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“Yeah. Her mum—not sure if you’ve met Penny?”
“She’s the one in the wheelchair, right?”
“Yes. She has Multiple Sclerosis. Alice looks after her twenty-four-seven and has done since she was about fifteen, I think, so she’d never been on a date with anyone. They lived in Gisborne. One day she went on a rare trip to Wellington and signed up on Tinder. She ended up meeting Kip! Talk about lucky. But it was so brave of her. I don’t think I could’ve done that.”
“God, me neither.”
“They had a one-night stand, but he fell for her and chased her down. Such a romantic story.”
“True, but then so is yours,” I say, and smile.
She looks at her toenails and wiggles her toes. “That’s true, more than you could know. Although I suspect Alex has probably told you some, if not all of it.” She gives me an appraising look.
“A little,” I say softly.
“He must like you. He doesn’t talk about it, not even to Damon until earlier this year. What happened… it hit him very hard and turned him quite cynical and broody. He didn’t used to be like he is now. He’s so wary of people. Till you get a couple of drinks in him, and he loosens up.”
“Yeah, Juliette told me that. I like him a lot. I’m very lucky to have met him. I can’t quite believe he’s interested in me.”
“Aw, Missie. I’ve never seen him like this with a girl. He’s head over heels for you.”
I blush. “That’s a nice thing to say.”
“I know my brother better than almost anyone, and I’m telling you, he’s crazy about you. So don’t be put off if he plays it cool.”
The beauticians come back to check our nails, and Belle and I talk for a while about other things, but inside I feel this warm glow at the fact that his sister thinks he’s head over heels for me.
“So what else do you have planned for the rest of the day?” I ask Belle when our nails are done.
“Gaby’s organized it all,” she says, “with the help of the bridesmaids.” Her sister is her Matron of Honor, and Catie, Alice, Kennedy, and her friend Jo are the other bridesmaids. “After this, we’re going to watch Mamma Mia!”
“I love that movie!”
“Yeah, me too. Mae and Neal have a cinema in the house, so—”
“A cinema!”
“Well, a small one, but yeah. There’ll be a buffet and more cocktails or champagne while we watch it. Then later they’ve organized something else. I don’t know what.”
“Strippers?” I tease.
She pulls an ‘eek’ face. “I hope not. I’d be so embarrassed.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t want to embarrass you.”
“No, I did ask them not to do anything like that. Alice promised I’d enjoy it, so I’ll just have to wait and see.” She grins. “Are you ready?”
I wiggle my fingers. “Yep, all done.”
“Come on, then.”
With everyone beautified and relaxed, we make our way inside. The cinema room has a large screen that takes up almost all the front wall with a projector, and two rows of comfortable seats, with lots of beanbags for those who prefer to lounge on the floor. A long table to one side groans with food, and we spend a while helping ourselves to pizza, southern-fried chicken, a variety of salads, kebabs of roasted vegetables, and loads of other dishes. Most of us opt for another cocktail, and we take our food and drink to a seat and put our feet up to watch the movie.
Most of us have seen it multiple times, and we sing to all the songs and say all the lines, laughing and joking while we eat and drink.
When it finally comes to an end, Gaby tells us we have half an hour or so before the next entertainment starts. She shepherds us all outside and announces we’re going to watch the sun go down while we drink champagne, so we follow her out, collect a glass of champagne, and sit together on the blankets spread out on the lawn to the side of the house, facing west. Someone brings a couple of boxes of chocolate truffles, and we start work on those as we sip the champagne.
The sun is heading toward the horizon, and the sky has turned orange, purple, and dark blue. Venus is already out, and as the sun sets, more stars begin to appear on the velvet background. Ooh, the world is starting to get hazy. I should make sure I intersperse the alcohol with water. I’m having such fun, though. I’m so glad I came.
