Eva remained standing at the long table, aligning her notes. She was aware that Maddy was still sitting.
‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Maddy said softly.
Eva didn’t look up immediately. ‘Do what?’
‘What you did,’ she said, her eyes looking down.
Eva capped her pen. ‘Yes, I did. You were being spoken over,’ Eva said simply.
‘I’m used to it.’
‘You shouldn’t be,’ Eva replied.
Maddy’s gaze dropped briefly to the table, tracing the grain of the wood. ‘It’s easier sometimes.’
‘Easier for whom?’
Maddy didn’t answer that.
‘I almost went with the plating suggestion,’ Maddy said slowly.
‘I know.’
Maddy looked up sharply. ‘Why is that?’
‘You didn’t want to argue. You don’t like to argue. But it’s a wedding, and you’re the one getting married. You and Adam.’
A flush crept into Maddy’s cheeks. ‘It’s that simple?’
‘It is.’
‘How do you seem to know what I’m thinking?’ Maddy asked, touching her neck nervously.
Eva considered her answer carefully. ‘It’s not that hard if you pay attention.’
Maddy’s face darkened. ‘That can’t be true.’
Eva shrugged.
‘That can’t be true,’ Maddy muttered again, and Eva saw her eyes flick to Adam.
Eva thought she needed to shut her trap before she stepped over a red line. Because even Maddy would not want to hear anything that was a critique of her fiancé, veiled or not. That was how you got fired.
‘You don’t have a problem saying what you want, do you?’ Maddy said. She didn’t look angry.
Eva smiled. ‘Nope. Blunt to a fault.’
‘How do you do that?’ Maddy asked, chuckling like it was a joke.
But Eva decided not to treat it as one. Just in case. ‘You pause,’ she said. ‘Before you answer. You ask yourself what you actually want. Not what will cause the least disruption.’
Maddy absorbed that. ‘And then I just… say it?’
‘Yes.’
‘What if it upsets someone?’
Eva chuckled. ‘Then they experience a feeling. They’ll survive.’
