Page 27

And yet, if Evan had proposed to her with a piece of string, she would’ve kept that tied on her finger for all eternity, because in her mind, it wasn’t the ring that was a sign of what your married life was going to be like; it was the thought that went behind it. Surely?

‘Well, while we’re on the conversation of rings, it feels like a good time to start wedding talk,’ Sienna said, placing one hand down on the table in front of her as she took a minuscule sip of her Prosecco. ‘I thought we could start by talking about colour schemes. I want something that won’t date, but still doesn’t look dated. So come on, fire ideas at me. I’m ready to hear anything.’

28

People were multifaceted, Holly got that. She had several sides to her. The people at the sweet shop only ever got to see the happy, smiling Holly, but there was also the grumpy version of her that sat at her computer for hours doing her tax refunds, the Holly who volunteered reading with the children at Hope’s school, and the one who more than once considered whether she should sell the sweet shop and train to become a primary school teacher. There was the Holly who liked nothing more than quiet evenings by herself, but also the one who liked joking and whiling away the hours, drinking wine with her friends. All people were multifaceted; she understood that. But with Sienna, it was like the woman had so many strands and viewpoints, it was impossible to keep track of them all. Let alone get an idea of who she actually was as a person.

‘I know these charity events aren’t about how you look,’ she said. They were over an hour into the train journey, and they had already moved on from the conversation about wedding clothes to clothes in general. ‘But it matters. It really does. It’s hard to make someone donate large quantities of hard-earned money to your cause if you’re dressed in a manner that stops them from speaking to you in the first place. You need to attract their attention. Then, once you’ve got them in, once they think they know the type of person you are, that’s when you turn things around and then start with the heavy-hitting stuff. But I wouldn’t be able to get to that point if they didn’t take notice of me first. Designer gear helps with that. And as an added bonus, it means I get to spend lots of money on gorgeous clothes and accessories. If people assume I’m shallow because of that, then that’s up to them.’

It was a fair enough point, Holly considered, although she couldn’t deny that was what she’d done: met Sienna and judged her as the type of person she wouldn’t want to be friends with. So what did that say about Giles? The fact he proposed to her probably meant he had stuck around long enough to find out more. And yet the thing with the ring still left a bad taste at the back of her mouth, not to mention her comment about not wanting children, even though she knew Giles did. Still, Holly had a full weekend to get through. If she didn’t keep an open mind about Sienna, it was going to be an incredibly long forty-eight hours. At some point, she would definitely need to get Faye’s opinion on the situation.

‘I’ve already arranged a taxi to pick us up from the station,’ Sienna said as their stop approached. ‘It’s just a fourteen-minute drive, traffic dependent, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but this place is so special. You’re going to love it. I’m absolutely positive you’re going to love it.’

‘Buffet and pool,’ Faye repeated. ‘Oh, and a comfy bed. Those are my three requirements.’

‘Well, you’ll definitely get two out of three of those,’ Sienna replied.

Two out of three, Holly thought. It felt like a peculiar thing to say, and she was about to ask Sienna what she meant when the train tannoy announced their station.

‘Make sure you’ve got everything, girls,’ Sienna said. ‘If you forget your swimsuit, then you’ll be stuck. I doubt you’ll be able to fit into one of mine. At the minute anyway. Fingers crossed this weekend will help.’

29

Holly couldn’t move. She had misheard, surely? She had to have misheard. Sienna couldn’t possibly have commented on her and Faye’s weight, could she? Who in their right mind would do that? Holly looked to Faye, hoping she could get some confirmation that she wasn’t going insane, but Faye’s head was under the train table, trying to find something she’d obviously dropped.

‘Here, let me grab that for you,’ Sienna said, bending to the floor and reaching out to pick up whatever it was Faye had dropped. A moment later, she was up again and placing a keyring on the table while Faye was still struggling to get out of the gap and stand upright. ‘The doors are opening. Don’t worry, I’ll go hold them. You two just make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.’

With that, she darted off to hold the train doors open while Faye gathered her items. Holly remained standing in the aisle, still unable to move.

‘Did you hear what she just said?’ she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to be overheard by Sienna. Not that it was likely. She was already miles away, and there were plenty of people between them.

‘What? About keeping the doors open?’ Faye asked. ‘Thank goodness. Still, we’d better hurry. Sorry about that. I tell Gavin off for always dropping things, but sometimes I’m just as bad.’

‘No, it’s not… I meant… Never mind,’ Holly said. ‘I’m sure it was nothing.’

A few minutes later, they were in the taxi driving up towards the venue, and Holly was trying to push the thought from her mind. The train had been braking, and other people were standing up to get their bags too. There was a good chance she’d completely misheard. Although what Sienna could have possibly said that sounded so similar, Holly wasn’t sure.

‘You actually have to make an effort, you know,’Holly heard Jamie’s voice ringing in her ears, that and the comment about never liking any of Giles’s girlfriends, never giving them a chance. That wouldn’t be the case this time. She was going to get to know Sienna properly. At least that way, she’d know any judgements she made were fair and would have hard evidence to come back to Jamie with.

‘Look, deer!’ Faye said, pointing out the window.

‘Lots of deer.’ Sure enough, a small herd was grazing in the fields.

‘It’s stunning, isn’t it?’ Sienna said. ‘Just stunning.’

‘It really is,’ Holly replied. Much to her surprise, she could feel a slight heat building in her eyes. Growing up, she had never imagined this type of life for herself. Security – that was where her dreams ended: marriage, a house, children, and a steady job that meant the bills were paid when they came through each month. Never had she dreamt of a life like the one she had: a successful business owner, with a new possibility of travelling abroad for work – if this thing with Fin’s friend worked out.

With a jolt of guilt, Holly realised she still hadn’t got his number from Fin. Somehow, the engagement had knocked everything else out of kilter in her life and she couldn’t even remember important things like that. But this evening, she would get on top of it. Still, she couldn’t complain about life. She had a friendship group she would put her life on the line for and moments like this, where she was whisked away to an enchanting corner of the country ready for a weekend of luxury. A weekend Sienna had arranged for them. She would bear that in mind the next time she thought she heard her say something mean. Mean people didn’t do such nice things, did they?

‘Thank you,’ she said, needing to voice the moment. ‘Thank you for arranging all this. It’s lovely.’

Sienna beamed. ‘Oh, I’m so glad you like it. I know this type of thing can be a bit unique. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I just knew that you were the type of girls who would be on board with it. And everyone loves a weekend when you leave looking even better than you arrived, right? That’s what every bride-to-be needs.’

Holly’s feeling of elation stuttered slightly as she cast a glance at Faye, who shrugged, clearly as confused about the statement as Holly. Was it a subtle dig about her weight again? Sure, Holly had put on a few pounds over the last couple of years, but she had needed to after all the weight she’d lost after Evan’s death. This time, she was going to get some clarification as to what the hell Sienna meant, yet as she opened her mouth, Faye let out a squeal.

‘Are you serious? That is amazing!’

‘Isn’t it phenomenal?’ Sienna said.