“Nel was still in university when Lis got married,” Rhiannon told her with an amused smile. Nel shuffled awkwardly in her seat. “Us bridesmaids had plenty of time to chat while the bride was flapping over things that didn’t need flapping over and I distinctly remember her saying she was at university studying art and photography, right?” She narrows her eyes and points across to Nel in question.
Nel smiles politely and nods.
“Hey, I did not flap over things,” Lisa protests.
“My darling, I love you dearly, but you were the flappiest of flappy brides,” Harry says, leaning back in his chair with his wine in hand.
“Oh pish, if I flapped, it was only because you were so annoyingly calm about everything.” She flicked her wrist at him.
“I had no reason to be anything but calm, I was marrying the perfect woman.” He smiles lovingly down the table and when I catch his eye, I make sure to mime a small gag, to which he rubs his eye with his middle finger in my direction.
“Well, that’s all very lovely,” Gordan rolls his eyes. “But we were learning about Penelope.”
“Oh, please,” Nel says quietly. “Call me Nel.”
“Yeah, she’s Auntie Nelly-Belly,” Lucas says with a big, toothy—and slightly gappy—grin.
“Nelly-Belly?” Charles asks, laughing at his grandson.
“My little Nelly-Belly,” Harry smiles at his sister, affectionately.
She gives a slightly tighter smile back.Man, for someone who can be so open and self-assured online, Nel really hates talking about herself.
“So,” Hen, says gently. “What kind of photographer are you, sweetie?”
I watch Harry try to give Nel the eye, a warning not to reveal too much, but she’s too focussed on her plate, tucking a strand of light-brown hair behind her ear.
“I mostly do portraits,” she says. “I have a studio in the city.”
“Oh fabulous,” Cami beams. “Do you do family portraits? Maybe we should all come along and do a shoot?” She asks, looking between her husband, daughter, and son-in-law.
Harry’s eyes widen in terror as I choke on my sip of wine. I cough and splutter, banging on my chest with a closed fist. Rhiannon pats my back in concern and Nel stares at me like a deer in headlights.
“I’m sure Nel doesn’t have time for that,” Harry stutters.
I catch Nel narrowing her eyes at her brother before lifting her chin and smiling at Cami. “I’d be happy to do some family photos for you. But the studio is too small for a large group, so we could look at some cool outdoor spaces for you.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Cami beams, completely satisfied with that.
Because Harry tends to get a little uptight around his in-laws, and because I’m a sucker for a bit of awkwardness—plus come on, it’s Christmas, we all deserve a little fun—I decide to wind my best friend up a bit. “It’s not just photography though, is it Nel? Aren’t you some kind of influencer too?”
CHAPTER FOUR
“How exactly do you influence people to buy things?”
JAKE
Everyone snaps their attention to Nel, waiting for her to answer. She gapes at me, Harry glares, I just smile into the rim of my wine glass.
“Err…well…” Nel splutters, her blush colouring her cheeks and down her neck. “I mean, I guess you could say that.”
“No way!” Luke says excitedly while wiping sticky toddler fingers with a baby wipe. “A real-life influencer, that’s cool.”
“What kind of things do you post about?” Rhiannon asks around a mouthful of salad.
“Fashion,” Harry answers for his sister quickly.
“Yeah,” Nel nods along. “Fashion mostly, makeup, that sort of thing.”
