‘You’re crying.’
‘I’m not.’ A tear wiggled out. ‘I’m just tired,’ she said again.
Eva was utterly mortified. ‘I didn’t mean to make you cry.’
‘You didn’t.’ Maddy pressed her fingers to her eyes, as if she could push the tear back in. ‘I’m just… ‘I’m just trying to be easy,’ Maddy said finally. ‘It already feels so hard. The greenhouse. His dad. Everyone has opinions. If he loves this place, why does it have to be a fight about a, a, a… a horse?!’
‘Because you’re crying over it.’
‘That’s because you keep, you know,cross-examiningme. I mean, what if this is just what compromise looks like?’ Maddy whispered. ‘What if I’m being unreasonable, wanting everything to feel like mine?’
Eva felt sick. ‘You’re not unreasonable,’ she said. ‘You’re allowed to matter at your own wedding.’
Maddy’s face crumpled.
Eva, who had never in her life been what you’d call ‘a hugger’, stepped forward instinctively and pulled her into a hug. Maddy collapsed against her, shoulders shaking.
‘I don’t want to be difficult,’ she said into Eva’s jacket.
‘You’re not difficult.’
‘I don’t want to be the uptight bride who ruins things.’
‘You’re not ruining anything,’ Eva promised her.
They stood there longer than they should have.
The gravel crunched in the distance, and they both stiffened. Maddy pulled back first, wiping at her face. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘Don’t apologise.’
‘I’m being bloody ridiculous.’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘I bet you’re holding weeping brides all the time,’ Maddy said with something halfway between a chuckle and a sniffle.
‘Actually, I usually just stick to a shoulder pat,’ Eva said honestly.
Maddy looked at Eva. Eva looked at Maddy. Something happened. Nothing you could really see. It had to be felt.
And they both felt it.
Then Maddy looked down, inhaled, and steadied herself. The mask began to slide back into place.
‘Please don’t think he’s awful,’ she said quietly. ‘He just gets excited.’
Eva nodded, wondering why her heart was racing. ‘Okay.’
‘And don’t tell me what I want,’ Maddy added, almost pleading. ‘Even if you’re right.’
Eva sighed. ‘That’s going to be very hard.’
A ghost of a real smile flickered across Maddy’s face. ‘I know.’
They heard Adam call their names then. He sounded so cheerful, Eva wanted to slap him.
When they walked back toward the house, Maddy’s expression was composed, and her eyes were dry. Adam waved a folder in the air.
