Page 52 of Italy and Forever

‘Out with it, Ginny. I can see your worries gathering steam in there.’

‘You know you don’t have to do any of this, if you don’t want to. Andreas wouldn’t want you to compromise either.’

Sophie sighed and her hand came up to squeeze Ginny’s arm, then she came in for a hug. When she pulled back again, her eyes were shining. ‘I do have to follow through, even if it is a compromise.’

‘But—’

‘Don’t worry, Ginny,’ Sophie tried to assure her, although her words had the opposite effect. ‘This will be a wonderful I Do wedding. Andreas will definitely turn up and so will I and the rest, you have covered. I am serious about wanting you to feel like a guest at this wedding, by the way. It’s important to me. And all those bizarre traditions too, like the waltz and the horrible music and whatever Caro is planning for me.’

‘Really?’

‘Absolutely. It turns out our friends and family are equally important at our wedding.’

‘Are you sure you’re not just putting other people first, like you always do?’ Ginny prompted. ‘It’s supposed to be your big day.’

Sophie considered for a long moment and she didn’t appear entirely satisfied with her answer when she gave it. ‘Maybe arranging weddings for other people as a service has given us a kind of warped idea of marriage.’

Ginny frowned. ‘You really have been spending too much time with the staff of Great Heart.’

‘Perhaps,’ Sophie agreed ruefully. ‘And maybe you’ll hold onto your big dreams of celebrating a great love. But I… I want this wedding. Just as it is.’ She pressed Ginny into another hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re here keeping us all together,’ she murmured as she squeezed Ginny tight.

Ginny wasn’t so certain she was keeping anything together, least of all the disobedient wedding party.

‘Hey, you two.’

They broke apart at the sound of Kira’s voice from down the hall.

‘Have you seen Rhys? He doesn’t seem to be in his room.’

‘Uh, maybe he went to the lake?’ Ginny suggested, her tone high-pitched to her own ears. ‘To take photos or…’ She managed to stop herself mentioning anything about skinny-dipping. ‘I need to get moving if I’m going to join you guys for the climb.’

She managed to shoo her friends out of her room, closing the door behind them and then slumping against it with a stifled groan. The bathroom door creaked open and the sight of Rhys’s face gave her a jolt of feelings – pleasant and unpleasant, all mixed up in a potent cocktail.

‘I should go,’ he said.

She nodded.

‘I’ll see you in the car park in a bit. I’m glad you decided to come climbing. It’ll be good for your confidence.’

She smiled tightly. ‘I’m not sure that swearing my way up a rock wall is great for my confidence, but I’ve agreed to it now,’ she said to his retreating back.

Before he got very far, he turned, one hand rubbing the back of his head. ‘So we’re… pretending this never happened? We still dislike each other, as far as everyone else is concerned?’

‘That’s probably for the best.’

His quick nod of agreement unsettled her. This part of casual sex wasn’t fun. When he opened his mouth to say something, but reconsidered and turned to go again, Ginny could have rolled her eyes. Rhys Bowen, walking relationship-red-flag.

But he’d talked to her last night – opened up, just a bit. Her shoulders sagged. She had to admit she had no idea what she was doing with him.

22

‘Do you think maybe we should have got a manicure instead?’ Mattia joked.

Ginny pressed a hand against the golden stone at her left, partly in awe and partly to prop herself up as she got her breath back after the steep ascent through the pine forest to the foot of this monstrous rock. It was difficult to believe they were in one of the most populous countries in Europe, when here there was only rock, rubble and sky, craggy Dolomite peaks in all directions.

‘Where’s the café?’ she replied to Kira’s boyfriend with a grin. ‘I thought we’d be sitting together drinking a Campari spritz while the others climbed.’

The weather had confounded her with a perfect autumn day – full sun, only a handful of textured clouds to augment the depthless blue. To one side the forested hill fell away, speckled with yellow larch, to a lake that shimmered aqua. She’d thought the turquoise of the Lago di Anterselva by the hotel was uniquely and impossibly beautiful, but it seemed this part of South Tyrol was dotted with wild lakes of all hues. They’d passed another on their way to this spot, as well as glimpsing the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the distance, the legendary three peaks that dominated the landscape of the northern Dolomites.