And now she watched Miguel grip the passenger seat – this before they had even hit the motorway.

‘You need to relax – you being a nervous passenger makes me a nervous driver.’

‘Oh, great, that’s all I need to know. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I have to travel in this noisy old bone-shaker of a car!’

Merrin gasped and ran her hand over the dashboard. ‘Don’t listen to him, Vera Wilma Brown!’

‘You are the only person I know whose car has a first, middle and last name.’

‘Maybe you know the wrong kind of people,’ she teased to cover her nerves, which she feared were obvious.

‘Maybe I do.’

‘I promise to deliver you safely if you apologise for calling her a bone-shaker. I can tell she’s offended.’ She pumped the accelerator to make the car jump a little.

‘I really don’t want to.’ He folded his arms, his phone in his hand.

‘Well, that’s your choice, but it costs nothing to be nice, Miguel!’

‘Jesus! I’m sorry,’ he mumbled.

‘Sorry, Vera Wilma Brown,’ she enunciated, throwing him a hard look.

‘Sorry, Vera Wilma Brown!’ he yelled.

It made Merrin laugh. ‘See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? And now we’re all happy!’ She beamed.

‘Are we all happy?’ he asked gently.

She nodded. ‘I’m painting on my happy face and hoping my guts catch up. I’ve got to do this. I should do this.’ She was wary of letting on just how petrified she was. It was a big deal. She and Ruby needed to reknit their closeness and Merrin figured there was no better way to do so than with her sister’s nuptials as their backdrop. Going home for the first time was nerve-wracking enough, but to attend a wedding? She shivered. On top of this she was taking home a boy, knowing that her parents would interpret this as a serious statement, whereas it was in fact anything but. Miguel was simply her handsome beau, on whom she could lean during this trying trip. She hoped that her family, or Miguel himself for that matter, would not get the wrong message, and was anxious about how she might manage that.

‘Okay.’ He squeezed her leg. ‘Did we get journey snacks?’ He sounded endearingly like a child.

‘Journey snacks? You had a monstrous breakfast not an hour ago and we have only been going for minutes! You can’t possibly need snacks!’

‘Well, I don’t right now, but I like to plan what I’m going to eat on the journey.’

‘I have snacks,’ she reassured. ‘But if I didn’t, I know Mum will have baked for us; wedding or not, she won’t miss the opportunity to have you fawn over her chocolate brownies.’ She felt a surge of excitement at the thought of seeing her mum. It had been too long.