She leaned forward, hair falling dangerously close to her salad. ‘Well, she got caught with one of the surgeons, this really old guy who owns part of the business. Turns out she’d been servicing—’ she made a gesture with her fingers ‘—a couple of them. Everybody knew but then one of the wives came in for a surprise lunch date and … yeah.’

‘Ew,’ I said.

‘I know.’ Lina put a crouton in her mouth. ‘What a slut, right?’

I frowned, and she caught it.

‘Sorry.’

‘No.’ I shook my head. ‘It’s just kind of gross that they were all—’

‘I’m not judging, Cait.’ She straightened. ‘We all do stupid stuff. It doesn’t matter.’

I shifted in my seat, feeling unsettled. I wondered if Emma was just doing stupid stuff, if it mattered. I wondered if I should warn her, but about what? Lenny liked to surround himself with pretty young things, but as far as anyone knew he’d never done anything beyond look. And Dex was Dex. A mistake. Hopefully non-fatal. I sighed, suddenly exhausted.

‘Seriously, you and Mum …’ She chewed, swallowed. ‘I told her and she was like, the poor girl.’ Her face hardened as she reached for her water. ‘Besides, Nicole’s already got another job at a radiology place. Senior practice assistant or something. She’ll be fine.’

‘Oh, good,’ I said, as though I cared.

‘Anyway.’ She shrugged, taking a sip from her glass. There was a shake to her voice. ‘What about you? Anything exciting happening? I haven’t seen you in forever.’

I looked down at my nachos. I was starving but they smelled like packet seasoning and fake cheese and it made my mouth pucker and my stomach churn. It struck me that I’d barely eaten in days. Weeks. I picked up a chip and forced myself to chew it.

‘I know,’ I said, swallowing. ‘Work’s just been …’

‘It’s okay,’ she cut me off. ‘Me too. I’ve been so busy.’

‘But,’ I went on, carefully. Her face was fixed on mine, waiting. ‘I heard a rumour my best friend was getting married …’

She broke into a huge grin. ‘She is. Oh my God. I’m sorry,’ she said, too fast, too relieved. ‘I felt so bad, telling you in a postcard. I tried to call you the night it happened. Matt rang his mum and I tried to ring you. I wanted you to know first. You’ve had to listen to me prattle on about getting married for a million years.’ She hesitated. ‘I figured you were probably at work, and busy and everything.’ She laughed, but it sounded forced. ‘And then I didn’t know if your phone was still working or you’d changed your number or you were mad or …’

‘No,’ I said, not sure it wasn’t a lie. ‘Of course not, Leen.’