‘Don’t you simply put that down to being a one-in-a-million fluke?’
He looked up at me, eyes black holes in the semi-darkness. ‘I used to. But lately it seems as though those odds aren’t working out any more.’
‘Why on earth would that be depressing? It sounds like the wedding was wonderful.’
‘Yeah. It was,’ he replied, so softly I had to strain to hear. ‘I guess I’ve been at too many wonderful weddings lately. If I’m honest, and I’m expecting this to remain in the same category of secret as me catching you spying on me in bed naked, I almost felt, sort ofenvious.’ He sighed. ‘Maybe not quite envious. But definitely veering towards the… wistful.’
‘Wow.’
‘Yeah. And that made me feel beyond depressed. So I came back to reality as fast as possible.’
‘Where is my housemate Ben, what have you done with him and please can we have him back?’
He grinned again, but it twisted up in a way that didn’t fool me for a second. ‘Ah, I’ve got a couple more weddings booked in – the odds are that the old Bitter and Twisted Ben will be back soon enough.’
‘Given that one of those weddings is my sister’s, I should hope not!’
I hoped not. But if I was honest, I was starting to wonder about those odds.
What I really shouldn’t have wondered about was what would have happened if Ben’s revelation had beenbeforeasking me out at a wedding.
* * *
Cooper
‘I’m so glad I married a scientist.’ Emma jumped down from the van, walking to meet Cooper coming round the back from the passenger side. ‘I couldn’t have followed the plan more closely if I’d tried.’
She beamed at Cooper before opening the doors.
Cooper started unloading the boxes. ‘These all going to the barn?’
‘Yes. Ah, and here’s our unwelcome shadow.’ She squinted at Ben, strolling across from his car, camera in hand. ‘Any chance you can help?’
‘And miss documenting your fantastic teamwork?’ He gazed at her steadily, a smile lingering at the corner of his mouth that made Cooper’s jaw clench. ‘In the interests of the project, that would have to be a “no”. Right, Cooper?’
‘Whatever.’
Emma shook her head, looking more amused than irritated as she picked up one of the larger boxes and marched off.
‘Just making you look good, mate. You can thank me later with a pint.’
Cooper said nothing. Ben always brought out Emma’s lighter side. He knew she relaxed with Ben in a way that she couldn’t – yet – with him. He also knew Emma was committed to building something that went far deeper than surface interactions and he didn’t have to worry about Ben. More importantly, he needed to act as though he weren’t worried about Ben. Especially while he had a camera zooming in on every cantankerous expression.
In the end, however, the camera didn’t bother him for long. By the time they’d unloaded the van, the rest of the family had arrived and for the next couple of hours they were so busy getting everything ready he barely saw Emma.
By five to eleven, the second Donovan Family Fundraiser was good to go. There was even a queue of a dozen or so people hovering on the other side of the makeshift ticket booth waiting to be let in.
‘Righty-ho, then!’ Gabriella called from the middle of the farmyard, clapping her hands as though her bellow weren’t enough to get everyone’s attention. ‘Everybody gather round, time to pray that God brings all the people here, and keeps all the rain away!’ She put her hands on her hips, scanning the stalls and tables. ‘Where’s Emma, then? Cooper! Please fetch Emma, tell her the only thing left on her list is to open the doors so people can start giving us money.’
He held up a hand in acknowledgement, guessing that Emma had gone to take a few deep breaths somewhere. He passed Ben as he made his way towards the barn; his housemate nodded. ‘She’s in there.’
‘Thanks.’ He bit back yet another completely unreasonable stab of jealousy and carried on past him.
‘Hey.’ He entered the wide-open barn doors to find Emma standing at the far end, staring at the display table. He’d got used to seeing her in her work uniform over the past few days. She’d changed into a sundress at some point, navy blue with white spots and a wide red belt. It suited her. ‘Your mum’s summoned the prayer huddle.’
‘Yeah, they messaged me. I don’t appear the moment I’m called and they send out a search party. Sometimes it’s exhausting being the responsible one.’
‘Well, someone’s got to hold it all together.’
