘It was difficult having Cillian there but being so busy myself,’ was what she settled on. That was true. ‘There’s no satisfactory solution.’ Also true. ‘If he comes with me, it’s complicated. If I go alone, it’s also complicated. I just don’t think it’s the best job for a mother.’
It was Toni’s turn to choke on her words. Whirling to face Sophie, she opened her mouth to qualify her statement, but Sophie shook her head.
‘Don’t worry. I’m aware of the practical difficulties before me, although it’s disappointing to hear you don’t think it worked at all. Your mum was there to look after Cillian, right?’
‘Yes, but they were both outside of their comfort zones.’ They weren’t the only ones. With a sigh, she spilled the story. ‘Cilli ran off on the night of the wedding. He wanted to watch the turtle nest in case the eggs hatched. Reshma was on her own for the whole reception, while I was in my cabin, barely holding off a panic attack. Reshma was too kind. It was a disaster! The entire two weeks were a disaster.’
She’d silenced all three of her companions now.
