‘I remember. So you’re thinking next summer for the wedding?’

‘Yes. And, Bronte, please will you come?’

‘Of course I’ll come!’ The thought of returning to England feels surreal, but I’m awash with nerves at the reminder that Alex will be coming here, well before then.

‘I was kind of hoping I’d be able to persuade you to do the wedding photos,’ she adds with slight trepidation.

‘Oh… I haven’t done any weddings since I left the UK.’

‘I know.’ She sounds uneasy. ‘I still don’t really understand why.’

‘Work is so busy…’

‘You managed to squeeze them in before, when you had a full-time job.’

‘Anyway, I’m also a bit out of practice.’

‘You’ve got almost a year before I walk down the aisle.’

I can’t help but smile at her perseverance. ‘You really want me to start doing weddings again, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she states. ‘You loved it. You were great at it.’

‘It feels like a lifetime ago,’ I say sadly.

‘It kills me that he ruined it for you!’ she snaps.

‘Who? Alex?’

‘Yes, Alex!’ she cries.

Bridget is not Alex’s biggest fan.

I sigh heavily. I don’t really know what to say to that. I don’t want to blame Alex. Yes, photographing his wedding set me back a bit, but it’s my own fault for letting that part of my life slip through my fingers.

‘He emailed me today,’ I tell her.

‘What?!’

‘Alex. He emailed me today for the first time in years to tell me that he’s coming to Sydney next month.’

There’s no reply from the other end of the line, so I keep talking.

‘He thought he should let me know in case we bump into each other in the lift, or somewhere. He doubts he’ll need to come into Vivienne, but he’s going to be in the building. You know he’s the Art Director for the whole of Tetlan now?’

‘Yes, I did hear that,’ Bridget replies quietly.

I don’t remember passing that information on.

‘Russ and Maria told me,’ she answers my unspoken question.

Russ used to work with me at Hebe and Maria is the make-up artist who introduced me to Rachel, my wedding photographer mentor. Maria and Russ got together on a work night out and are now married with two children.

‘When were you talking to those two about Alex?’ I’m taken aback.

‘They came to Cornwall on holiday back in June and we caught up. I was just wondering if they ever saw or heard anything of him.’

I feel slightly strange that she asked about him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Bridget says gently. ‘I was just curious, to be honest, but I didn’t think you’d want that whole can of worms opening.’

‘Huh!’ Can of worms officially opened.