The Road Trip(104)

‘Oh, my book?’ Grace says, tilting her chin back as she laughs. ‘Burned. Quite literally.’

‘Burned?’ Addie says, eyes widening. ‘But you’ve been writing that book for – for the whole time I’ve known you! And hey, you told me I was in chapter seven!’

Grace reaches to rest her hand against Addie’s cheek. ‘Adeline. You deserve to be chapter one.’

Addie starts to laugh. ‘How does everything you say sound so profound?’

‘Expensive education,’ Grace says, with a languid smile. ‘No, the book had to go. I shan’t say I’ll never write another, but that book was never really about the summer of our lives. It was all about a man. And once I’d realised that, I simply couldn’t stand to look at it.’

Addie tugs her further away from the table, where Terry is now singing what sounds like some sort of sea shanty with Kevin.

‘I tried reworking, restarting, everything,’ Grace continues. ‘But it was still his book.’

She lifts her chin ever so slightly towards Marcus.

‘Ah,’ Addie says.

‘Quite,’ says Grace, with a sigh. ‘And he certainly hasn’t earned a whole book to himself, has he? So I burned it. I thought it might help with the . . .’ She waves a hand at her chest.

‘The loving him?’ Addie supplies.

‘Yes,’ Grace says heavily. ‘That. Because I’m quite sick of loving a man who’s really just an absolutely massive tosser.’

Addie burst out laughing. ‘Did you tell him that?’

‘Well, I was all ready to,’ Grace says, ‘and then he apologised. Marcus. I have to confess to you, Addie, I’ve imagined this moment countless times, countless, and then, just when I give up hope . . .’

‘Wishing you could unburn the book now?’ Addie asks.

Grace laughs, head back. ‘No,’ she says firmly. ‘Certainly not. I’m a very different woman now, and if he wants to play the hero . . . he’s going to have to audition.’

Addie grins at her. ‘I’ve missed you,’ she says, and I smile, because that candour, that unguarded affection, it’s new to her – or rather, it’s new to me.

‘And I’ve missed you, my darling girl. And what about you two?’ Grace asks, glancing at me. ‘I thought that ship had sailed, but . . . ? Where are you now?’

Addie bites her lip. I lace our fingers tighter.

‘We’re at chapter one,’ I say.

The sound of someone getting too close to a microphone – that low, wincing shriek – cuts across Grace’s reply, but her smile says enough. There’s a twelve-piece band setting up, and the tables nearest the dance floor are being cleared by an army of industrious people wearing the wedding colours; Krish’s best man manages to stop the microphone shrieking for long enough to announce that it’s time for the first dance.

Deb joins us as we make our way closer to the dance floor. She holds her phone out to Addie; there’s a picture of Riley on the screen, beaming toothlessly at the camera, his brown eyes wide. He’s absolutely adorable; I have to try extremely hard to suppress the incoming wave of broodiness. One step at a time, I remind myself. I’ve never been particularly good at that.

‘Just got off FaceTime with him and Dad,’ Deb tells Addie. ‘They’ve bought him some ridiculous bouncy chair thing that must have cost an arm and a leg. He’s getting totally spoiled.’

She pulls a face, but she’s glowing, the way people glow when they’re not just happy, they’re whole. I’ll get to meet Riley, I realise – I’ll get to be part of his life, and Deb’s, and I’ll get to know all the new facets of Addie’s world.

‘Dyl?’ calls a voice from behind us.

The music starts up as I turn. Krish and Cherry’s first dance song is Shania Twain’s ‘Forever and for Always’ – I can only think that Krishna gave up on arguing about that one and let Cherry have her way.

It’s Luke and Javier behind me. They both look like they’ve arrived in a hurry, and Luke’s cheeks are flushed.

‘Dyl,’ Luke says quietly as they slot in beside us to watch the dance.

Krish is doing a remarkably good job of waltzing to Shania Twain, though his lips are moving a little as he counts the steps, and his expression of absolute concentration is somewhat comical.

‘Dylan, Mum’s left Dad,’ Luke says in a low voice.

‘What?’

I say it so loudly even Cherry and Krishna look our way.

‘Everything all right?’ Cherry calls to me as Krishna bends her over backwards.

‘Fine!’ I call. ‘As you were! What?’ I say to Luke.

‘It was amazing!’ Javier hisses. He’s bouncing slightly on the spot; his hair, pulled up in a high ponytail, bounces with him. ‘We’d just arrived at the moat, and your parents were coming to it at the same time, and Luke’s dad tried to go the other way so he didn’t have to cross paths with us – well, with me – and . . .’

‘Mum just flipped out,’ Luke says, shaking his head and smiling. ‘She threw her hat at him. Told him she was damned if she was going to muddle through another social event pretending she loved her husband, and that it was breaking her heart not seeing her sons, and that she was done standing by him. We’ve just taken her to a hotel and got her settled. Here, I’ll message you the details so you can go later – she’s dying to see you.’