I threw him a look. Now I could never buy Yellow Tail Shiraz again. Or maybe I would, because I honestly couldn’t see what the problem was with it. I also thought that if Nick was harbouring these secret, snooty opinions about Australian wines, what else was he harbouring opinions on?
‘I’ve got that same feeling I had the night before my driving test,’ I said.
Nick smiled at me. ‘Nobody’s testing you. And I’ll be there. If it seems like you’re struggling – although I don’t think for a second you will be – I’ll step in and change the subject or something.’
I looked at him gratefully as we turned the corner into Via Tornabuoni. In the light from the street lamps, it looked all glowy and shiny and perfect, like a movie set.
‘Promise you won’t leave my side, not for a second?’ I said to him.
He swooped down and kissed me on top of my head. ‘Promise,’ he said. ‘Now let’s catch the others up.’
Rosamund and Sophia were just in front of us. Rosamund was clutching hold of Sophia’s arm and her feet were sort of criss-crossing over each other.
‘Is your mum drunk?’ I whispered to Nick.
‘Looks like it,’ he said, grimacing.
We quickened our pace. As we were just about to fall into step beside them, I tuned into their conversation. Sophia’s voice was easy to hear, haughty and high-pitched and probably travelled for miles. Rosamund’s was softer. Herenunciation was not as clear as it usually was, but even so, I could just about make out what she was saying.
‘Oh, Sophia, I wish you and Nick were still together. Do you ever think about it? Getting back with him?’
Sophia laughed lightly. ‘He’s with Maddie now, Rosamund.’
Rosamund sighed. ‘She’s a sweet girl. But she’s not a patch on you.’
‘We made a good team, Nick and I, didn’t we?’ snickered Sophia.
‘You did, darling. You did,’ said Rosamund with passion.
I stopped, right there in the street, glancing at Nick to see if he’d heard, too, but if he had, he was pretending not to.
‘Mummy, take it easy on the wine when we get to the bar, yes?’ he called.
Rosamund spun around on her kitten heels. ‘Darling! I wondered where you’d got to.’
Sophia gave me a look and I held her gaze. She knew I’d heard, and I wasn’t going to let her off the hook by pretending I hadn’t. She looked away first, which gave me some small triumph. But the fact was, my suspicions had been confirmed – in Rosamund’s eyes, I was never going to be good enough for Nick, or a suitable replacement for the woman he’d married first.
Chapter Eleven
I pulled the end off of a piece of croissant and stuffed it into my mouth, pretty sure that a six-hour wine tasting tour on an empty stomach would be a bad idea, although apparently we would be having a ‘light lunch’ at one of the vineyards.
Nick had gone out for breakfast with Daisy and I’d fully intended to go down to the hotel restaurant by myself and have something substantial, but then the bed was too big and comfortable and I’d lain under the duvet and flicked through my phone, catching up with all that was happening in the world. Then I’d made myself a Nespresso and sipped it with the windows thrown open and the prettily named Piazza degli Strozzi below me. And then, before I knew it, I had ten minutes to get dressed and downstairs, ready to meet the tour bus. Brazenly, I’d ducked into the restaurant, flung a croissant into a napkin and now I was eating it while I crossed the lobby, no doubt leaving a trail of crumbs behind me. Not the classiest look, I supposed, but needs must.
Rosamund, Peter and Sophia were waiting by the reception desk. I slowed my pace, swallowed the last of my pastry, brushed flakes of it off the front of my black vest and approached them.
‘Morning!’ I said.
I’d decided earlier, when I was feeling particularly relaxed and content, to make a real effort today (and would put the fact they’d annoyed me with theirwhere you are you from?line of questioning the night before to the back of my mind). Sure, we hadn’t had the best of starts, and they were a little bit stuck-up, but it didn’t mean they weren’t nice people. And when Nick and I got married, they’d be my family, too. It would be so much easier if we got along.
‘How did you all sleep?’ I asked brightly.
‘Very well thank you, Maddie,’ said Rosamund, who had overcompensated for the fact she could hardly wear jewels to a daytime vineyard tour by making her hair even bigger than usual.
Sophia had gone all casual, but in the way Elizabeth Hurley might do casual, so that even her simple white shirt and jeans combo looked like she’d walked straight off the set of a Ralph Lauren photo shoot.
‘Any sign of Nick and Daisy?’ I asked, glancing at my watch.
They were cutting it fine – the tour was due to leave in three minutes.