When they got back out to the terrace, Taran had returned to the group and was talking about her recent wedding. “Abby was such a star on the hen weekend and on the wedding day when I was having a meltdown. I wanted to do the same for her, but it seems like she’s covered, with Delta and now Jordan who’s just materialised out of thin air!”

There wasn’t a hint of disbelief in her voice, which allowed Jordan to breathe easy.

It wasn’t everyone else she had to worry about believing their story.

It was Delta blowing their cover.

“I’m just thrilled we reconnected in time.” Jordan put her tray on the table. “When we were little girls and talking about getting married, we always promised we’d have each other as our bridesmaids. But after nearly three decades apart, I never thought it would happen.” Why did this story seem more real than the others Jordan had taken part in?

Jordan poured the wine, passed the glasses around, then sat beside Gloria.

“I’m thrilled you did, too. You always were a good influence on Abby.” Gloria patted Jordan’s hand.

Jordan was pretty sure Gloria wouldn’t be saying that if she knew the full extent of Jordan’s thoughts over the past couple of weeks. When Jordan glanced up at Abby, her cheeks were flushed, and when she caught Jordan’s gaze, she looked away. Why was Abby looking shifty, too? She had nothing to look shifty about.

“Mind you, Abby’s always been a model daughter, which just goes to prove, the apple does sometimes fall very far from the tree.”

The group laughed at that.

“I dunno, Gloria,” Delta said. “You should have seen her in her 20s. She was a bit of a hellraiser. Especially at uni.”

“That much is true!” shouted Erin, her face split with a grin.

Gloria shook her head, waving a hand in the air. “There are some things a mother should never know, and what their daughter got up to at university is definitely one of them.”

When Jordan glanced at Abby again, she was shaking her head, shooting Delta an evil look. Jordan chuckled. She’d like to have seen Abby as a hellraiser.

“As for me, unlike Abby, I didn’t get my choice of husband right first time. I was flattered by my first husband’s attention, and he was a lovely man. Also, I was pregnant, and it was what you did. I had a miscarriage before we got hitched, but we still went through with it. Then we had Abby. It took me a year to work out that behind his dazzling smile and his money, we didn’t have that much in common. Second time around though, there’s never been a minute when I doubted him.