Page 77 of The Interview

“Young and Wild played a set. There were a couple of DJs. It was excellent, but none of us actually knew why we were there, then this pair got up on stage and thanked us all for celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with them, explaining they’d married in Vegas, in secret, twenty-five years ago, and hadn’t told anyone until then.”

“How’d that go down?” Daniel asks.

There’s a prolonged silence that just starts to turn uncomfortable when Len says, “We couldn’t have been happier for them. Mum was pissed off, but we all had such a great night, she soon let it go.”

I notice Daniel’s eyes have remained on Georgia, who has stayed quiet.

“The only one not happy was George,” Marley announces.

She shifts, then looks around me to Marley. “It wasn’t that I wasn’t happy for you. It was just bittersweet that Sean had died not knowing. It was a bittersweet night all around. The entire holiday, in fact. I was there with Cam and my babies, and I just struggled with the guilt of having such an amazing time, being so happy, when Sean was dead and had died not knowing the truth.”

I reach for her hand but don’t say anything. What can I say? Her feelings were and are perfectly valid.

“I do better with those kinds of thoughts and feelings now and know for a fact that, as long as you’re happy, Sean wouldn’t give a fuck that you kept your secret so long. But, yeah, I struggled a bit that night, and I’m really sorry if you two thought I wasn’t happy for you or the situation.”

The room remains quiet, and I know, because she’s my bestie and I know how her brain works, that Georgia will now be eaten alive by guilt because Cam and the kids just heard her confess to all of that.

And then he’s there, reaching over her shoulder to hand her a glass of Prosecco, which she takes, releases a long exhale, then swigs her drink. Looking up at Cam, she mouths a thank you.

“You doing all right?” he asks her.

She nods. “You?”

He shrugs. She stills.

“Just worried about you. We’re getting to the hardest part,” he warns her.

“I think we’ll probably break for today and continue Monday.”

“Good,” he says quietly with a nod before glancing my way. “Go you, you little star. You shine up there. I knew you’d do great.”

This man! Our TDH is one of the absolute best.

“Thanks, T,” I tell him as warmth fills my chest.

“Okay, we’ve got so much more than we planned to today, so I think we should call it and let you lovely people enjoy the rest of your weekend. We’ll see you back here Monday,” Daniel announces.

Everyone in the room shows their approval by giving a huge round of applause.

An hour later, Daniel and the crew have packed up and gone. Outside of the family, the only person left is Makenzie Wild, who’s out on the deck.

In an attempt to escape the noise and commotion that comes with being in the company of the Laytons and Kings, I open the timber door. I don’t know why I come out here. I haven’t got a clue what I’m going to say to her, but I just have a gut feeling about the girl, and I’m undecided if it’s a good or bad one.

Kenzie has her phone in one hand, her camera in the other, with images pulled up on both. Unable to see what she’s looking at, I step closer. She’s so focused on the screens in front of her, she hasn’t noticed me.

The moment I take in the images is the same moment she realises I’m there. Before I get a chance to process, she tilts the screens towards her, blocking my view.

“We need to talk,” she says, raising her chin.

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

GEORGIA

I’m bone tired to the point of not even wanting another drink. Call me old, but all I really want right now is a shower, to take my makeup off, put my pyjamas on, and curl up with a cup of sleepy time tea.

And Cam.