She was sorry too. Sorry all her feelings for him had come rushing back the moment she laid eyes on him.

It wasn’t until she was driving out of the supermarket car park that she realised she hadn’t got any ice-cream.

Chapter 18

18

Ten months earlier

‘Are you going to tell me anything about it?’ he asks, his eyes hopeful as he looks up from the veggies he’s cutting.

Penelope shakes her head. ‘Just that it’s the one,’ she tells him, stealing a piece of carrot.

‘Hey.’ He shoos her hand away. ‘I thought I was the one?’

Penelope laughs, her head light, the adrenaline of buying her wedding dress making her happier than she ever thought an article of clothing could make her.

‘How am I supposed to know what kind of suit to choose if I don’t know anything about your dress?’

‘Trust me, any suit will look incredible with this dress.’ She’d known it was the one before she even tried it on. The moment her fingers touched the material, her stomach had surged and her heart had pounded fast. It had been wedged between other dresses, a hidden treasure just waiting for her to find it.

‘Even a bright orange suede one?’

She knows he’s teasing her and isn’t going to take the bait. ‘Sure, if that’s what you want.’ But he’s a navy suit guy at his most extreme and they both know it.

She moves to the stovetop and flips the chicken pieces. She can’t help but feel a little amused. ‘I thought men weren’t supposed to care about this kind of thing?’

‘I know,’ he answers honestly. ‘There’s something wrong with me.’

Penelope wipes her hands on a tea towel and moves to him, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders. ‘Trust me, there’s nothing at all wrong with you.’

He turns, letting their lips meet, but still sulks as he draws her to him. ‘I guess I just don’t like there being secrets between us.’

‘Aww, that’s so sweet.’

For a second his face looks hopeful that she might change her mind.

She laughs, stepping back. ‘But I’m still not telling you. It’s bad luck, don’t you know?’

Chapter 19

19

Darcy finds herself spending her twenty-sixth birthday driving north along the Pacific Highway before turning off onto The Bucketts Way.

Drew greets her, grinning widely as he opens her car door. ‘Parko offered me a full-time position to the end of the year.’

She can tell he’s been bursting to tell her, so much so that he’s forgotten to wish her a happy birthday.