Page 59 of Italy and Forever

They’d decided on a little package of local specialities, tied up with two symbolic pieces of string knotted together. Tucked in the top would be the custom-made wooden place cards, in the shape of mountains and pine trees, etched with each guest’s name. Ginny had been so satisfied when she’d put it all together, but now she felt as restless as Kira, her fingers tapping and her adrenaline still pumping from the day.

‘A pretzel,’ Sophie answered, showing Tita as she tightened her own knot.

‘Well, that’s appropriate,’ Toni commented as she looped her string around the two little bottles, one of olive oil and one of pine-infused schnapps. ‘Sneaking in another local speciality.’

‘A pretzel is more appropriate than a lovers’ knot?’ Reshma asked drily.

‘Actually, they call it a fisherman’s knot in climbing circles,’ Toni pointed out.

Ginny sighed, setting down her own fiddly knot for a moment.

‘Are you disheartened again, Ginny?’ Tita asked. ‘It is a true lovers’ knot and it’s a lovely nod to Great Heart and Andreas’s profession as well.’

‘Don’t worry, Tita,’ she replied. ‘I’m beginning to understand that these jokes and pranks aren’t necessarily a sign of lacking emotions.’

Andreas declaring brusquely that he loved Sophie in the restaurant today had been one of the most romantic things she’d ever witnessed.

‘Don’t let the Great Heart crew hear that,’ Toni said with a laugh.

‘I’ll leave them to their misconceptions,’ Ginny reassured her.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and Ginny hopped up to admit Kira, who burst into the room with her usual swagger. ‘Everyone else has gone to bed, so I thought I’d see how far you guys had got – not that I’m volunteering to help. You don’t want to know how wonky my crafting is.’

‘Actually, you could help with these knots—’ Tita tried hopefully, but Kira held up her hands.

‘Not with those tiny strings. Oh, hey, you’ve got a heap of chestnuts too. Have you and Rhys been collecting them together? Frolicking under the autumn trees?’

Ginny was certain they’d detect the falseness in her laugh, but no one said anything.

Kira perched on the edge of the bed and stretched her legs out. ‘Did I miss any gossip?’

‘Not a lot. We were just all discussing our feelings openly and honestly,’ Ginny answered with mock earnestness.

As she’d hoped, Kira shuddered. ‘I’m still bad at that. Sophie, you’ll have to train Andreas and then he can tell me how it works.’

‘I think communication will always be our biggest challenge,’ Sophie replied flatly.

‘He still hasn’t talked about baby names?’ Ginny asked. ‘I assumed that would be the best bit. If she’s a girl, don’t call her Virginia.’

Sophie gave her a rueful smile. ‘I don’t think that one works in German. But no, his eyes sort of glaze over when I bring it up and he changes the subject. But at least I know what I’m getting into.’

‘You don’t want to be surprised by your spouse’s faults after the wedding?’ Reshma joked.

‘You know what I think?’ Toni spoke up, nudging Reshma’s shoulder with her own. ‘You are all just as pessimistic about relationships as we are at Great Heart.’

Tita clutched her chest and rushed to pretend to wave smelling salts under Ginny’s nose. ‘How can you say that? We love love more than anything else!’

‘Oh yeah? Tell me about your own weddings, then?’ Toni said drily. ‘Sophie, I’ll give you a pass, because you’re pregnant and I don’t want you to cry. Ginny hasn’t been close enough to the altar to know what it looks like from a bride’s perspective, despite years of her best efforts, and Tita, while I’m sure everyone celebrated hard when you and Sally were finally allowed to get legally married, I know for a fact it happened on a Thursday afternoon at the Milton Keynes register office.’

Tita shrugged. ‘A big wedding seemed overkill when I was forty-five and we’d been civil partners for six years already.’

‘Strange, when you organise such elaborate celebrations for other people all the time, don’t you think? And you, Reshma⁠—’

‘I was twenty-one and Patrick looked faintly ridiculous in a turban.’

Ginny’s gasp echoed around the room as all of the others froze. ‘You were married and you never told us?’

‘I don’t think the biggest drama here is that she didn’t tell you,’ Kira pointed out. ‘What happened?’