‘Ha,’ Evie said. Bloodyhell. ‘Honestly, no. I love my job. I’d love to have children one day but my career’s very important to me and having children really isn’t the be-all and end-all.’ Genuinely true. Not so true that she hadn’t had feelings for Dan for a very long time, though. ‘I’d love to see the tulips. Such beautiful flowers. Were they in lots of very long straight rows like vines and olive plants are when they’re farmed?’
‘Some in rows, some not,’ said Mrs Bird. ‘I hope you get over Danny soon.’
‘Nothing to get over,’ said Evie, squashing the sudden memory of the far-too-intimate dream she’d had about Dan last night. This was karma. She shouldn’t have been dreaming about Dan; she should have been dreaming about Matthew. Although, again, everyone was allowed a secret fantasy that they’d never act on, surely.
‘You’re so brave, dear,’ Mrs Bird boomed. ‘It must be very hard for you to see Danny today.’
Mrs Bird was well-meaning and sweet and lovely and part of the fabric of Evie’s whole life since she and her mum had been welcomed so kindly into village life twenty-five years ago. Wow, quarter of a century. Evie was incredibly fond of her, but right now she wasn’t loving her. The nearby – and not so nearby, because Mrs Bird wasloud– guests had been earwigging like mad. And a lot of them had their necks and eyes on stalks looking to see where Dan –Danny– was. Evie couldn’t actually abandon Mrs Bird but shereallywanted this conversation to end.
She took a deep,deepbreath, and said, ‘Mrs Bird, let me go and get you another drink.’ And she could get herself something seriously alcoholic at the same time, and drink a lot of it, fast.
‘Oh, no, dear, I’m fine, thank you. I don’t like to drink too much while I’m out. My waterworks aren’t what they were. Something you’ll find out about when you’re older. You should start doing pelvic floor exercises now, even before you have a baby. Tell me all about your fancy life in London. Do you and Danny live near to each other?’
How had Evie never realised until now that Mrs Bird was an actual demon? She sighed. You couldn’t just abandon an elderly person and Mrs Bird would be sitting by herself if Evie got up and went, but this conversation was not fun.
‘I don’t live near Dan,’ she said. ‘I live in Wimbledon in a flat with two friends, near a theatre and a cinema and lots of shops. About a mile from Wimbledon Common, which is lovely for walking on.’
‘Mrs Bird, I’m so sorry to interrupt your conversation with Evie. I hope you don’t mind, but Evie’s needed for some bridesmaid duties.’ Dan was standing above them, smiling. Evie honestly wanted to hug him. Except, who was going to talk to Mrs Bird?
‘And I’d love to have a chat, Mrs Bird,’ said Laura, the vicar. Hooray, hooray, hooray.
‘Thank yousomuch,’ Evie mouthed at Laura as she stood up.
‘Where are your baby and your partner?’ Mrs Bird lifted her stick and prodded Dan with it.
‘Ex-partner,’ Dan said. ‘They’ve gone back to London. They just came for the ceremony and the first part of the reception. Katie, my daughter, is too young to stay for the rest of it, but we thought it would be lovely for her to be here for her aunt’s wedding, even if she won’t remember it.’
‘She’s in the photos,’ Evie said.
‘Exactly.’
‘It’s all very messy, isn’t it?’ Mrs Bird prodded them both with her stick this time.
‘Mrs Bird, could I talk to you about planning for the harvest festival?’ Laura said.
‘Iloveyou,’ Evie mouthed over her shoulder at Laura as she and Dan made their escape.
‘You’ve got to admire Mrs Bird’s tenacity,’ Dan said.
‘I know.’ They both whisked glasses of champagne from a passing waiter’s tray and Evie took a big sip. ‘Such a one-track mind.’
‘Yeah, she wasn’t going down the tulip discussion track.’
‘I know. Which is ridiculous, because who doesn’t love a tulip chat?’
Dan took a mini olive-on-bread canapé from an offered platter. ‘You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation about tulips.’
‘I mean, I can offer you some tulip talk right now, if you like, because you havemissed out.’
Dan laughed. God. Evie really hoped that one day she’d stop going squishy inside at the sound of his laugh and the way his eyes crinkled and, basically, just everything about him.
Twenty-Seven
Now – August 2022
Dan
Later that evening, Dan leaned back lazily in his chair at the top table and watched Evie for a moment as she made her way across the marquee to visit the loos between main course and pudding. It was taking her ages to get there: she had to stop for so many chats. Dan didn’t think she had any idea how much she lit up every room or conversation that she was in. And he was pretty sure that she had no idea how good she looked in that bridesmaid’s dress. In fact, she acted like she never realised how good she looked on any given occasion.
