The Guilt Trip(7)

“Be careful where you leave it in future,” she says, as Rachel lets out the breath she’s been holding.

“Thank you,” says Ali begrudgingly, as if she’s been told off by a teacher. Rachel wills her not to say anything more.

“I honestly can’t be held accountable for my actions if this is how the whole weekend is going to be,” says Jack ominously as he sidles up to Rachel at the baggage carousel.

“Cut her some slack,” says Rachel, reaching up to give him a kiss. “She’s over-excited.”

“You make her sound like a puppy,” says Jack, managing to smile.

“In some respects, that’s exactly what she is,” Rachel says, laughing. “She’ll calm down once she sees Will.”

“I don’t know how he does it,” says Jack, shaking his head. “She’s a freaking liability.”

“I don’t want to state the obvious, but this is all your fault,” says Rachel, with a withering expression. “You employed her. You introduced her to Will…”

“Unwittingly!” he exclaims.

“Ssh!” Rachel laughs, looking around to check if Ali’s in earshot, not that she’s got the wherewithal to hear.

“She never used to be like … this,” he says, waving his arm about. “It seems to me that she’s got a drinking problem. She doesn’t know her limits and then becomes this caricature of herself, who spouts garbage.”

“Is that all that’s bothering you?” presses Rachel, keen to get to the bottom of his disdain for a woman he used to quite like.

He shrugs his shoulders, as nonchalantly as he can. “I just don’t think she’s right for my little brother and it pains me that he might be about to make the biggest mistake of his life.”

Rachel takes hold of his hand. “But I’ve never seen Will this happy,” she says. “And it’s your duty as both his brother and his best man to play your part and make this weekend the best it can be.”

Jack kisses her on the nose. “You’re far too accepting,” he says.

“It’s easier than being cynical all the time,” she says. “That must be exhausting.”

He playfully smacks her on the behind.

Despite standing up for Ali, Rachel can’t help but feel relieved when she spots Will at the end of a long line of holiday reps holding clipboards in the arrivals hall. Thankful that she no longer has to be the responsible adult, she points him out to Ali and watches her zig-zag over to him, feeling like she’s handing a naughty child over to their long-suffering parent.

“There’s my baby,” shrieks Ali as she runs into Will’s arms.

They all stand there awkwardly as Will and Ali exchange saliva for far longer than feels necessary.

“Give it a rest,” says Jack, jokingly, but Rachel can hear the tension in his voice. If Will knows his brother well enough, he’ll hear it too.

“Sorry, it’s been a couple of days,” says Will, breaking away.

“It’s been three!” declares Ali, as if it makes all the difference.

“Hey, bro,” says Will, hugging Jack and looking at the group. “How are we all? Good?”

Jack smiles half-heartedly.

“Well, I will be when I get out of these trousers,” says Noah, laughing.

“Had an accident, have we?” asks Will, clearly amused by the wet patch spread across Noah’s groin.

“Don’t even ask.”

“So, are we all set?” asks Jack. “What’s the villa like?”

“You wait until you see the place,” says Will, his eyes dancing. “Man, it’s insane.”

The tension in Rachel’s shoulders dissipates. When Will had told them one of his surfing mates had offered him a villa, so the six of them could stay together, her initial reaction was Hell, no. She’d rather be in the hotel with all the other guests than with an already hyperactive Ali in the build-up to the wedding. But Ali had insisted that Rachel be there, “as the sister she never had,” to help her get ready and keep her calm. Without a valid excuse that didn’t come across as petty, Rachel had resigned herself to it. But her next worry—not wanting to sound like a snob—was that the villa on offer wasn’t going to be of the standard she and Jack were used to. He had a rule that they never went on vacation to anywhere that wasn’t as nice as their home.

“What’s the point?” he’d say. “Where’s the sense in me working my arse off and earning good money, to spend the precious time I get off in a place worse than where we live?”

She’d imagined Will’s surfer friend having a shack that hung precariously off a cliff, giving a whole new meaning to sea views.

“So, it’s okay?” Jack asks again, no doubt aware of the vast difference between his “insane” and his brother’s.

“Trust me, it’s off the charts.” Will smiles.

And Rachel has to hand it to him, as just over an hour later, they pull up at a villa perched on the edge of a clifftop, overlooking the Portuguese fishing village of Nazaré. The imposing glass-and-white walls preside over the terracotta roofs of tightly built houses that line the beach below. The villa’s modern, angular features, softened by a swathe of warm light, create an awe-inspiring silhouette against the darkening skies.