Just a week ago I was desperate for the wedding to hurry up and be over so that Bailey would leave, but now I’m wishing for everything to slow down. After today, there’s nothing keeping him here, and I’m running out of time to make things right.
“Seriously, breathe louder, Theo. I almost forgot you were there.”
I frown at the sarcastic bitch. “Come here, let me do it for you,” I say, grabbing her hand to take the pins. “It’s painful watching you try to do it yourself.”
Isla huffs and pulls the rest of the bobby pins out, then shakes her hair out. I wiggle my finger in a circle at her. Sheturns her back to me, and I set about combing out the knots she made.
“You okay?” she asks.
I hum in response.
“Did you manage to sort things out with Bailey? You seem to be getting close again.”
“What? What makes you say that?” I mutter.
She sighs. “Really, Theo? There are no secrets on this farm. I know that Noah’s been shacking up with Robbie, and Jake has been staying with Luke.”
“He—what? Why’s Jake been staying with Luke?”
“I don’t knowwhy. I just know that you and Bailey were all alone in your house last night.” She looks at me in the mirror, waiting for an answer. “So … did something happen?”
“You’re a nosey bitch, you know that.”
“Excuse me!” she splutters. “I was rooting for the two of you! I think I have the right to know how it’s going.”
“That’s really not helping your case,” I say, pushing a bobby pin into her hair, jabbing her in the head accidentally on purpose.
“Bloody hell, Theo!” she yells, rubbing the sore spot.
There’s a moment’s silence, and I gather my thoughts, wondering how much I can tell her. Nothing’s changed. I don’t want anyone knowing what happened to me, especially since telling Bailey felt like it hit a raw nerve.
“We became best friends shortly after I moved to Surrey,” I say. “Feelings developed between us … naturally, I guess. I realised I liked him more than a friend, and that he felt the same way. He had a shitty home life; his mum hated him and drank a lot—” I swallow, realising now that his mother was theleastof his problems. I struggle to get the next bit out. “Something happened, and I blamed Bailey. I left him without warning. Ranaway and never looked back. Then spent the last twelve years despising him.”
“That’s … a lot.”
“So when I saw him again the other week?—”
“You thought you’d punch first, talk later, like the logical man you are.”
“Actually, my first thought was to kill him, so I’d say Iwasthinking somewhat logically when I clocked him in the jaw instead. Are you listening or judging?” I ask her.
“Always both,” she replies instantly.
I roll my eyes and continue. “We talked about everything when we were at his, and I realised that I’d been blaming him for something he didn’t do all these years.”
“Who did it then? Whatever this ‘it’ is.”
“He has a twin brother.”
She gasps and turns her head so quickly, I lose grip on the plait. “Isla, for fuck’s sake.”
“Sorry. But you said he has atwin. I didn’t know that—I don’t think Richard even knows that. What the hell?” She turns back again and stays still as I finish the plait. “And you’re not going to tell me what happened?”
“Nope.” Not yet, anyway. Maybe one day …
She lets it rest and looks at herself in the mirror. “Hey, you did a great job!”
“Yeah, well it’s hard to forget when you used to make me do it any time we sat down to watch cartoons.”
