He passed me a glass. ‘Anything.’
‘Are you two …?’
Maeve stirred, panicking for a second when she realised she was underwater.
‘You’re okay.’ Rory abandoned our conversation and went over to her. ‘You fell asleep in the water. For a health professional, that wasn’t very safety first of you.’
I laughed along with them, hoping it was convincing. ‘People get way too complacent about their safety when my brother is in the next room.’ I handed her a glass. ‘Mimosa?’
She took it, rearranging her swimming costume and immediately taking a gulp when Rory poured prosecco into it. ‘Well, you know, I never would have fallen asleep if you two hadn’t taken liberties with your ten-minute warning.’
Rory shot me a look, hiding a smile.
***
‘If there is one thing I’m thankful for’ – Isla readjusted her pink, heart-shaped sunglasses – ‘it’s that we are currently debating between pancakes and avocado on toast, and not fighting for our lives in tiny death-mobiles.’
It had become incredibly apparent how Isla felt about go-karting. She’d said farewell to my brother as if he and Rory were never coming back.
‘I don’t think they’d let it happen if it wasn’t safe,’ Maeve mused, scanning the menu.
‘Tell that to the bruised shoulder blades of my childhood.’ I winced. Trying to keep up with Joe and his friends at his twelfth birthday had cost me.
‘You know what I think is a travesty?’ Maeve put her menu down. ‘That the only part of bottomless brunch that’s actually bottomless is the cocktails. I want to sit here and eat pancakes and maple syrup until the boys have to come and physically peel me from this leather booth.’
She did have a point. Bottomless brunch was misleading if you couldn’t order a ridiculous amount of toast.
Isla sipped her pink cocktail, which had strawberry sherbet around the edge of the glass. ‘Speak for yourself. They can keep these coming.’
Although we’d kept most of the weekend a surprise, we had told Isla in advance that she needed to pick an era. Her sunglasses and pink shaggy jacket screamed Lover. Maeve was covered in stars as a salute to Midnights, and I’d gone full Fearless, right down to the curls and the cowboy boots. It was a no-brainer; I’d spent way too many nights during university blasting that album. Maeve and I had dedicated a whole evening earlier in the week to making friendship bracelets, which we’d presented this morning with a flourish. They were currently stacked up our arms, and Isla had spent ages choosing ones that coordinated with her outfit. You could be a bride-to-be, but you’d always be a girl at heart.
‘I’m going to the loo.’ Maeve stood, pointing to the menu. ‘Order me a breakfast burrito with extra cheese?’
It took precisely five seconds after she’d walked away for Isla to lower her sunglasses. ‘Okay, spill.’
I nursed my own cocktail, which was bright orange. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m going to officially be your big sister in T-minus eight days. I know when you’re lying. Something has been up with you for weeks.’
I stared at my soon-to-be sister. She was right. She’d been able to read me for years.
‘It’s about Level.’ I squirmed, uncomfortable. ‘I just …’
Isla put her hand over mine. ‘You don’t love it any more.’
What? Maybe I wasn’t as good at hiding my feelings as I thought I was.
‘Ever since I met you, ambition has been your thing.’ Isla tilted her head. ‘I know when the light leaves your eyes that something has gone wrong. Talk to me. You know I won’t tell.’
And I believed her, I did. When I’d lost my virginity in first year, she’d promised not to tell a soul (especially Joe) and as far as I knew, it had never surfaced. So I spilled and told her everything, as briefly as I could given that there was only so much primping in the bathroom that Maeve could do.
‘I’m not saying we need to merge with Link.’ I sucked back the last of cocktail number one. ‘I just wish I could talk to Rory about it more openly.’
Isla nodded, sympathetic. ‘This is a hazard of working with someone you love. Do you know how long it took for me to work up the courage to tell your mum that the rosewater pastries weren’t selling?’
I snorted. Telling mum she was wrong was like strolling straight into a lion’s den.
‘I think you need to talk to him.’ I didn’t have to ask who she was referring to. ‘He cares about you more than he cares about the company.’
She shut up abruptly as Maeve came back over, three neon-looking drinks in hand. ‘They said something about pink gin and I said we were sold.’
We settled into our usual excited chatter, going over the last items on Isla’s – and by extension, our – to-do list. Aside from the actual logistics of picking everything up on the day, and some last-minute wedding favour making (everyone was getting a personalised packet of sunflower seeds), we were down to the final tasks.
‘I just need to decide what I want to put in our bouquets.’ Isla had the dreamy look in her eye that she always did when it came to flowers. ‘Rory told me I should put tulips in yours, Pen.’
‘He did?’
She nodded, smiling down at her cocktail. I was touched.
‘Speaking of Rory, I can’t wait to see everyone all dressed up.’ Maeve clapped her hands together. ‘I can’t remember the last time I saw him in a suit.’
Excitement over sunflower seeds forgotten, I felt a pang in my stomach. Getting all that Level stuff off my chest and telling Isla the truth had been freeing. Maybe I needed to push myself a little bit harder.
‘About that.’ I stared down at the table, psyching myself up to the glorious opening notes of ‘Bejeweled’.
‘About what?’ Maeve was looking at me, expectant. ‘What does Rory in a suit have to do with anything?’
Did I sense a slight defensiveness in her tone? I didn’t want to fall out with my best friend. Then again, if she’d read my mind these past few weeks, or been a fly on the wall in Rory’s kitchen, or during our bikini moment this morning, we’d be destined for conflict anyway.
