“Half-baked for certain,” Andre joined in.

We all laughed. Our little group did love their puns.

“Dough not get me started,” Nick said.

“Bake-ause you’d never quit,” I joked.

They all turned to look at me with pitying expressions, except for Harry, who grinned. He was the only one who appreciated my puns, but I think it was only because we were engaged and he was required to.

“Oh, come on,” I said. “Bake-cause, funny, right?”

Andre and Nick just shook their heads.

“I picked up some snacks for the trip, yeah,” Fee said as she stepped out of the hat shop carrying a Marks & Spencer bag.

“Are there any biscuits in there?” I asked as she handed it to me.

“Of course,” she said. “You can’t go on a road trip without some digestives.”

I had learned these were actually much tastier than the name suggests.

“Excellent,” I said and she beamed. “Thank you.”

Fee was tall and lithe with dark skin and eyes. Her face was heart shaped with a pointy chin, and she wore her corkscrew curls in a bob that she highlighted with random streaks of color. This month they were bright green. She blew a spiral lock out of her eyes and glanced at the group.

“What did I miss?” she asked.

“Andre was just telling us that the groom in the wedding he’s going to used to torture him as a child,” Nick said. “I think I may have to pay a surprise visit to the castle and bash him on the head with my umbrella.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” I asked. Andre shrugged. “And why, when you took their engagement photos, didn’t you walk out or at least cancel the plan to have you be their wedding photographer?”

“Because Dooney—” Andre paused to collect himself. He stared at the door to the shop where Viv had just appeared.

“Dooney what?” Nick asked. “Don’t keep us in suspense, love, we all want to know what happened.”

Andre drew in a deep breath and exhaled it through his nose. “Dooney Portis didn’t remember me.”

We all blinked at him. Personally, I thought this was the best possible outcome and was a little bewildered by Andre’s agitation.

“I’m failing to see the problem,” Harry said. “I mean, isn’t it good that he doesn’t remember you?”

“You don’t have to worry about him bullying you, yeah,” Fee said.

Nick studied his partner closely. “Unless, you’re struggling because his bullying was a significant chapter in your life but for him, as evidenced by him not remembering you, it was nothing.”

“Exactly!” Andre cried. “How could he have been so cruel and then have just forgotten about me?”

“Because Dooney Portis is a horrible person,” Viv said as she joined us. “That’s who you’re talking about, isn’t it?”

“How did you guess?” Andre asked.