Page 145 of The Wedding Forecast

He leaves the room and the minute we can hear running water, Bobbi turns to me.

‘Okay, tell us everything,’ she says.

‘Yes, I need details,’ Hayley says.

‘You literally heard me break up with Patrick,’ I remind her.

‘But what was going on in your head?’

‘Yes, darling, we’d all like to know that,’ Mum says.

‘Nothing! Or, just, I guess Mac being here made me realise that I wasn’t head over heels for Patrick.’

‘You don’t need to be head over heels to have a happy marriage—look at your father and me,’ Mum says.

‘That’s something you should only be saying to a therapist,’ I say.

‘I mean, sometimes, when it comes to long-term stability, companionship, friendship and overall compatibility are more important than butterflies.’

‘So you want me to be with a man I’m not attracted to?’

‘Well, I didn’t say that. You never said you weren’t attracted to him.’

‘I was attracted to him, but it’s just, I’m not, I don’t know…’ I trail off. I don’t know how to explain it. Or I do. I don’t love Patrick, and I love Mac. It’s actually very simple, but I don’t want to say this out loud.

‘The sex was bad,’ Bobbi says knowingly.

‘Mum, no,’ Hayley says. ‘Don’t go there.’

‘Can you all please just trust me? I know how I feel. I know how I’m meant to feel. And I didn’t feel it for Patrick.’

‘He did have a vibe about him. Something was off, I always knew it deep down,’ Bobbi says, nodding sagely.

‘Mum, can I remind you that at my wedding you told Anna, and I quote, “He’s your soulmate. I can feel it”,’ Hayley says.

‘Well, it was a wedding. Nothing anyone says at a wedding can be taken seriously. I was swept up in the moment. I’d just seen my daughter in her wedding dress. I was emotional,’ Bobbi says.

‘I do want to say something to you both,’ Hayley says, standing up from the table, looking serious. She glances around, making sure the shower is still running, and then lowers her voice. ‘Mac doesn’t have a mother anymore. And the way you two are treating him, like he’s a suspect in a crime, it’s not good enough. This man needs to be mothered. The two of you need to step up and start being more caring. Because no matter what happens with him and Anna, he’s Luke’s friend, and he’s going to stay in our lives. And, also, he loves Anna. He really does.’

Both Mum and Bobbi look sufficiently chastised at this. There’s a palpable shift in the air. The mums could go either way, they could bristle and dig their heels in or they could soften and start doting on Mac. Before they have time to say anything, we hear the water turn off and, not long after, Mac emerges, wearing yesterday’s clothes and towel-drying his wet hair.

‘Hi,’ he says, as everyone turns to look at him.

He looks, somehow, especially vulnerable in this moment.

‘Darling, why don’t you sit. I was just about to whip up some eggs,’ Bobbi says to him, standing up. Hayley hates it when Bobbi cooks in her kitchen, but she remains silent, watching.

Mac looks startled at both the offer and the word darling.

‘Here, sit here,’ Mum says, pointing to the chair next to her. Mac glances at me, and then sits where he was told to.

Hayley and I exchange a smile. I mouth ‘thank you’ at her.

44

THE DAYS SLIDE by at a speed I can’t quite fathom. Mac and I go out for dinner, we go to my favourite coffee shop, we see a movie and get cake on Lygon Street, we go for a run around the tan and we go to a footy game with Hayley and Luke, because Luke and Mac are long-time Cats supporters. We spend a lot of time in bed. Mac listens to me record a bunch of podcast interviews for my book. He comes with me to sign copies in bookshops around Melbourne. I introduce him as my friend Mac, and in one shop, the bookseller squints at him.

‘Do I know you from somewhere?’