“Oh, aren’t you absolutely stunning?” Jackie took Lucy’s hands in hers and regarded her appraisingly, like a prize mare. “And look at the two of you together …” What? No. “You were obviously made for each other.” Please, please shut up. “Oh, you absolutely must have babies together.” Oh god. “Steph, my goodness!” she shouted. “Can you imagine the grandbabies these two would give you?”

“Mom!” Bridget’s rebuke was muffled by the rushing of blood in Lucy’s ears. She couldn’t remember ever being so horrifyingly embarrassed.

“Aunt Jackie, you have seriously got your wires crossed.” The sound of Will’s voice broke the spell and Lucy took a calming breath. “Lucy is Jules’s best friend. You know, from England?”

There was a beat of silence—welcomed silence—and Lucy waited for the penny to drop, which it finally did.

“Ooohhh, right. I forgot. That’s my mistake. I’m so sorry.” Briony seemed to take this as her cue, shaking her head at her mother as she left the foyer. Jackie gave Lucy an apologetic smile, which Lucy returned, even though she was furious with this … this … woman. She was clearly one of those people who went about saying whatever she wanted without any thought of how it would affect others.

“You must think I’m a total idiot. I am so, so sorry,” Jackie added. Lucy could see she’d begun a serious bout of self-flagellation. It was somewhat disarming and Lucy found herself in the odd position of reassuring her.

“It was an honest mistake.” If you don’t count the part about having grandbabies, which you should never, ever say to anyone unless they are about to give birth to said grandbaby. Bridget caught Lucy’s eye and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Lucy flattened her mouth into a not-quite smile. It wasn’t Bridget’s fault.

Steph entered the already brimming foyer. “Jackie! What on earth? You’ve been here, what, five minutes and you’ve already stuck your foot in it? Did you say something about grandbabies? To Lucy?”

“I might have.” The sisters shared a look. Steph’s said, “What the hell?” and Jackie’s was accompanied by a guilty shrug. A bubble of a snigger formed in Lucy’s stomach.

Steph shook her head at her sister. “Hon, Lucy’s our guest and you keep this up, she’s gonna get on a plane right back to England.”

“I know, I know. I just got excited. I thought Will had finally brought home a girl for Christmas.” Lucy heard Will groan behind her, and the snigger escaped. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to contain the breathy laugh.

The two sisters were still bantering when Will leant in to ask, “Is that at my expense?” She shook her head, then it changed directions into a nod. She laughed harder. The whole thing was just so absurd. She felt the shake of Will’s laugh against her back before she heard it.

Steph and Jackie stopped talking and looked at them, Steph’s eyes narrowing, before a smile spread across her face. “Okay you two, go get cleaned up for dinner.”