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‘I’m sure Faye will thoroughly appreciate your intervention,’ Holly joked. ‘Well, sounds like it’s time for chaotic wedding plans.’

‘Jamie and her fella?’ It wasn’t surprising that Giles had immediately jumped to the right conclusion. After all, he had been there for part of the stag and hen do only a few weeks before and it wasn’t like Holly had many friends who were getting married. ‘What happened?’

Holly wasn’t sure if she wanted to get into it or not. After all, it was Jamie’s business, not hers, but she didn’t see any harm in telling Giles what had happened. She was pretty sure mostpeople in Bourton knew anyway, as they had asked everyone and anyone if they knew of any solutions.

‘The hotel double booked the wedding.’

‘What? Can they do that?’ Giles looked genuinely shocked by this news.

‘Apparently, the man had the same surname and initials as Fin. What are the chances? Anyway, these other people were booked in first, so Fin and Jamie are out of a place to get married. It’s a right mess. They’ve got all the family coming over from the States and they’ve searched everywhere, but it seems like everything is fully booked and there are no registrars available to do the service. Basically, the entire thing’s a complete mess.’

Holly expected this news to elicit more of a response or perhaps sympathy for her friend’s situation, but Giles was staring at her fixedly. Unblinking.

‘What? What is it?’ she asked. ‘Is there something on my face? Other than the stitches?’

The silence expanded. Holly found herself on tenterhooks, waiting.

‘Giles?’

Finally, he took a deep breath in.

‘My mother is a registrar,’ he said. ‘I think she could do it. I think she could marry Jamie and Fin.’

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Holly shook her head, not convinced she had heard Giles correctly.

‘Your mother is a registrar?’

‘She used to be, full time. She doesn’t do it so much any more, now that she’s older. Tends to just do odd ceremonies around the busy season, but she’s still licensed to do it. We were talking about her doing Faye’s wedding, actually. Assuming I approve of this guy.’

Holly shook her head. That didn’t make sense. A registrar was, well, a normal job, and Giles wasn’t normal. He was wealthy. Borderline aristocracy. She remembered what Kathy had said about the Manor House on the edge of the village belonging to Lord Caverty. Had she been wrong to assume that was a relation?

‘I don’t get it. I thought all your family were… your family are…’ She struggled to find the words to explain what she meant without coming across as rude. Fortunately, Giles had no such qualms.

‘You thought all my family were landed gentry?’

‘Pretty much,’ Holly admitted.

Giles laughed.

‘On my dad’s side, yes. On my mum’s, no. Her brother is an electrician, unlike my uncle on my father’s side, who pretty much has people to switch on lights for him.’

‘Why did I not know this?’ Holly asked, still confused. Then again, she didn’t know why she should. The only member of his family she had met was Faye.

‘I guess you didn’t take as much interest in my life as I took in yours,’ Giles replied with raised eyebrows.

Holly didn’t care how much it hurt her arm. She reached across and thumped him on the shoulder anyway.

Giles leaned back in his chair and let out a light chuckle that somehow turned into a sigh. ‘I don’t know. I guess that’s not the part of the family I talk about. It doesn’t help me with the line of jobs I do. When I’m talking to people, you know. Anyway, my dad died years ago, left his share of the estate to me. Faye is only my half-sister, different dads. She is very much more like Mum, hence the midwifery.’

Holly was struggling to take it in. How could there be so much she didn’t know about Giles, given all the time they spent together? How could there be two such different sides to him?

‘Mum and Dad got married really young, had me way before they should’ve. And then got divorced. I grew up a pretty angry kid. I was angry at my mum for not being happy with the life my dad could provide for her, and I was angry with my dad for not doing more to keep the family together. So I spent most of the time with my uncle. When Dad died, well, that was probably when I became the worst version of myself. Which carried on for several years, until I met this charming lady who ran a sweet shop, and I pushed my antics a bit too far. That, you could say, was my low point and the start of my reinvention.’

Holly sat back in the seat, aghast, as she struggled to take this all in. She really hadn’t asked him anything about his life at all. How?

Still, she was only just considering this when the other thought re-entered her head.