‘No, yes … maybe? I really don’t know. He’s changed, V. Really changed.’ Lily thought of the way he had been when he came to dinner in her restaurant. He’d teased her, challenged her. He’d made her laugh. Made her feel funny. Made her feel more free, looser somehow. And, incomprehensibly, more herself than she had felt in years. In the days since the warehouse expedition, they’d rifled through the estate for things that could be used for the wedding, discovered nooks and crannies that neither had known about. And none of it had felt like work. None of it had that sense of pressure or panic she’d felt about the wedding or … she sighed. Life in general really. Sharing that time and those moments with someone had made her realize just how isolated she had become. No, not isolated as such. Just lonely.

‘It’s crazy. I like him. I do. I really do.’

Victoria looked at her with a massive smile on her face.

‘But it’s not like that. We haven’t even kissed.’

‘You don’t need to kiss someone to fall for someone. I know that better than anyone,’ Victoria replied, her eyes misting over, clearly lost in the memory of her and Ollie.

‘And besides, what do I … how would I even go about … what, asking him out?’ she said awkwardly, her face rumpled in embarrassment, before she scooped up a pillow and pressed it over her burning cheeks.

‘Aw, you have a crush!’ Victoria teased.

‘I have an awful feeling it’s more than a crush,’ Lily moaned, her voice muffled through the feathers.

‘Ask him to the wedding!’ cried Victoria.

‘What?’ Lily demanding throwing the pillow onto the floor. ‘I can’t do that.’

‘Of course you can. Ollie’s cousin cancelled the other day, so it’s not like we don’t have the space.’

‘But … that’s …’

‘Perfect. It’ll be great! You’ll look stunning in your dress, he’ll be all trussed up in a tux or something – he looks like the kind of guy who has a tux lying around – and it’ll be sooooo romantic,’ Victoria crooned.

‘OK. Fine. I’ll give you that,’ Lily conceded. ‘But … V, I’ve seen you, and Malie and Zo each find your person in the last few months. And I want that too.’ Victoria’s eyes shadowed a little with sympathy. ‘But Henry, he’s not sticking around. He’s selling the estate and leaving Hawke’s Cove as soon as he can. And … I want someone who can stay,’ she said helplessly, hating the fact that she felt so vulnerable admitting such a thing.