‘I didn’t, actually,’ Rachel said, honestly surprised. ‘You always look so well put together. I’ve always thought of you as a bit of a fashion fiend.’

‘Me?’ Edie laughed. ‘Why do you think I always wear black? Never goes out of fashion and everything matches everything else.’ She gulped a mouthful of wine and pointed one finger at Gilly. ‘What about that black silk shirt dress I wore when Ezra came around for that ridiculous sitting you had us do? He liked that – I could tell.’

‘You can’t wear black at your wedding,’ Gilly grumbled. ‘You’re not a bloody goth.’

‘Oi, watch your language.’

‘Anyway, he’s seen that dress already,’ Gilly pointed out. ‘Come on, don’t you want to knock his socks off when you walk into the room?’

Edie sniffed as she poured herself more wine. ‘I was under the impression I’d already done that without having to undergo some ridiculous male fantasy ritual. What do you want me to do, show all my wrinkled old lady cleavage?’

Gilly threw up her hands, exasperated, and looked to Rachel for help.

‘It’s Edie’s wedding, Gilly,’ Rachel reminded her gently. ‘She can wear whatever she likes, and she’ll look gorgeous in it, whatever it is.’

Gilly looked a little chastened, but still disappointed. At the look on the girl’s face, Edie relented.

‘This is really important to you, isn’t it?’ the artist said. ‘The whole day, I mean.’

Gilly shrugged. ‘I still want to believe it’s special, I suppose. When you find the right person for you, even if you’ve known them for years and they’ve been sitting under your nose for all that time. Even if you’ve done it all before and realize that nothing’s perfect. Because nothing ever is perfect, is it? There are no happy endings, not really, we all know that. So maybe it’s important to really celebrate the happy middles, the happy minutes? But Rachel’s right, it’s your wedding. You should do whatever you like.’

There was a moment of silence, in which Rachel and Edie glanced at each other, and Rachel could tell they were both thinking the same thing: that Gilly, once again, had shown herself to be surprisingly wise for someone so young.

Edie took another mouthful of wine before she answered. ‘You’re absolutely right,’ she said. ‘And I’m sorry that I’ve been treating this as a nuisance that I just have to get through.’ She was quiet for a moment, contemplating her wine. ‘Thing is… I don’t really expect him to go through with it.’

‘What?’ Gilly said.

‘What do you mean?’ Rachel asked.

Edie shrugged. ‘I think, on the day – when he actually has to put his money where his mouth is – he’ll probably get cold feet and not turn up.’

‘Ezra wouldn’t do that,’ Gilly said, shocked.

Edie gave Gilly a look that made Rachel think there was quite a lot behind it that she wasn’t vocalising. ‘Well, we’ll see. But forgive me if I don’t go all out on the wedding rubbish only to be humiliated on the day – and then stuck with the inevitably enormous bill.’