‘You know I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I did, a bit. I couldn’t miss this year, could I? Not after everything. But at least we don’t have to share a bathroom.’
‘Or make one,’ I added, referring to the disastrous camping trip Mom and Dad had taken us on back in elementary school. It had become evident very quickly that sleeping under the stars was not our parents’ forte. Although I had to give Dad some credit for the makeshift toilet he’d rigged up using a bucket and a piece of tarpaulin wrapped around a tree.
‘Anyway, unlike parentally led glamping, Summerween isn’t mandatory,’ I added. ‘No one’s taking attendance. You could jump on a plane right now if you wanted to. Race through the gates like inLove Actuallyor something.’
Tiff tapped her nails against her glass, taking a moment to gather her thoughts. ‘It’s just that it’s been so long since Damien and I were actually together in person that I’m worried …’ She hesitated, then went on. ‘I’m worried that there might not actually be anything there at all. What if I’ve just been clinging to something that’s merely a comfortable routine? Or a way of excusing myself from actually going out there and dating and … I don’t know what else. Whatever Lara’s doing.’
Ah, this made sense now. It was the Lara factor. Lara was so cheerful and vivacious that it was easy to feel like you were coming up short in her presence.
I flapped Josephine’s diary at her. ‘Lara is enjoying her usual Summerween flirtation, which will peter out the way they all do. Then it’ll be forgotten about until next Summerween, and then the whole thing will start all over again.’
After all, just because Lara invited Jack here and wasstaying with himdidn’t mean it was going to end any differently. She’d practically said as much herself.
‘I love Lara almost as much as I love you, Tiff,’ I went on, ‘but she definitely makes the grass look greener. If you have something good with Damien – and I think you do – then you should stick with that. Maybe you should find a way to make sure the two of you can be in one place more often.’
‘If only it were as easy as that.’
‘Isn’t it?’ I countered.
‘Maybe.’ She tucked herself more deeply into the blanket, watching a butterfly flit around the garden. ‘I’m going to go to the reading at the bookshop on Friday,’ she added idly. Idly, with a hint of the confessional.
I fiddled with my ring, thinking of how tongue-tied she’d become when Leon had spoken to her. ‘Do you need me to be your backup, just in case?’
Just in case you do something regrettable, I thought but didn’t say.
‘The more bookworms the better.’ Tiff reached for her glass, but it was empty. ‘Urgh, the kitchen is so far away,’ she complained.
She snapped her fingers, but her magic wasn’t strong enough to drag a bottle of rosé from the house.
‘This is why we have the coolers,’ I said, reaching to one side of the daybed and pulling out some canned hard seltzers from the ice-filled tub. I cracked one open for each of us.
‘Rosie really is the most incredible host,’ said Tiff as she sipped the foam that spilled out from the top of her can. ‘Even … given everything.’
I swallowed back the lump that had appeared in my throat.
‘I worry about her.’ Tiff’s voice was low. ‘She’s been sobusysince we arrived. It’s like she’s trying to turn the house inside out. And things are going wrong, have you noticed? The mistakes with her baking. The garden … Have you ever seen the roses like this before?’
I frowned, glancing over at the roses, which did look less vibrant than usual. Some of their petals were slightlybrowned at the edges, and here and there the plants’ leaves had wilted.
Tiff wasn’t wrong. With all of her home-improvement tasks and efforts to be the perfect hostess, Rosie did seem to be stretched thin. Maybe us kids could do something to help her. Perhaps we could be in charge of dinner one night. Or help out with the tiling job she’d embarked upon in one of the guest bathrooms. I glanced over at the studio, and then at the water, where Finn was now kicking around a soccer ball with a group of teens.
Tiff followed my gaze.
‘So,’ she said, one eyebrow high in anticipation. ‘How was your outing with Finn?’
Was I just imagining things, or had Noah’s silhouette reappeared in the studio window?
‘It was just ice cream. A perfectly normal sharing of ice cream.’
Okay, an extremely flirtatious sharing of ice cream. That had weirdly melted. And had ended in Finn asking me out on anactualdate.
‘How very nineteen fifties of you,’ said Tiff.
I reached into the cooler and threw an ice-block at her. She squealed, deflecting it with a burst of magic.
‘Sorry, sorry,’ she said, hands up in apology. ‘Look, I don’t mean to be down on you about it. It’s just fraught. Our families are so intertwined. Mom and Rosie are best friends. And we’ve been doing Summerweens for ever. What if it all goes sideways and you have a falling-out? It’ll be … weird.’
My ring fizzed.
