She would do anything in the world for me. Shehaddone everything in the world for me.
‘Chessie,’ I whispered.
I was choking on how much I loved her. How much I would never, ever be able to repay her. Suffocating on it.
‘Oh God, don’t cry!’ She was beside me on the couch in an instant, an arm wrapped around my shoulders. ‘If you start, I’ll start.’
I put my wine down. I was going to contaminate it with my tears otherwise, or spill it all over Chess’s beautiful floor, the floor she’d worked so hard for, to make sure we never went hungry or thirsty again.
‘Can you, um, can you…’
‘Can I what? What do you need?’
‘Can you get out of work early tomorrow?’
‘Of course!’ she said, almost laughing. ‘I’ll have to rearrange some meetings, but that’s okay. I could take the whole day off, if you like.’
‘I…’ My thumb went to my ring finger again, searching. ‘I, um, have plans. But I… I…’
Chess put her wine down too and turned to face me on the couch, taking my hands in hers. ‘What is it?’
I looked at our hands. If I looked at our hands, I didn’t have to look at her face.
‘Could you meet me in the park tomorrow at four? The one near the share house? Under the fig tree? Do you know the one?’
‘I know the one. Do you want to have a picnic? I could order another one of those fancy cheeseboards.’
‘No.’
I swallowed once, twice. If Chess hadn’t had such a firm grip on my fingers, I would have reached for my glass and knocked all that expensive wine back like a shot of tequila.
‘I’m getting married,’ I whispered.
Chess went completely still.
‘What?’ she said at last.
‘I’m getting married. At four. Tomorrow. In the park.’
Another moment of silence.
‘Sadie,’ she said, ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Remember how you looked at my contract?’ I still couldn’t look at her. ‘And there was that provision for partner hire?’
‘Ye-e-es.’ She stretched out the vowel sound. Her fingers were completely motionless in mine. ‘But that doesn’t apply to you. You don’t have a partner.’
‘What if…’ I swallowed again. ‘What if I did, though?’
‘Well, first I’d ask why you didn’t tell me sooner. You’ve introduced me to every boyfriend you’ve ever had. Or at least I think you have.’
‘I have,’ I said miserably.
‘Then what’s going on?’
She let go of one of my hands and tipped my chin up, forcing me to look her in the eye. ‘Whatever’s going on, you can tell me.’
The words came out in a rush. ‘Remember how I told you about Jonah’s sister?’
