“Get showered, clothes on, and be ready for action,” she had said when Nory answered the door, bleary-eyed and slightly achy from last night’s fraternizing. Pippa looked immaculate, and her eyes were dancing in that way they did when she was high on the adrenaline of a mission; Nory wondered idly if her friend was actually a vampire.

“What’s happening?” she asked, yawning.

“You know perfectly well what’s happening.”

“No, I mean what’s happening that requires me to be up at five in the morning?”

“Bridal containment.”

She said it as though this was a common term. Nory pushed the door closed while Pippa was still barking orders at her. Pippa continued, unperturbed by the wood between them.

“I won’t take offense because I know that you are not a morning person, but know this, Nory Noel: If you are not in the dining room in one hour from now, I will set the dogs on you.”

And so, at 6:00 a.m., Nory and Ameerah were picking at an enormous breakfast buffet laid out in the dining room. Continental options included Swiss cheese, ham, yogurts, fruit, various cereals, and a range of fresh breads from baguettes to sourdough loaves and crusty rolls. The scent of freshly baked croissants and pains au chocolat fought for priority over the wafts of bacon and sausages emanating from the covered hot plates. The buffet would be replenished over the course of the morning as more of the wedding party arrived.

“You look like a woman who got lucky last night.” Ameerah grinned. Several pink rollers bobbed about her chin.

Nory couldn’t suppress her smile. “I got very lucky indeed. Twice.”

Ameerah made a squeak sound and bounced up and down on her chair. “I knew it. I just knew it! Is he coming to the wedding?”

“Yes.” She was still smiling. She couldn’t seem to turn it off.

“I haven’t seen you this dizzy over a bloke in ages.”

“I’m not dizzy over him.”

“Yeah right! You’re lit up like a Christmas tree.”

Nory gave it up. “Oh, all right. Yes, I am dizzy and bananas and smitten and all other words that mean I have fallen for Isaac.” She laughed.

Ameerah reached over and squeezed Nory’s cheeks. “I love you, Nory Noel.”

“I love you too.”

“Yes, good, you both clearly got laid last night, but that’s quite enough sentimentality for now. This is a wedding, not a lovefest,” Pippa said, lifting the lid off the heat tray and ripping a slice of bacon in half with her teeth.

“Pip, I don’t mean to question your authority, but if any occasion should be a lovefest, ought it not to be a wedding?” asked Nory.