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‘Honestly, it’s not been great. I moved in with my childhood sweetheart when I was seventeen. We went to the same uni, studied different courses but spent all our spare time together. Anyway, we both moved to the city, and she got a high-powered job in marketing. I got a job in the social services, and we stopped having the time for each over, both stayed late at work.’
‘Oh.’
‘And then I caught her cheating with one of her colleagues.’
‘Oh no, I’m so sorry.’
‘There’s no need to be. It was inevitable that we’d break up sooner or later. Our lives had all become too different. I was busting my guts in a job where we were understaffed and overstretched, whereas she was working her way to the top. She earned the money so we could keep renting in the city, go on the nice holidays. We’d forgotten who we were. I’d forgotten who I was. She moved in with him, and I tried my best to stay afloat on my own. Shortly after that, my dad got ill, and I made the decision to move back.’
‘That must have been a difficult time.’
‘It was, but it needed to happen. I dread to think how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t found her cheating.’ He shrugged.
‘And you’ve dated since then?’
‘No, but not because I don’t believe in love, simply because I’ve not found anyone to take a chance on until now.’ He grinned.
Smiling, she laced her fingers with his. ‘Well, thank you for taking a chance on me.’
‘Thank you, too.’ Standing up, he leaned across the table and their lips touched.
Chapter Eighteen
‘Oh, and these two please, love?’ Elsie held out two plates of homemade pizza slices.
Taking the plates, Evie pushed the door open into the bakery and placed the plates down on the tables Diane and Brooke had pushed together.
‘I’ll grab the mood board and the magazines.’ Molly disappeared into the wedding planning office, returning with a large sheet of card and a mound of wedding magazines.
Sitting down, Evie looked up and down the table. Everyone was here. Everyone who had been at the wedding boutique when Elsie had chosen her wedding dress. Gemma, Paige, Heidi and Lauren were sitting down at one end of the table, with Daisy, Freya, Olivia, Teresa, and Jessie at the other. In the middle sat Wendy, Brooke, Nina, Molly, Carrie, and Diane while the chair in the centre of the table had been saved for Elsie.
Diane swivelled around in her chair, watching the kitchen door. ‘Do you think she’s stalling because she doesn’t want to plan with us?’
‘She’ll be here in a moment.’ Wendy pushed the mood board into the centre of the table. ‘Evie, have you got that list you and Elsie made of things that still needed to be planned?’
‘Yes, here it is.’ Flicking through the pages in the notebook, Evie left it open and positioned it next to the mood board.
