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Holly looked around. ‘You’re right. It’s lovely. At least for this part. But I’m using Uber Eats and getting a McDonald’s at some point. I can tell you that now.’

Sienna let out a slight chuckle. ‘Fair enough.’

For a second, Holly wondered if this was where she should end it. If this was the moment they should bring the conversation to a close, she would apologise, and they could carry on the weekend with some kind of unspoken, almost-resolution. But she couldn’t. There was more she needed to say first.

‘This has been harder for me than I expected it to be.’

Sienna laughed. ‘You haven’t even had your first juice yet; you might like it.’

Holly shook her head. ‘I don’t mean the juicing; I mean the engagement.’

‘Oh, yes, I should probably have realised that.’

Holly sighed. ‘I’ll be honest. I didn’t think Giles was ever going to be the settling-down type. I thought he would remain the eternal bachelor, and I would be the eternal widow, and that would work well in our little friendship group. But you changed that.’

‘Giles will always be your very best friend. You’re his best woman at the wedding, for crying out loud. I mean, who ever heard of such a ridiculous thing? Certainly not me. After all, it’s going to make the photos look terrible. It’ll completely ruin all the symmetry. Unless you wear a suit, I suppose.’

Holly wasn’t sure whether or not that had been a genuine dig. There was no hint of a smile on Sienna’s face, but even if she was serious, it was something they could deal with later. First, she needed to get all this out.

‘The thing I’m finding hardest isn’t about Giles and our friendship. I’m happy he’s in love. Truly, but it scares me too. Because Giles marrying you means that life is moving on and there’s absolutely nothing I can do to stop it. Either I move on too, or I spend the rest of my life trapped in the past, and I don’t want to do that. I sure as hell don’t want the others to do that either, but moving on… it’s terrifying. But my fears are not something I should inflict on your life or your happiness. So I’m sorry. The way I acted, the things I said, they’re not because of you, Sienna. They’re really not. I would love it if we could use this weekend to get to know each other a little better.’

For the first time, Sienna finally lifted her sunglasses off her eyes and a small smile flickered on her face.

‘I really think you will like the juices,’ she said.

‘I’m getting deliveries,’ Holly replied with a laugh, and then, before she knew what was happening, Sienna had her arms wrapped tightly around her in a hug.

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Holly managed to survive the entire first full day on juice alone. They were undeniably delicious and came with an apéritif of a Manuka honey and ginger shot, followed by a single spoonful of fresh raspberry sorbet for dessert.

Breakfast was a similar setup, although rather than a dessert, they also received three orange segments, two strawberries, two raspberries and four blueberries.

Insanely, Sienna wasn’t a fan of strawberries and asked to swap.

‘How could you not like strawberries?’ Holly said on the Sunday morning. ‘What about strawberry picking? That’s literally the best thing in the world.’

‘I’ve never been strawberry picking,’ Sienna replied. ‘You do it in fields, don’t you?’

Holly’s jaw dropped. ‘What? That’s ridiculous. You have to go. They should be opening them up in a couple of weeks again. You can come with Hope and me. We’ll go plenty of times.’

‘Really?’ Sienna said, her eyes brightening. ‘Will I get muddy?’

‘We’ll pick a nice day,’ Holly said. ‘Honestly, I am quite horrified.’

‘I won’t bring my two,’ Faye said. ‘We tried last year and Harry ate hundreds. Literally hundreds without me noticing. I only realised when we went to the counter to pay for what we had in our punnets and he threw up all over the grass. It was bright red. Obviously I lied and said he’d had a can of cherry aid before we came because I was terrified she was going to charge me double. I don’t think I’ve ever been more mortified.’

‘See, this is why I’m going to tell Giles we can’t have children,’ Sienna said. ‘There is no way I could deal with that.’

Holly sucked back her response. She wasn’t going to ruin the last day of the trip by saying something. Not now they were finally getting on well.

With all due credit to Sienna, the weekend had been a relaxation in a way Holly hadn’t experienced for a long time. As well as spa treatments, the hotel also had a large range of board games, which the girls spent several hours playing together. Board games, Holly decided, were another great way to learn things about people. For example, she learned Faye was an absolutely terrible loser and would, if necessary, throw anybody under the bus to ensure she didn’t come in last place. Sienna, on the other hand, liked to play dumb and pretend she didn’t know what she was doing, even though she wiped the floor with them both several times.

But by the time Sunday morning came around, Holly was desperate for some proper food. Thankfully, so were Sienna and Faith.

‘I think these are the best chips I’ve ever had in my life,’ Faye said. They had been told surreptitiously by a member of staff that there was a local pub, a three-mile walk away. And it was a no-brainer for the lot of them.

‘Maybe that’s why these places are such hits,’ Holly said as she dunked one of her salt-laden fries into a tub of homemade mayonnaise. ‘Maybe they get you missing food so much that when you leave, everything in life feels better.’