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‘Giles? Your Giles?’

‘He’s not my Giles,’ Holly said defensively. ‘He’s Sienna’s Giles.’

‘Well, is he? I thought you two were inseparable?’

Holly chewed on the inside of her cheek. ‘Giles and I are just friends – you know that. We’ve always been friends.’

‘Well yes, but…’

‘But what?’

Erin rolled her lips several times before she offered a non-committal shrug. ‘I don’t know, I guess he was just hanging on until…’

‘Hanging on for what?’ Holly said.

Erin shook her head and let out a slight sigh before fixing a smile back onto her face.

‘Hey, what do I know? I live on the other side of the world. This is exciting, yes? I guess you’re gonna be involved in the planning?’

‘Apparently, he wants me to be his best woman.’

‘Best woman?’

‘Best man, only I’m a woman.’

‘Wow, big responsibility. How do you feel about that?’

Confused. That was how Holly felt. Confused as to whether she wanted that role and confused as to why she felt so confused. She was the obvious choice, after all. Even ahead of Ben or Fin, she and Giles were closest, but it still felt peculiar to be asked such a thing. She opened her mouth, ready to say as much to Erin, when a loud ringing cut through from the other end of the phone.

‘Sorry!’ Erin said quickly, standing up. ‘I invited Mel and Ashley and the kids over. They’re always late, so I thought I had time to chat to you, but we need to pause this conversation, okay? I don’t want you doing anything you’re uncomfortable with, even if it’s for your best mate. All right? I’ll ring you soon, and you can tell me how you feel about this. How you really feel. Gotta go, though. Love you.’

‘Love you too,’ Holly responded, yet before she had finished, the phone line was dead.

15

It wasn’t the most restful night’s sleep. The knot in Holly’s stomach refused to loosen, and every time she felt herself drifting off, another intrusive thought would cause a spike in anxiety. She wasn’t even sure why it was happening. The way her pulse would suddenly rise, or her breathing become painfully shallow, wasn’t something she’d ever really suffered from before. Not without good reason, anyway.

Unsurprisingly, she’d had trouble sleeping after Evan passed away, and the doctor had given her sleeping tablets, which she’d taken now and then when she really needed to, but it had been so long since the last time she’d felt them necessary, she wasn’t even sure if she had any in the house. So why would it have come back all of a sudden? There was no reason for her to be feeling anxious about anything, was there? Unless, of course, it was the thought of messing up the important role that Giles had given her. Maybe it was that. Maybe that was the reason she hadn’t been able to respond. Not because she didn’t want to do it, but because she was worried she wouldn’t do a good enough job.

Of course, it didn’t help that Rhubarb repeatedly wanted to play. It felt like every time Holly started to drift off, the cat would decide to use her body for pouncing practice, but there was no point shutting her out. If she did that, she knew she’d just spend the entire night listening to the kitten whining and scratching at the door.

Strangely, it was a relief when morning finally came around and she didn’t have to try to sleep any more. Instead, with her pyjamas still on, she headed around the back of the house and let herself in through Jamie’s back door into the kitchen.

‘What time are you working at the shop today?’ Jamie asked as she moved towards the coffee machine with three mugs: hers, Fin’s and Holly’s too. It really was a special type of friendship when you had your own mug at their house.

‘Not until midday. Greta’s running it until then.’ The new member of staff had come with a wealth of employment history and was as capable as both Caroline and Holly of running things by themselves. ‘Any sign of my daughter yet?’

Jamie shook her head. ‘I think she’s still fast asleep. By the sounds of it, they had a pretty late night. I figured I’d give them another half an hour, then wake them up.’

‘Sounds good.’

Holly took the mug of coffee from Jamie and perched herself at the breakfast bar where she proceeded to blow the steam from the top.

‘So, do you want to talk about last night?’ Jamie said. ‘You seemed to have a pretty visceral reaction.’

‘Visceral? That’s a big word to use.’

‘What would you rather I said: emotional?’