Thank God.
I will not let these people down again, I silently vowed. Not ever.
‘Are you caught up on Mel’s news?’ Jackson asked, his eyes going in concern to the woman sitting beside him.
‘She is,’ Mel confirmed, her eyes overbright.
‘Great,’ Jackson exclaimed. ‘Then are you ready to hear mine?’
He was fidgeting on his seat, which probably should have alerted me to the fact he had big news to share.
‘Soooo...’ he said, drawing out the word for maximum impact. ‘Lars and I have locked down the wedding venue. But there’s still one important detail outstanding.’
He waited until we were both looking his way.
‘I want you to be my Groom’s Woman.’
My eyes went to Mel’s, because misinterpreting this was going to be embarrassing.
‘Which one of us?’ Mel asked, which was so much better coming from her than me.
Jackson flopped back against the velvet banquette as though he’d been shot.
‘Both of you, of course. I’m not having a best man. Why would I when I have two of the best women ever in my life already?’
His eyes danced happily between us, clearly waiting for a reaction. I’m not sure he got the one he was expecting when we both burst into tears.
‘I’m sorry, it’s these bloody hormones,’ Mel declared, grabbing a wodge of serviettes from the table and passing half to me.
I couldn’t borrow that excuse, and I think we all knew why I, the friend who never cried, was suddenly teary-eyed.
‘I don’t deserve this,’ I whispered in Jackson’s ear as I got up and hugged him tightly.
‘Yeah, you do,’ he said, before releasing me to embrace Mel.
‘So, what’s going on with you, Ells?’ he asked. ‘Given that we have about nine months of news to catch up on, perhaps you’d better lead with the headlines.’
A burst of laughter from the other side of the bar momentarily distracted me, or perhaps I was looking for anything to delay the moment when I stepped out of my comfort zone and straight into Mel’s wheelhouse. I determinedly pulled my focus away from the far end of the bar and back to the booth where my two friends were looking at me expectantly.
‘I guess the most notable event was being struck by lightning.’
A pause, slightly uncomfortable, as though they were both waiting for the punchline of a joke which was sure to follow. Only it didn’t.
‘You mean metaphorically?’ asked Mel, with a slightly nervous laugh.
Very slowly I shook my head.
‘No. Literally.’
Mel’s expression was a hazy fog of doubt, but Jackson’s showed a slow-dawning shock.
‘Oh, my God,’ he said, his voice scarcely more than a whisper.
Mel’s eyes flashed his way before settling back on my face.
‘Are you one of the Park People?’ Jackson asked. It was an expression some of the local media had coined when they hadn’t been able to uncover our identities. I didn’t much like it. But in answer, I simply nodded.
‘Fuck me.’