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“Do you mean—no, you didn’t?”

“I didn’t want you to know about anything, not until I knew what was going on with us.”

Gemma watched as slow realisation dawned on Sophie’s expression.

“You mean the book club already knows? You already told them.”

“Well, not everybody knows, not everyone was there. Graham wasn’t,” she said, only to realise how ridiculous that comment was.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you kept this from me,” Sophie said.

For a minute, Gemma thought Sophie was joking and was just being dramatic the way she could be, but then she saw the real hurt in her eyes.

“Sophie, it’s just with work, and everything?—”

“Forget it,” Sophie said, lifting her hand as if to stop Gemma from talking. “I’m going on my lunch break. I’m sure you and Kent will be fine whilst I’m away.”

CHAPTER 72

Gemma couldn’t remember a time when she had felt like a more terrible friend. The last thing she’d wanted to do in all of this mess was upset Sophie, and yet the way she had stormed out of the café, as if she couldn’t even look at her, had near enough broken her heart. And she couldn’t even speak to Kent about it.

He had orders to do in the kitchen, and there were too many people in the café that needed her. The man with the tape measure had been left to his own devices and was currently approaching the counter.

“Sorry, love, do you mind if I just get behind here a minute?” he said, gesturing to where Gemma stood.

“I thought you just needed to be out—” Gemma shook her head and stopped herself from talking. If Kent wanted to do a re-fit, he would probably do the whole area, although where the money would come from would be a mystery.

“Just try to be as quick as possible, please,” she said.

“I have done quite a few of these, love,” he said with a laugh that was unbelievably patronising. “And don’t worry, I won’t trouble you for a coffee while I’m here. My tastes are quite particular, as I’m sure you can appreciate.”

Gemma’s dislike for the man was growing with every word he spoke, and though she could have offered him a different drink from the chiller or even a glass of water, she didn’t. Thankfully, ten minutes later, he slipped his measuring tape back into his pocket.

“Looks good,” he said as he tapped the countertop in front of her. “Definitely potential. Tell the boss I’ll be in touch.”

“I can get him from the kitchen for you,” Gemma replied. “I’ll just be a minute.”

The man shook his head. “No worries. I’ll make my decision soon enough and let him know.”

Make a decision? It was a strange choice of wording. Gemma rolled the phrase around in her mind with a growing sense of unease. Was the man so busy that he could pick and choose which establishments he refitted? Maybe. Maybe he was so in demand that Kent was sure his work would be worth the investment. Only Kent didn’t have any more to invest, did he? She would have to ask him. That was the only way she would find out what was going on. But no sooner had the thought entered her head than Sophie marched back into the coffee shop.

“Sophie,” Gemma began, but once again, Sophie raised her hand, and Gemma fell silent.

“No, I’ve practised this, so I’m going to say it. And I would be very grateful if you didn’t interrupt me.”

Gemma knew several regulars were sitting in the café, likely listening and ready to pick up on any titbits of gossip, and Gemma wanted to ask Sophie if they could at least move to the side so they weren’t directly behind the counter. But as bizarre as it was, she felt a strange sense of pride in her friend. Before Graham, Sophie had let people, particularly men, railroad her. No matter how much she disliked or disagreed with a decision, she would hardly ever say anything. Even to Gemma. She had been so insecure that she’d thought other people had more of aright to a voice than she did, and she might have stayed that way forever had Graham not put his heart on the line for her.

Though, while Graham’s declaration of love may have ignited the change, Sophie was the one who saw it through. She had taken some time out, gone travelling and discovered what kind of person she wanted to be. Only then, when she returned home, had she and Graham started their relationship together.

Despite this transformation, there were large parts of Sophie’s personality that had remained exactly the same, like her willingness to see the best in absolutely everybody, and her extreme excitement at the thought of love and romance. Still, she had found a new inner strength, and just like Graham, Gemma loved to see it shine, even though it was being directed at her at that moment.

“I do understand,” Sophie said. “Of course, it’s different between the other book club girls and us because we work together, which I had always assumed meant our relationship was closer, and I would be the first to know about things like this?—”

“Sophie—”

“I’m not done, nowhere near. I assumed I would be the first to know something like this in a normal circumstance, which this was clearly not. I understand why you would have wanted to seek advice from friends who are not in such close proximity to Kent and the event. And, as hurt as I may be, I think that was a sensible decision to make.”

A flood of relief washed over Gemma.