Page 54 of A Wedding in Tuscany

‘And don’t talk with your mouth full.’ Oh, Karen. You can take the girl out of Sydney but you can never take the overbearing mother out of the girl.

‘So, when does the witchy sister arrive?’ asks Lou. She’s on the lounger next to mine, peering at me over the top of her sunglasses.

‘Oh, her. Jean-Luc said that we won’t see Cécile and Louis until the wedding. Thank god.’

‘Oh, well that’s good, at least.’

‘Mmm.’

‘What’s her deal, anyway?’ asks Jae.

Mum and Lindsey are getting their massages in a cabana next to the pool; otherwise, I would shut this conversation down. Mum has strong feelings about how in-laws should behave and is horrified by the Carons’ reception of her precious daughter?especially as Mum and Dad have embraced Jean-Luc as their son. And Josh. They are as quick to brag about their sons-in-law as they are about me and Sarah.

‘I’m not sure. I think it’s mostly driven by Jean-Luc’s mum. And the family loved Vanessa.’

‘Oh right, the ex-wife,’ says Lou.

‘Actually, make that love?present tense.’

‘Do you think Vanessa’s behind it? The hostility?’ Jae asks.

‘No. Perhaps. I don’t know.’

‘Does Jean-Luc still spend time with her?’ asks Lou.

‘Yeah, you said they’re still friends,’ adds Jae. ‘When was the last time he saw her?’

‘Um, hey …’ says Sarah, ‘maybe we should talk about something else.’

‘It’s all right, Sez.’ To Jaelee, I say, ‘Jean-Luc and Vanessa have lunch every few months or so.’ She takes off her sunglasses and looks at me incredulously. ‘Don’t do that. He’s very open about it and it’s lunch, not dinner, not drinks. It’s in public and he always tells me when he’s seeing her.’ She shrugs and drops her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.

‘So,you think the witchy sister is in cahoots with the ex-wife?’ Lou asks.

‘I don’t know if I’d say that?I’ve never even met Vanessa?but I do think Cécile is loyal to her no matter what. Never mind that she and Jean-Luc divorced more than a decade ago. Amicably.’ All right, maybe this bothers me more than I’ve let myself believe.

‘It sucks, Cat. I’m sorry,’ says Jae.

‘How do you get along with Alistair’s family, Jaelee?’ asks Lou.

‘Great. They’re awesome. Well, at first, I had a similar problem to Cat. Alistair’s sister, Ainsley, was not a fan. Actually …’ She swings her legs over the side of her lounger and faces us. ‘… It was really similar to what you’re going through, Cat, ’cause Ainsley is close to Alistair’s ex, Fiona.’

‘Oh, that’s right! I remember now,’ says Lou.

‘But, I mean, they’d only just broken up, like, a month before I got to Edinburgh, so maybe it is different …’

‘But you’re close now, right?’ Lou asks.

‘Yeah, for sure. We came to an understanding. And I get along with Fiona, too.’

‘Wait, what?’ I say. ‘I don’t think you’ve ever told me that part.’

Jae shrugs. ‘It’s no biggie. She and Alistair … I don’t know, it’s a bit like with Jean-Luc and Vanessa. Their breakup was on the cards for a long time before I came along, but they still care about each other. What?’ She grins. ‘Why are you looking at me like that? I’m not saying we’re best friends or that we hang out all the time, but she comes to family events sometimes and we get along.’

‘That’s weird,’ says Sarah.

‘It is not!’

‘It’s a little weird,’ says Lou.