‘They kissed at the baby shower,’ she told him.

‘Did they?’ Adrian wrenched up the handbrake and turned to me with his mouth wide open. ‘No wonder you’re not that heartbroken over Prick-trick Parker.’

‘I am heartbroken,’ I sniffed, realizing even as I said it that I wasn’t in pieces. Too stressed, too hungover, too unemployed, I reasoned. No doubt the moment Mum and Dad left for their second honeymoon, I’d fall apart. Probably. ‘I’m just too busy reorganizing a wedding and worrying about Lucy to show it.’

‘Not too heartbroken to get off with John,’ Sumi said in a stage whisper before raising her voice to me. ‘Lucy’s fine, Dave’s at the hospital with her now. And I’m not joking, Rosalind, if you fuck up our free drink situation, I will never forgive you.’

‘Oh, you shut up and get the cake out the car,’ I ordered, slithering along the backseat, heart pounding as I tried to work out just exactly what I was going to say to John.

Since the rain had stopped, the sun had come out, brightening the sky to a bold blue but with none of the stickiness we’d been suffering all summer. It was a perfect day.

‘Morning, Cammy,’ Sumi sang as the bartender opened the back door to us.

‘Morning,’ she said, grabbing one of the buckets of flowers out of my arms and carrying it inside. ‘The cleaner’s already been in so it’s spotless for you and I’ll be working the bar.’

‘Oh, we don’t need you to do that,’ I said from behind a jungle of dahlias. ‘We’ve got a load of wine, we’ll just leave it out the side for everyone to help themselves, we don’t want to be any bother.’

‘No way,’ Camille said, shaking her head. ‘John says you’re VIP so you’re VIP. Chef’s making mini quiches as we speak.’

Adrian batted his eyelashes at me and made a not-at-all-attractive kissy face.

‘You can’t, it’s too much,’ I insisted, following her up the stairs into the private room. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. ‘I’ve already sent my sister to Costco for a platter of sandwiches.’

Very much against her will, I added silently.

‘Food’s all arranged,’ Camille argued, holding up her hands to let me know it wasn’t her doing. ‘Do you think your parents would prefer mini burgers, mini fish and chips or a mix of both?’

‘Both,’ Sumi and Adrian said together. I rolled my eyes and fumbled for my phone, shooting a message to Jo, telling her to stand down from sandwich duty.