Peyton was lovely but there was no denying she was still rich and entitled and on the odd occasion that came across. From what I’d heard in the gossip vines from guests and her bridesmaids as we’d coordinated and double-checked details over the past few days, she’d actually been quite the diva back in the day. The perils of never having to wait for anything or be told no. But meeting Patrick had changed that. I meant what I’d said when I told her he adored her but his down-to-earth character and feet firmly set in reality seemed also to have balanced out the less desirable tendencies of her own nature.

‘Peyton. You told me that you were the one that wanted to get married here. To connect with your ancestry. Remember?’ I didn’t let on that I knew there wasn’t any, but I wasn’t about to let Patrick get kicked for something he didn’t do. ‘On that first meeting you said that Patrick had told you he didn’t care where you got married, so long as he got to marry you. Do you remember?’

She picked a different nail to fiddle with. ‘I suppose.’

‘So Ireland was your idea.’

‘Yes… but don’t you think he should have insisted we get married in America. Where my friends are? I mean, the wedding is supposed to be about the bride, isn’t it? I mean, it’s supposed to be my day.’

I wasn’t sure I liked this side of Peyton.

‘It’s both your days, Peyton. It’s a day about showing those you care about how much you mean to each other, making that commitment. Yes, it’s also the opportunity to wear a beautiful dress and have a magnificent party, but that’s all just window dressing. The main thing, the most important thing, is that you love Patrick, and he loves you and today you show each other that.’

She nodded quietly.

‘Can I ask something?’

‘Hmm?’ Peyton looked up.

‘Where has all this come from? A couple of days ago on the phone, you were saying you wished the wedding were happening that day. And now you’re hesitating.’

‘Nowhere really,’ she said, two spots of high colour appearing on her make up free face.

‘It must have been something?’ I pushed gently.

‘Well, Vance and I were just talking over old times yesterday and, well, about all sorts really, and I suppose it just got me thinking.’

I was going to kill him.

‘And what do you think now?’

She shrugged. ‘I suppose it just all feels a bit overwhelming.’ Her eyes began to fill. ‘And then Vance was saying it was a shame that I’d been persuaded to get married here, where it’s cold and grey, and how a Californian wedding would have been so much prettier and…’

Warning bells began clanging in my head as red siren lights whirled round.