‘I’m sorry I had to lie to Madeline. But it was to cover up the truth. Nick has had a hard time dealing with this recently and he told her he was keeping a secret for me. I told her you’ve been having an affair, because that was the first thing that jumped into my head. She must have mentioned it to her friend Kim, and maybe some of the other school mums, which is why you and Alice were being snubbed. I really am so very sorry about that. I made a bad judgement call telling her that lie.’
I take in his words, but they offer me no comfort whatsoever. If anything, they make me feel worse. A swell of anger gives me a boost of energy. ‘That’s great, so the whole school thinks I’m a slapper, and on top of that you’re accusing me of murder. You better have a fucking good explanation for all this. Toby! I need you to tell me the God’s honest truth about my sister and why you think… why you think I would ever hurt her.’
‘Okay.’ Toby pauses. ‘Okay, I’ll tell you what happened.’ He takes a breath. ‘So, Dina came here to the hotel on our wedding day.’
‘She washere? She made it to our wedding? She told me she couldn’t come. I thought she didn’t care.’
‘Zoe, can you just let me tell you what happened, without interrupting. It’s… it’ll be easier to get through it that way.’ He shifts in his seat.
‘Okay.’ I twist the hem of my dress in my lap, the green satin crinkling and creasing as I wait for Toby to give me answers to all the questions tumbling around my brain.
‘The thing is, I knew Dina was back in the UK. I’d got in contact with her to get her here in time for the wedding as a surprise. I knew how much it would mean to you to have her there.’
My heart swells at Toby’s thoughtfulness. But then it judders when I think about the supposed outcome of her visit.
‘My plan went badly wrong. I met up with your sister a few times to plan when she should arrive and how she should surprise you. She was funny and charming, and told me lots of cute stories about you both as children… I guess you could say we hit it off.’ He pauses and wipes his forehead with the cuff of his shirt.
This doesn’t sound like the Dina I knew. My sister was always quiet and sullen. But then I guess I hadn’t seen her for years. Maybe she’d changed. ‘Go on,’ I prompt, wanting to know, yet dreading hearing the details.
Toby swallows. ‘Like I said, things went a bit pear-shaped. Dina… she… well, she made a pass at me.’
‘She what?!’
Toby holds up his hands. ‘I swear I didn’t lead her on. I was simply being nice to her, like anyone would towards their fiancée’s sister. But she must have somehow taken it the wrong way. I tried to turn her down gently, but she just wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was like she thought it was all a game. She kept saying she’d make me realise that I was with the wrong sister.’
I’m hit with another wave of nausea, but I swallow it down, forcing out words to form questions I don’t want to hear the answers to. ‘Did you kiss her? Sleep with her?’
‘No! Of course not. I didn’t touch her. I was engaged toyou. I only had eyes foryou. Dina and I got on well, but she’s not my type romantically – too hippyish. She seemed too much of a loose cannon, if I’m honest.’
‘So…’ I try to make my voice calm, but I can’t help imagining Dina saying those things. ‘She made a pass at you. Then what happened?’
‘I mean, that was it.’ Toby hunches his shoulders. ‘I didn’t see her after those few times. Not until the day of the wedding. I messaged her that it might be best if she didn’t come after all. I was worried she might make a scene. But she didn’t listen.’ He looks around the room. ‘I’m thirsty. Do you want some water?’
I nod, realising that my mouth tastes dry and sour.
He strides over to the minibar, takes out two bottles then brings them back to the table. I take small sips of mine. He drains half of his in one go before sitting back down.
I don’t think I believe Toby is telling the truth. It’s all too outlandish. Too much to take in. I think I’m in shock, because my voice sounds so calm. ‘So what happened when she showed up here on our wedding day?’
‘She messaged me while I was getting ready in my room to say that she was going to tell you she was in love with me. Of course, I raced round to your room to try to stop her. It was the most scared I’ve ever been. Knowing she was going to try to ruin everything for us.’
‘And you promise nothing happened between the two of you?’ I ask. ‘Not a kiss, or a touch? Nothing?’ My heart is racing as I wait for his reply. I’m not even letting myself think about the rest of the story – about what he says happened to Dina after that.
Toby fixes me with his gaze. ‘Zoe, I swear it.’
I return his gaze and he looks as sincere and distressed as I’ve ever seen him.
He shakes his head. ‘When I got to your room she was already in there with you. She’d waited until my mum and the others had gone, and you were on your own.’
I nod slowly before getting up and walking away. ‘I just don’t believe this. It can’t be true. Itisn’ttrue. It’s mad. It’s not happening. I’m drunk, or dreaming, that’s all this is.’ I chew the inside of my mouth and rub at my arms, feeling like a crazy person.
Toby follows my erratic pacing around the room. ‘Zoe, I know it’s a lot to take in. Why don’t you come and sit down?’ He gestures back to the table and chairs and tries to put an arm around me, but I shake him off and whirl around with a glare.
‘If all this happened like you say it did,why don’t I remember any of it?!’
Twenty-Five
THEN
