Everyone was soon settled with their piles of ice cream, half-heartedly nabbed from the dessert cart before it became clogged with teenagers from a birthday party happening on the opposite side of the room. I waited until spoons were clattering and appreciative noises were being made – ‘I didn’t even want this, you know, but it’s so good, like, how can you not?’ Betty said around a mouthful of salted caramel – to call their quiet attention my way.

‘I’ve got something I’d like to talk to you all about, while we’re together.’

‘You and Rowan are splitting up?’ Lily dropped her spoon.

‘Oh my goodness.’ Molly clasped her hands over her mouth. She’d gone from a Dickens urchin to an Austen side character. ‘Are you, Edi, are you splitting up?’

I looked over at Lily. ‘What is the matter with you?’

‘Naturally pessimistic personality type?’ she suggested.

‘Christ, only when it comes to monogamy, Lil.’ I turned to Molly. ‘No, no we are not splitting up, and I absolutely promise that if we ever are, you’ll all be the first to hear about it. You’ll hear my wails the whole city over, in fact.’

‘You would not wail,’ Betty scoffed.

I made a show of thinking it over. ‘No, no, I think I really would.’

‘Ah shush, could be the best thing that ever happened to you.’

My head snapped around to Cora. It was so unlike her to pile on. ‘Did everyone take their man-bashing pills too early today or something?’

‘Ha!’ The noise erupted from Lily from across the table. ‘Every morning with breakfast.’

Molly’s expression was one of deep concern, as though she were the one hypothetically being left at the altar. ‘Molly!’ I reached over to give her hand a squeeze. ‘They’re being cow-bags. Rowan and I are fine. We’re going to have a horrendously beautiful wedding, and a horrendously beautiful marriage and—’

‘Horrendously beautiful babies?’ she cut me off and I winced.