Page 5

‘Which is almost a year ago. Crazy, right? It seems like forever since I’ve seen Hope too. She must be so big now.’

‘She’s seven. Would you believe it?’

Faye let out a groan. ‘You know, it seems like only last week when you arrived at the hospital, and I was forced to lie and say all your friends were actually relatives.’

The pair giggled. Holly owed Faye. She was the reason that Hope was delivered, surrounded by love and friendship, and if she hadn’t lied, Holly would have been forced to bring her daughter into the world without them.

‘You know you’re welcome at mine whenever you want,’ Holly said. ‘And there’s plenty of room to bring the boys. Especially when the weather’s nice. Jamie and I have finally taken the plunge to remove the fence between the gardens. Oh, and we got a kitten.’

‘You did?’

‘Rhubarb. Hope named her. You’ll have to bring your two over to meet her.’

‘Oh, they would love that.’

‘Any time you want. Just give me a call.’

Holly was about to turn the conversation around to Faye; ask how her daughters and husband were doing, and if she got the promotion she’d gone for at work recently, but before she could get another word out, Sienna coughed loudly.

For a split second, Holly felt a little guilty. She hadn’t meant to ostracise Sienna from the conversation, but something about her stony face told her that was exactly how Sienna felt. Ostracised and angered. Holly opened her mouth, ready to apologise, but before she could, Sienna sniffed, then angled her chin ever so slightly so she was looking down her nose towards Holly.

‘Well, as lovely as this reunion is, I think it’s time I got my boyfriend home. Thank you, Holly, but I don’t think we need you any more.’

5

‘I’m not sure I ever disliked one of Giles’s girlfriends as much as I dislike Sienna,’ Holly said to Jamie. They were sitting in the garden. Just as Holly had explained to Faye only a couple of hours beforehand, she and Jamie had removed the fence between the two semi-detached houses, creating one enormous backyard. It wasn’t something they had considered when Holly and Hope moved in and the first year there, it had been fine keeping it as two separate spaces, but the next year, Hope and Jamie’s eldest, Randall, had spent so much time climbing over the thin wooden frame, Holly was sure there was going to be an accident and decided to put a gate in. Then, when the twins were old enough to walk, the gate swinging non-stop back and forth, they gave in and removed the fence entirely.

‘You should’ve heard the way she spoke to me.’ Holly took a sip of her wine. Rhubarb, the kitten, was busy pouncing on a dandelion just a few feet away. ‘The way she just dismissed me. And after Giles had rung me to pick him up.’

‘I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations with her,’ Fin said, topping up his own glass of homemade kombucha. ‘We were talking the other day about her work in the charity sector. You know she puts a lot of hours into that job. And it’s always for great causes.’

‘It’s probably easy to put a lot of hours into a job when you’re getting paid six figures,’ Holly said. ‘No, she is absolutely not right for Giles, and the sooner he sees that, the better. Then again, they’re about to hit the six-month mark, so I’m sure he’ll be done with her soon.’ She took a sip of her drink, feeling confident that at least Jamie would back her up, but instead, her friends exchanged a look.

‘What? What is it?’ she said. That wasn’t just a casual glance. She could tell from the way Jamie’s lips tightened.

‘Don’t tell me you like her? Is that it? Are you two secretly best buddies? God, please don’t tell me you’ve asked her to be a guide-parent at the twins’ naming day. Please don’t tell me that.’

‘No, it’s not that.’ Jamie laughed. She hadn’t had any of her boys christened, but liked to have a naming ceremony for them when they were old enough to have some inclination of what was going on. This summer, when the twins turned three, they would have theirs, though as Holly was already a guide-parent to Randall, she didn’t expect to be asked again.

‘What is it?’ she pressed. ‘You don’t actually think Sienna’s a good match for him, do you?’

‘Well…’ Jamie looked at Fin again, whose mouth twisted up into a smirk, almost as if he was daring Jamie to say something delicate. But why would that be? What could Jamie possibly say that would upset Holly?

‘The thing is, you’ve never actually liked any of Giles’s girlfriends, have you?’

Holly thought about it. In the last three or four years, Giles had introduced them to numerous girlfriends, with the relationships ranging from anywhere between the three- or four-month mark to the far more serious nine- or ten-month mark. One, Joanna, had even broken the year, but not by much. Three weeks later and that relationship was over too.

‘That’s not true,’ Holly said indignantly. ‘I liked that one girl.’

‘Which?’

‘I can’t remember her name. Rosie, I think it was.’

‘The one who had already accepted a job abroad before they started dating and didn’t want anything serious?’

‘Yes, that’s her.’

Jamie sighed as she shook her head, though Holly really couldn’t understand why.