In contrast to my personal life, work had gone from strength to strength. Peyton had done a deal to do a feature on her wedding on a well-known socialite’s blog, which linked to the hundreds of thousands of followers on the woman’s socials. Apparently the two had gone to school together so as far as Peyton was concerned it was just a chat between friends, and an opportunity for thousands more people to see how beautiful she’d looked on their special day. Patrick hadn’t been so keen but she’d sweet-talked him and he’d gone along with it on the proviso that hardly any of the pictures featured him. As this gave Peyton even more chance to shine and be the centre of the attention, it wasn’t a hard ask.

Although it had been merely a chat for Peyton, the outcome for my planning business, Izzy’s atelier and the venue (according to Calum, with whom I’d kept in touch), as well as Fiadh’s florists and all the other businesses involved, had been impactful in the best way – something we were all grateful for after the previous couple of years. My books were almost full and I was only meeting the couple today because Peyton had asked me to as a favour and I, like most people, was rubbish at saying no to her.

I took my coffee and grabbed a table near the window, pulling out my notebook ready before checking my email and messages while I waited for my clients.

‘Hi.’

I didn’t need to look up. That voice would be forever etched into my memories – and my heart.

Slowly I lifted my head and met his eyes.

‘Hello,’ I said, my voice cool and professional as I tried not to show my surprise at his appearance. There were dark circles under his eyes, he’d lost a little weight and his hair was several weeks past needing a cut.

‘You look well,’ he said, having apparently ascertained I wasn’t about to jump up into his arms, begging him to let us try again.

‘Thank you. So do you.’

‘Liar.’ The smile I’d loved spread across his face. ‘I look like crap and we both know it.’

I gave a small smile in return but said nothing. He’d already seen straight through my words and I wasn’t about to expend energy on something that no longer mattered. That was what I told myself anyway, but the truth was my heart was now hammering against my ribs and it felt as if the only reason the entire café couldn’t hear it was due to the soft jazz playing in the background.

‘Do you mind if I sit?’ he asked.