But before either of them has the chance to answer, there’s a loud ding, ding, ding on a glass. Drew’s standing at the front of the room. ‘If everyone could gather around, it’s time for some speeches.’

Darcy cringes. Are speeches really necessary?

‘Darcy, come out here and join me,’ Drew calls to her.

There’s no way she’s going to get out of this. All the guests are gathering together in a warm bustle.

As Darcy reaches Drew he pulls her a little closer. ‘Here’s our birthday girl.’

‘Cheers to the birthday girl,’ Silas, her brother, calls out, charging his glass into the air as beer sloshes down his wrist. Despite being almost thirty he still drinks like he’s eighteen.

The rest of the group raise their glasses. ‘To Darcy!’ echoes around the room.

Darcy smiles, taking a sip of her champagne, then suddenly wonders whether she’s supposed to drink when people are toasting her. What’s the protocol?

But Drew puts his arm around Darcy and addresses the rest of the group. ‘Firstly I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. I can’t believe we pulled it off.’ He’s grinning ear to ear.

‘Cheers to that!’ her brother calls out again.

There are some appreciative murmurs at this, but Darcy sees her sister-in-law, Nell, give Silas a look. A look that says he needs to slow up on the beers. Silas looks sheepish; he knows what’s good for him and being in Nell’s bad books is something he usually tries to avoid.

‘Darce and I have been together for so long,’ Drew says, glancing at her with a quick smile. ‘I honestly can’t really remember what life was like before her.’

Darcy can’t really remember either. They were teenagers, they didn’t know much about the world except for what was on offer in Gloucester.

‘It’s like she’s always been around, kind of like a sister, I guess.’

Huh? He’s comparing her to a sister?

There’s some scattered laughter and Drew suddenly realises his mistake. ‘A mate,’ he corrects himself, then realises that doesn’t sound much better. ‘I mean, a best friend.’ He looks at her, his face a little pale.

Darcy feels bad for him, but also feels bad for herself. She tries to ignore the feeling of annoyance growing inside her. She wants to tell him to wrap it up.

‘You know what I mean, don’t you, Darce?’

This is her opportunity. ‘Of course.’ She pastes on a smile, stepping forward to take charge of the situation. ‘All right, thank you everyone for coming along to surprise me. I certainly hadn’t expected a thing!’

There are a few satisfied hurrahs.

‘So, let’s get celebrating.’ She lifts her champagne flute into the air, indicating the formal part of the night is over. Short and sweet, she thinks, pleased with herself.