A Christmas Wedding(14)

Now our blushing bride-to-be, I notice.

‘I’m not sure I really want one,’ she reluctantly admits.

‘What?!’ Bridget, turning down the chance to go out with her mates and get shitfaced?!

‘I know this is really, really sad,’ she continues bashfully, ‘but I just don’t want to be away from Charlie and April, even for one night.’

‘What has he done to you?’ I cry.

Her cheeks brighten further and I can’t help but laugh.

‘How do you cope when you have to go away for work?’ I ask, genuinely curious.

‘Charlie and April come with me,’ she replies, still sheepish. ‘I know I’ll have to work away from them sometimes, but I wouldn’t choose it,’ she reveals.

I laugh again. ‘I never, ever thought I’d see the day.’

‘Me neither,’ she replies.

It’s Lachie’s twenty-ninth birthday a week later. He wants to go out in Sydney for a big night, but at the last minute he’s asked to do a gig at a popular Manly haunt after the booked artist drops out. His friends are only too happy to go to his gig first before carrying on locally, so I head home straight after work to get ready and join him at the venue. I find him having a beer with a couple of his former builder buddies.

When we settled in Sydney, Lachie lined up a stint on a building site to help pay the rent, but he has enough gigging work now to get by. He’s stayed in touch with the guys he liked the most, though, including his former boss, Nathan, who’s propped up at the bar with him now.

‘I didn’t know you were back,’ I say to Nathan with a smile, after kissing the birthday boy hello. ‘Is Lucy coming?’

Lucy is Nathan’s wife and we became friendly almost instantly. She and Nathan have been over in the UK for the last few months, working and visiting Lucy’s family. They try to split their time between the two countries.

‘Yeah, as soon as she’s got Finn down,’ Nathan replies, referring to their not-quite-two-year-old son. ‘Jet lag is a bitch for toddlers. His sleep is all over the place.’

‘When did you get back?’

‘Only a few days ago. We’ll have to have you over to ours for a barbie soon.’

‘That would be great.’

We tend to go to theirs more, just because it’s easier with Finn. Plus, they have a really cool old house, just up the hill from here. It was pretty much derelict when they bought it, but now it has modern touches and loads of glass and natural light. Nathan did all of the work on it himself.

I turn to Lachie, pleased to see that he’s wearing the new watch I bought him. ‘How was your day?’

‘Pretty chilled,’ he replies with a warm smile.

‘When are your days not chilled,’ I tease, slipping one arm around his waist. He does the same to me, pulling me against his hip.

‘What do you want to drink?’ he asks.

‘I might get a glass of bubbles.’ I try to flag down the girl behind the bar, but she’s not looking my way.

‘Prosecco?’ he asks, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yes, please.’

He twists away and leans over the counter. The girl looks his way immediately and attends to him within seconds.

This always happens. Not that I’m complaining.

A few more friends arrive, including Fliss, who walks in, laughing, with Elliot.

‘Am I missing something?’ I ask in his ear when he comes over.

He brushes me off. ‘No. She was at her sister’s, so I offered to pick her up on my way from work. I had a meeting with a client this afty in Cremorne.’ That’s a suburb southwest from here, on the way to Sydney. Elliot’s a civil engineer.

‘Cool watch!’ I hear Fliss say to Lachie.

‘Bronnie got it for me,’ Lachie replies, and he’s already smiling at me when I turn to catch his eye.

‘She’s got good taste, your girlfriend.’ Fliss flashes me a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

‘Too bloody right, she does,’ Lachie jokes, grabbing my hand and tugging me towards him. He loops his arms around my waist from behind and plants a kiss on my cheek.

‘Aw,’ Fliss says soppily, smiling at us both before calling out to Elliot. ‘Oi, El, are you buying me a drink or what?’ She steps away to join our friend.

Eventually, Lachie has to go and do his set. It’s been ages since I’ve seen him gig – obviously I can’t go to any of the weddings he does, but I miss the days when we used to work together. As he takes to the stage, the venue fills with deafening cheers and whoops – his mates have got some lungs on them. I feel a wave of pride. Lachie looks so right up there, so at ease and sexy with his ripped jeans, dark T-shirt and shaggy blond hair. With his short beard, he looks a lot like how he did when we first met, albeit with broader shoulders these days. He’s even more attractive, if that’s possible.

He casts his eyes over the audience with a lazy, delightful grin as he sits down on a stool. Then he leans towards the mic and says a simple, affectionate ‘hi’ before launching into a stripped-back acoustic version of The Killers’ ‘When You Were Young’.

‘Ah, man!’ I hear Nathan exclaim with dismay.

I cast him a sideways look.

‘I can’t believe Lucy’s missing this. She loves this song,’ he explains.