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“I followed you on Instagram, by the way,” Caleb says. “You should follow me back.”
“Why?” I ask. Because I’ll probably never see him again after today.
“Because we’re going to take a lot of photographs today that I’m going to post and tag you in. Let’s show your ex that you’re not missing him. Or even thinking about him.”
There’s a glint in his eye as he says it. Has he been jilted too? Or at least hurt by somebody?
Whatever it is, every time I turn around he’s taking photos. Nothing too much, just candid shots that make it look like I’m the most interesting thing in the room.
He’s good at this.
While he’s uploading them I look over to see Theo watching us, his fingers still moving across the keys as he patiently waits for Daisy to catch up. I smile at him and he smiles back.
“Okay. I’ve tagged you.” Caleb calls out. “Want to look?”
I lean over his screen. He’s made a slideshow of photos from the party, including some he must have taken earlier. A pile of gifts, Daisy in her tiara. But then there’s also lots of photos of me.
Me laughing at something Beckett’s said. A selfie of me and Caleb, the two of us holding our glasses.
An image of me staring at Theo when I didn’t know Caleb was even capturing it on camera. I look soft. My face is glowing. The man knows how to take a picture.
“Always good to show people what they’re missing,” Caleb tells me, winking.
The stupid thing is, I don’t care. How Patrick feels is up to him. It has no bearing on me or my future. But it’s still sweet of Caleb.
“Thank you.” I smile at him. “You’re really not as bad as Theo made out.”
He frowns. “What did he say?”
I shake my head. “I can never tell you. But the incident between you and the vacuum cleaner is our secret.” I touch my finger to my lips.
Beckett coughs out a laugh. It takes Caleb a moment to catch up that I’m kidding.
“He didn’t even say a word about me did he?” Caleb says.
“He told me you met at school. And that you run an airline. That’s about it.” I shrug.
“Sounds like Theo. Keeps everything close.” He pours me another glass of champagne. I need to make this my last.
“To new friends,” he says, chinking his water glass against mine. “And new beginnings.”
“New beginnings,” I agree.
I swallow, the champagne fizzing on my tongue. Across the room, Daisy misses a note and bursts into giggles. Theo laughs with her, low and unguarded, and when he looks back at me again his eyes are dark enough to make my chest tighten.
For a moment, standing there between two men who barely know me, yet somehow want to look after me, it doesn’t feel strange that in a few days I was supposed to be married to Patrick.
It feels… different. Like something ending doesn’t have to mean something went wrong.
Maybe I’m right where I’m meant to be.
10
GEORGIA
“I’m sorry about the grilling you got,” Theo says as we walk out of the hotel elevator and onto my floor. “I told them to go easy on you.”
His hand is on my back as we make our way past the huge picture window in the hallway that overlooks the city. The sun has already set. Little lights twinkle from boats and riverside buildings on the Thames. I can’t stop smiling, and it’s not due to the champagne.
