Page 13 of A Wedding in Tuscany

‘Hello, Anders.’

‘You must be the famous Cat.’

‘I was just thinking the same about you?the famous Anders, I mean.’ We grin at each other.

‘What are you up to?’ he asks.

‘Actually, I have news,’ I say excitedly.

‘Oooh,’ says Lou, bouncing in her chair.

I let the moment build, just for a few seconds, then blurt, ‘Jean-Luc and I are getting married!’

Lou leaps from her chair and all I can see is her mid-section while she jumps up and down and squeals. Anders chuckles good-naturedly in the background and eventually Lou settles back onto the chair, her face flushed.

‘Oh, my goodness! Oh my goodness!’

‘I know. It’s very exciting.’ I will not ruin this moment by revealing that my excitement is accompanied by a hefty dose of terror.

‘Oh, Cat …’ she sighs, blinking back tears. ‘Who would have thought it, huh? Jaelee accosts a guy on a street in Paris, he turns out to be your high-school sweetheart, and now you’re getting married!’

That’s the dustcover version, but she’s essentially correct. I was on a bus trip in Europe?booked hastily in the aftermath of the ‘sleeping with my flatmate’ debacle?and I met Lou, Jaelee, and Dani, forming a firm foursome on the first day. And one night in Paris, we did (indeed) randomly run into Jean-Luc on the street?well, Jaelee stopped him to ask for recommendations on somewhere to go, assuming someone as hot as him would be in the know.

And call it kismet or fate or whatever, we were reunited?French exchange student and the bookish Sydney schoolgirl who were best friends for years, then estranged, reunited on a Paris street on a Monday night. The stuff of romcoms.

And now we’re getting married.

‘I know. I can hardly believe it myself.’

‘Lou says that even a few seconds either way?if you were walking down the street a little faster or slower?you would have missed him,’ says Anders. I’ve thought the exact thing a thousand times since that night and it always leaves me feeling slightly queasy. It must show because he quickly backpedals. ‘Sorry,’ he drawls in that sweet Canadian way. ‘I didn’t mean to put a dampener on your news. It’s just an amazing story, is all.’

‘No, it’s all right. And it’s not unlike you two. If you hadn’t been the vet on duty that night …’

‘Or if Mr Snuffles hadn’t decided to eat my yarn …’ adds Lou, turning her head to smile up at Anders.

‘Exactly!’ I declare. Mr Snuffles is Lou’s neighbour’s wayward feline who she was minding at the time?apparently, he has a propensity to eat things that aren’t edible. That was his third trip to the vet in a year.

‘Anyway, I’ll let you two talk but so nice to finally meet you, Cat.’

‘And you, Anders.’ His broad shoulders and handsome face disappear from frame. ‘He’s so lovely,’ I say softly to Lou.

‘Yeah.’ She shrugs?slightly self-satisfied but also humble, the way that only Lou can be.

‘And you’re going to think I’m an idiot, but I was sort of picturing Chris Hemsworth as Thor … you know, the Nordic Viking look.’

She chuckles. ‘It’s the name. You probably won’t meet many black men named Anders Eriksen. But his dad’s got the Viking look down pat?broad shoulders, like Anders, but blue eyes … he even has long hair, though it’s silver now. He was born in Norway?came here for college in his twenties and never left. He met Anders’ mum, they fell in love, the usual story …’

‘You’re in love, Lou,’ I say.

She shrugs, pressing her lips together, then breaks into a broad smile. ‘Maybe.’

‘Have you met them yet, his parents?’

She nods. ‘We flew back east last month for a long weekend and I met the whole family?siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles?everyone. They’re amazing, Cat and …’ She hesitates.

‘What?’

She sighs. ‘I just wish … my parents are still so close with Jackson’s parents and …’ Jackson is her ex-husband. ‘It’s time, you know. I want them to meet Anders and I know they’ll love him, because he’s a total sweetheart, but I also think it will be hard on them. Even now, Mum still holds out hope that Jackson and I …’