‘Isn’t fancying him the extra icing on the cake? Not what makes a marriage work?’ I thought about Nita’s theory of chemistry, compatibility and kindness. But that was only one person’s opinion.
‘It’s not what makes a marriage work, but it can certainly help. Especially when other, deeply handsome, toned and charming fitness instructors start making it clear they’d be very happy to ice your cake,’ Sofia said, pointedly not looking at Orla. ‘The odds are that one day you’ll meet a man who makes your heart go boom, and then you’ll wonder what if.’
‘Honestly,’ Bridget said around the last piece of tiffin, ‘you don’t need to worry. This is never going to happen.’
‘Okay, how about this? If once I see him, there’s no potential for him being “the one”, I won’t go ahead with it. I’ll simply say, “I don’t”. Bridget – can you make that part of my contract?’
‘I might go for slightly more scientific language, but, yes, if we get that far, which we definitely won’t, I’ll add in whatever you want.’
So that was how I decided to marry a man I’d never met.
10
Cooper
Patrick Charles Cooper was not nearly as drunk as he wanted to be. Three beers in, and he was feeling too depressed to bother pushing through the Tav’s evening crowd to reach the bar and order another one. But as he was about to give up and go home, Ben finally arrived.
‘Good day?’ He pulled up a stool and raised his eyebrows at the row of glasses on the table between them.
‘No.’ Before Cooper even had a chance to ask Ben what he wanted, Scary Sue appeared out of nowhere and dropped two more pints on the table.
‘Don’t worry, I’ve stuck these on the tab. We can figure out payment later.’ She winked at Ben, and disappeared as quickly as she’d arrived.
‘You’re paying, then?’ Ben grimaced.
Cooper only grunted in response.
‘So, are you going to tell me about it, or are we just sitting here in silence?’
Cooper sighed, taking another half-hearted sip before reaching into his pocket to pull out a crumpled card and handing it to Ben. Ben opened it up, nodding as he read the invitation inside.
‘Well, it was going to happen at some point.’
‘Yeah. But knowing about it and being invited to watch it are two different things.’
Cooper appreciated that Ben didn’t pretend to be surprised at Cooper’s reaction to Bridget’s wedding invitation, or make a big thing about him indirectly confessing how he felt about her.
‘You have to go.’
‘I know.’ Cooper rubbed his hand through his hair. It still felt as though someone had jammed a screwdriver into his skull.
‘And you’re going to have to move on. You can’t spend the rest of your life drowning your sorrows in the Tav.’ He paused, looking off to the side as he casually added, ‘Unless you want to fight for her.’
Cooper jerked his head up. It wasn’t as if he’d never thought about it, before he’d moved. But he’d thought about it enough to know he couldn’t do that to her.
‘She’s been with him since they were kids. She stayed in Nottingham working for a sexist troll to be near him. He runs her dad’s shop. Bridget’s future’s all sorted, and it’s a good one. Even if I did want to fight for her, I know I couldn’t win. Bridget deserves better than me. I moved away because I loved her enough to let her have it.’
Ben rolled his eyes. ‘Honestly, mate. You know my opinion on marriage. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But I always thought that if anyone stood a chance at happy-ever-after, that minuscule anomaly of couples that actually end up not loathing the crap out of each other, it would be you two.’
‘Not a helpful thing to say given the circumstances.’
‘Then fight for her.’
Cooper shook his head. ‘No.’
He put down his glass with a decisive slam. ‘No. I’ve spent enough time wallowing over Bridget Donovan. I don’t need to waste any more of my life pining after someone who doesn’t want me. Which means I need to get over her. Now. Or at least before I go into work tomorrow and she asks me to be her best man or something. Time to man up and move on.’ He paused. Rubbed his chin. Squinted up at his new best mate. ‘Any ideas about how the hell I do it?’
‘You could always find someone else.’
