Page 48 of A Wedding in Tuscany

‘Yeah, you may be right,’ Anders says.

‘So, you meet the vet and he’s tall and handsome and capable …’ says Sarah. Anders drops his chin to his chest, shaking his head. ‘…And then what?’ she asks them both.

He sighs, then grins. ‘Well, the cat needed to stay in for at least a day, so he could … you know … pass the rest of the yarn?but after I got him resting comfortably, I asked Lou out.’ Lou beams at Anders.

‘And is that allowed? Dating your patients?’ teases Sarah.

‘Definitely not. I have a strict “no bestiality” policy,’ he deadpans.

‘You know what I mean.’ Sarah laughs.

‘I do, and it’s a first for me, but I was hardly going to let her leave without asking to see her again.’ He reaches for Lou’s hand.

‘Oh!’ says Lou, startling the rest of us. ‘I forgot the worst part.’

‘Is it having to go home and clean up cat vomit?’ I ask.

‘Well, yes, but no. It’s even worse than that. By the time I got home?which was, like, just after nine, the Roomba had already run.’

There are groans from around the table. ‘Okay, enough talk about cat vomit,’ says Josh. ‘I ordered the risotto.’

‘Hah!’ laughs Jaelee but I agree with Josh. I need that image out of my mind immediately. Thank god the sommelier has arrived with the wine.

Jean-Luc skips the tasting, ‘I am sure they will be incredible,’ he says and the sommelier does the rounds around the table, pouring the wine of choice for six of us, as Anders and Josh are having Peronis.

I sit back, looking around at our little party. Who would have thought that all those years ago when Lou, Jae, and I climbed aboard a bus in London about to embark on a two-week whirlwind tour of Europe, we’d end up here? Me reunited with Jean-Luc and about to marry my childhood sweetheart, Jae long over Paco, her ex, and living around the world with her new love, Alistair, a true ‘digital nomad’ running her own company, and Lou, divorced from Jackson and now loved-up with the gentle giant, Anders.

I wonder what we’d say to those three miserable women if we had the chance? ‘It will be all right. Life will soon bring you great happiness, even if you cannot imagine it right at this moment. You are exactly where you need to be.’

Or some other ‘bumper sticker’ style wisdom.

We’d be right, though.