Page 51 of Italy and Forever

‘Mmwhat?’ Finally, he hauled himself up, giving his head a shake. It would have been satisfying, seeing him so ruined, if Ginny hadn’t been keen to⁠—

‘You have to hide.’

‘What?’ he said again.

‘Sophie can’t see you here! How would we explain this? You’ll get the balloon-bursting talk again times a thousand.’

‘Good point.’ He scooped up his clothes and raced for the bathroom.

After a quick check for any more signs that she’d had a photographer in her bed last night – which was difficult, because every wrinkle of the sheet felt like a glaring giveaway to her – she opened the door to a concerned look from Sophie. Actually, perhaps it was a notch or two higher on Sophie’s ‘concerned’ scale.

‘Ginny, do you know what time it is?’

Alarm ricocheted through her. ‘I just woke up. I think I forgot to put my phone on charge.’ Because she’d had a rather large distraction filling her space last night. ‘I haven’t missed anything important, have I?’

‘It’s nearly nine o’clock. I assumed you’d want to at least have a coffee before the facial and mani-pedi down in Bruneck.’

Ginny’s mental calendar whirred sluggishly to life.

‘Oh, I might skip that actually. I have a few things to catch up on after yesterday and… I might go climbing with Kira and the others. No point in a manicure.’ And no point in a facial when hers had already been scrubbed by a day’s growth of stubble.

‘Who are you, and what have you done with Ginny?’

Ginny was certain Sophie would suspect something when her laugh was as wooden as the eaves of this chalet hotel.

‘But seriously, are you okay after yesterday? The accident sounded terrifying.’

‘I’m fine,’ Ginny insisted, stretching her neck absently and trying not to think about the real reason some of her muscles were sore this morning. ‘It wasn’t bad.’

‘Is everything okay with Rhys?’

Ginny’s gaze snapped up to Sophie’s. ‘Wh-what?’

‘I know you two don’t get on and God knows I can understand why. He’s a walking red flag and you’re… you. Is it driving you crazy having to spend so much time with him?’

Indecision lodged in her throat. ‘Um, we’ve found a way to deal with that.’ She wanted to pull out her tongue when a curious spark lit Sophie’s eyes. ‘I mean, we’ve kind of accepted that we don’t get on. Don’t worry. It’s your wedding anyway. Why are you so concerned about me? How are you feeling?’

Ginny winced at the memory of the scolding she’d delivered to Andreas last night. Like a ceramic bowl over her head, the feeling of the wedding falling to pieces enveloped her all over again and her sex buzz finally ebbed – damn it. But it was about time.

‘I’m doing okay. Baby’s moving,’ Sophie answered, as though that was all that mattered. Ginny couldn’t disagree with that. The wedding did seem all of a sudden trivial in comparison with the entire person Sophie was incubating.

‘Is it really that scary?’ she asked.

‘Scarier than you can possibly imagine,’ Sophie answered. ‘Especially after…’

Ginny nodded. She knew Sophie had miscarried years ago, with her previous partner’s child.

‘I appreciate all your efforts, you know,’ Sophie said softly, ‘for my second wedding spent pregnant; although at least last time I wasn’t the size of a whale.’

‘You’ll be a beautiful whale,’ Ginny assured her earnestly, before those words played back in her head and she immediately regretted them.

Sophie laughed. ‘It is what it is.’

‘Have you… spoken to Andreas?’ More words she regretted as soon as Sophie’s expression lit with concern.

‘About something in particular? I hope you don’t mean baby names, because every time I mention those he looks like he’s going to have a stroke. If he’s going to spontaneously combust with all this attention, he’d better give me enough notice of my impending widowhood. Does he need to go up a mountain? I thought the outing today was a little tame for what he’d need as his last hurrah.’

It was Ginny’s turn to be concerned. Her friend didn’t sound like a love-struck bride. She sounded like all of the groom’s friends.