Page 57 of Italy and Forever

Then Kira’s voice finally broke through the haze in his thoughts. ‘Wow. You guys are so awkward.’

24

‘You’re getting on okay with Ginny, then?’ Andreas asked, just when Rhys was beginning to hope the conversation had moved on from him.

He hesitated over his answer, earning a sidelong look from his friend. ‘We’re both adults,’ he eventually settled on, but he wanted to pull out his tongue when he realised the double meaning of what he’d said. ‘As well as can be expected.’

Ginny was so still, he suspected she’d heard.

‘As well as can be expected with the wedding fairy,’ Andreas added, dipping his head and speaking under his breath. ‘But she showed her true colours today.’

‘Mm hmm,’ he agreed, sneaking a glance at her.

‘I appreciate you putting up with all this. I hope today was some kind of respite.’

Rhys responded with another non-verbal humph.

‘I hate to say, “You’re quiet,”’ Andreas continued, ‘but… you’re quiet. This hasn’t been a problem, so many people?’

No, a crowd of people wasn’t a problem when he could see only one. ‘Don’t worry about me. It’s your wedding.’

‘As everyone keeps reminding me. As if I’ve ever forgotten, even for a single second.’

Rhys wondered if all weddings were as strange as the two he’d attended as a photographer. ‘Ginny said weddings mess with your head,’ he commented. ‘I think that might be true.’

‘Love messes with your head – it messes with your life.’

Rhys stared into his beer, wishing he could un-hear those words. ‘I know,’ he said eventually, when Andreas seemed to be waiting for a response.

‘Ah, verdammt, I forgot,’ Andreas muttered. ‘Even when I thought Sophie had ignored me on purpose, what Annie did is ten times worse.’

Rhys shook his head. ‘I thought you’d understand, it’s never one person’s fault.’

Andreas’s laugh was bitter. ‘I do know that. Who was it who said, “Love is foolishness committed in pairs”?’

‘Andreas!’ Ginny interrupted them. ‘Your friends have shared enough of these horrible sayings. I hope there aren’t going to be any in the speeches.’

‘Calm down, Ginny,’ Andreas said, making her bristle and sit up straight. Even Rhys knew not to tell Ginny to calm down. ‘I’m saying it because I love Sophie – and everyone knows how much I love her. I’m saying it because that’s not in question, because making a joke is the only way I know how to deal with how much I love her.’

‘Bravo!’ called Will, holding up his beer.

‘Bravo!’ Kira copied him, slowly followed by the rest of the group around the table. Ginny sagged into her chair, eventually raising her mug of hot chocolate to tentatively clink with Kira’s beer.

Rhys tapped his beer with Andreas’s, then hesitated, his gaze sneaking back to Ginny. He held his glass out in her direction. After a lift of her brow, she clinked her mug against it with a faint smile. When he found Andreas watching him curiously, he regretted reaching out to her.

After the sun had well and truly disappeared behind the mountains, the temperature began to drop in earnest and they all stood to go. When Ginny ducked inside for the bathroom, Rhys made a vague excuse and followed, catching her on her way out.

‘I wanted to tell you,’ he blurted out, cutting her off when she’d been about to say something. But when he realised he had to finish that sentence, he hesitated for long enough that she lifted a prompting brow. ‘You… earned a lot of respect today.’

‘From the Great Heart guys and gals?’

‘Yes.’ He hesitated. ‘And me. Not that I didn’t already respect you – a lot.’

Her smile was small. ‘I know you respect me.’

He glanced away so he could gather himself to say something more meaningful. ‘Well, maybe I… Anyway, you were amazing up there and I hope you enjoyed it on some level.’

Her hair was caught at the top of her ear again, where she wore a sparkling stone in the high piercing, and he smoothed it back without thought, before dropping his hand again when voices reached them from outside.