Page 117 of The Wedding Forecast

‘And you’ll get your heart broken.’

‘Please stop worrying about my heart. I’m not that fragile.’

Now Hayley softens. ‘It’s not about being fragile. Your heart is more important to me than anybody else’s.’

‘My heart is my business.’

‘You never messaged Patrick.’

‘I was busy.’

‘You didn’t message him because of Mac.’

‘That is not why.’

‘You haven’t been on a date in forever.’

‘Yes I have,’ I say automatically. I’m lying. I have not.

‘When?’ Hayley demands.

‘A man flirted with me at the bookshop the other day.’ He was cute, and he bought two novels by women, which automatically increased his attractiveness by two points.

‘And what happened?’

‘Well, nothing.’

Hayley is giving me a you’re-proving-my-point look. Or maybe it’s a you-are-a-sadder-case-than-I-realised look.

‘And I went out to the pub last week.’

‘Trivia with old work colleagues is not a date.’

‘There was a single man there.’

‘Who?’

‘Kane.’

‘Oh, please.’

‘What? He’s cute. Kind of.’

‘You hate Kane.’

‘Hate is a strong word.’

‘When you worked with him, you said he was obnoxious and profoundly uninteresting.’

‘Well, guess what, people change.’

I actually hate Kane more than I ever have. He made three offensive statements in a row while we were at trivia.

‘Oh, so you’re lowering your standards now?’ Hayley isn’t going to let this go.

‘Well, maybe I have to. You haven’t been single in ten years. You have no idea what it’s like out there.’

‘You’re not out anywhere!’