A Christmas Wedding(16)

My eyes pop out of my head. ‘How on earth have you kept that a secret?’

‘We’ve been in the UK.’ She shrugs. ‘I wanted to tell people in person.’

‘Wait, weren’t you drinking last night? I thought you were on vodka cranberries?’

‘Cranberry, no vodka,’ she replies with a cheeky look.

‘Sneaky! Do you know what you’re having?’

She nods. ‘A girl.’

I squeal.

She grins, but then her features grow sober. ‘Sorry, I just wanted to get that bit out of the way first, but I do want to talk about you. How was the rest of last night?’

My mood takes a nosedive. ‘We ended up back at ours with Fliss and a few others. It was… unsettling.’

‘In what way?’ She cocks her head to one side, causing her long chestnut hair to swing in its high ponytail.

‘I know Lachie has hung out with Fliss in the past when I’ve been at work, but she was so comfortable at our place.’ I shake my head despairingly. ‘You should’ve seen her making herself at home, offering her pals tea and biscuits.’

‘What?!’ Lucy pulls a face, outraged.

‘She’s obviously been there loads. Lachie clearly chose not to tell me how much because he thinks I’ve got it in for her. And he’s right.’

‘Does he think she fancies him?’ Lucy asks, tucking her bare legs up underneath herself on the sofa and nursing her mug between her hands.

‘He’s adamant she doesn’t, but he’s wrong. I don’t know if he’s blind to it or if he’s just kidding himself, but I’ve seen the way she looks at him. She absolutely adores him.’

‘He is pretty adorable,’ Lucy says, her eyebrows pulling together.

I smile at her, but then my face crumples. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I don’t know what’s got into me. Lachie and I have been together for so long and he’s always been tactile with other women. I’m usually cool with it – in fact, I usually like it. I love how he was with Bridget, for example, but I’ve always been so sure about his feelings for me. But seeing Fliss jokily push him over the back of the sofa and then climb on top of him was—’

‘She did what?!’ Lucy blanches.

‘She sort of fell on him and they both cracked up laughing and he had his arms around her. They were just being silly and were both really drunk, but… Argh! I hated it!’

‘I’m not surprised.’ Lucy looks aghast.

‘Like I say, I like that Lachie is tactile. It was one of the reasons I fell for him. But I don’t like seeing him be that way with Fliss. There’s something about her…’

‘You have to tell him,’ Lucy states firmly.

‘I have!’ I cry. ‘He thinks I’m nagging him!’

‘You’re not,’ she states firmly. ‘You have to talk to him about this! If she makes you uncomfortable, then he should stop seeing her.’

‘They work together,’ I say hopelessly. ‘She gets him most of his gigs.’

‘That’s tricky,’ Lucy replies with a grimace. ‘But at the very least he should try to wean her out of his life socially.’

‘I couldn’t make him do that.’ I shake my head.

‘Why not? Nathan doesn’t have any female friends, not any more. It’s just… not necessary.’

‘But Lachie has always had female friends.’

‘People change and grow and adapt – they have to. We can’t always stay the same.’

‘That’s just it, though. Lachie doesn’t want to change. He likes his life exactly as it is. In fact, he wants me to change. He thinks I’ve become boring. But I don’t want to stay out late and get hammered all the time. I want a more chilled life. I want a family. And he doesn’t. Not any time soon. We’re on completely different wavelengths and I can’t help but think it’s because of the age gap between us.’

Lucy appears thoughtful.

‘Did you ever have this problem with Nathan?’ I ask. He’s two years younger than she is – they got together when he was twenty-four.

‘Not really. He wanted to get engaged super-fast.’

‘You’re a catch,’ I say with a grin.

Lucy laughs. ‘And, anyway, we waited years to have kids. We wanted to be on our own for a while before bringing a family into the mix.’

I smile at her again, my eyes drifting to her bump. ‘I’m so happy for you. You’re right about Lachie. I need to speak to him about it. But let’s talk about something else, now. How’s your pregnancy been so far? And I want to know all about your trip!’

The rest of the afternoon passes by pleasantly.

I wait up for Lachie that night, hoping he’s too hungover from his birthday bash to go out drinking again. He appears at eleven.

‘You’re awake!’ he says with pleasant surprise when I get up from the sofa.

He puts his guitar case down as I step forward for a hug.

‘You okay?’ he asks softly.

‘I missed you,’ I murmur.

I miss you.

‘Aw,’ he replies with affection.

‘I thought you might go out drinking again.’