Chloe nodded, biting her tongue about the expectation that it would be Mrs Capel’s responsibility to make Christmas lunch. Things were certainly different in that little English village than they were back home. “In any case, we’ll make up some dishes for them—the full lunch and some pudding—and drop them ’round right after the Queen’s speech. I was thinking you might like to come with me?”

“I’d love to. That would be amazing.” Chloe had a thought—Archer will want to come with us—but it gave her pause. Was she ready to see him again so soon? Regardless, this wasn’t about her and she knew what she had to do. “Actually, would you mind if I asked Archer to come? I think it would mean a lot to him, especially after yesterday.”

“Not at all. How about you telephone the Tates when we finish our drinks.”

“Thanks, I will,” she said, feeling a twinge of nerves. She wanted—no, needed—to talk about something else. “Susan, I meant to ask you, did Lucy mention anything else when you spoke to her?”

“You mean about the young man, Will?” Chloe nodded. “She was somewhat coy, but I know my daughter and there seemed to be more talk of Will than the rest of the family put together. He’s Jules’s brother, correct?”

“Yes. And that might be another reason she wasn’t quite herself.” Chloe would not mention the third reason, Lucy’s hangover. “Jules was kind of a bitch to her about it when it came up.”

“About Lucy and Will? But why?”

“It’s unclear. But she really shut Lucy down. It’s a bit rich, really, because I think something’s going on between her and one of my friends in Melbourne.”

Susan’s look was a mix of perplexity and anger. She pursed her lips. “Well, that would explain it, I suppose, Lucy not being her usual bright self.”

“Look, I’ll talk to Jules. I think Lucy really likes Will. And I can’t remember the last time she really liked someone.”

“She was going out with that Edward for a while, last year, remember?”

“Oh, right. Him.” Chloe had never met Edward, but she’d seen photos of him on Facebook—nothing special—and she’d heard the stories from Lucy—again, nothing special. Just a normal boring guy, who for some reason thought he was too good for her—for beautiful, brilliant, lovely Lucy—and had dumped her during her work party. The dick. Chloe had hated him from across the globe.

“Exactly. It does strike me, sometimes, that Lucy has absolutely no idea.”

Chloe laughed, glad she’d just swallowed her mouthful of bubbles. “Do you mean about men in general, or that she’s an absolute goddess?”

“Both, really. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times we tell her how proud of her we are, or how clever she is, even how beautiful, it never seems to sink in. Is she the same with you girls?”

“Yeah. And there’s nothing put on about it, you know? She’s not, like, pretending to be humble; she just is. I think that’s part of her appeal. There are a lot of good-looking people out there who think they’re all that and a bag of chips and treat people like crap. I see a lot of that in my job.”