I opened my mouth, as though there were an immediate answer there. But nothing came.

Lily leapt into my silence. ‘I know it was a long time ago, and maybe that’s fine. Maybe you’ve dealt with it and you’re over it and talking will only drag up a bunch of things that you’d rather not deal with.’ I made a face like even I didn’t believe her. ‘No,’ she carried on, ‘I somehow didn’t think so. Are you going to ask Rowan about her?’

I tilted my head from side to side as though rolling the thought around. Then I remembered the text – the one he hadn’t even asked me to send, because we were busy not talking. But when had he last asked for a ‘home safe’ text anyway? ‘I messaged him last night to tell him I miss him.’

‘Oh, Edi,’ she answered, in a sad tone.

‘Don’t worry, though, I somehow managed to send it to Fred instead.’

Her hand flew to her mouth in time to conceal her smile but a laugh ruptured out of her. ‘Oh, Edi.’

I sighed. ‘Right, sod you, I’m going for a shower now.’

She tapped my backside as I stood up. Her laugh still hadn’t quite settled. ‘Away with you, you smell like booze and bad decisions.’

Chapter 27

Cora didn’t take her sunglasses off until an hour into the journey. She’d stayed prostrate on the back seat for much of the time before that, only letting out the occasional groan whenever Lily hit the brakes without warning. Her hangover championed my own. When the shades were off, though, she stuck her head in between our seats to catch our conversation. But Lily immediately stopped talking.

‘Because that isn’t suspicious.’

‘We weren’t talking about anything interesting,’ Lily lied.

‘Good, I love things that aren’t interesting.’ Cora glanced between us both. I was looking out of the window, but I could see her head shifting about in my peripheral vision. She looked like an observer at Wimbledon. ‘Well?’

‘We were just talking about Rowan,’ I answered, still looking out of my window. While Cora had been sleeping off her fourth shot of tequila from the night before in the back seat, Lily had gently ushered me to the topic of Rowan – and Skye. Do I tell Cora? I thought, then, Does it matter who knows? I pulled in a deep breath as though I were about to speak but I still didn’t know what would come out. So I was especially thankful when I opened my mouth and—

‘I’m sleeping with Hamish.’