‘Hmm… I’m not sure.’
She walks over to one of the armchairs and perches on the edge, peering up at me.
‘Well, we filled in those questionnaires, right? You, me, Pippa, Nicholas – and True North sentushere and them to Iceland.’
I edge closer, my quest to find ice receding into the background as I home in on Delaney’s point.
‘Capri’s our ideal holiday,’ I say softly.
She nods her agreement, her lips disappearing between her teeth before she releases them with a tut.
‘Yep. And Iceland is theirs.’
4
DELANEY
‘This isn’t half bad,’ says Nick. He appraises his Negroni, then takes another sip and smacks his lips.
‘Is that your idea of a compliment?’ I reply with a laugh.
‘Absolutely – British equivalent of high praise. I thought you’d recognise it – isn’t your boyfriend a Brit?’
‘That’s quite the assumption,’ I tease lightly.
‘He did fly out of Heathrow.’
‘I’m pretty sure thousands of non-British people fly out of Heathrow every day.’
‘Ah, there is that. So, he’snotBritish?’
‘Oh, no, he is.’
Nick starts laughing, and ordinarily I’d laugh along, but I’m still feeling icky about that call with Nicholas. He obviously blames me for this mess, but it’s not like I strong-armed him or anything. He agreed to this vacation.
‘Sorry, have I…?’
I look up and Nick’s watching me.
‘Have you what?’ I ask.
‘Said the wrong thing.’
‘No, it’s not you.’ I huff out a sigh, weighing up whether to get into it with a stranger.
This isn’t the first time Nicholas has gotten pissy with me over travel plans falling apart – even oneshemade. He’s not really a go-with-the-flow kinda guy, which can be annoying at times, but when you love someone, you love all of them – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Which, in his case, translates to ‘sometimes I act like an asshole’. Mostly, I ignore it, but this feels different – maybe because he’s not here.
Which brings me to the real kicker – our dream vacations are complete opposites. Frigging Iceland!
I snap out of it and Nick’s still watching me like he’s waiting for me to spill. I’m not going to. It would be disloyal to complain about Nicholas to Nick.
‘So, how long have you and Pippa been together?’ I take another sip of my vodka martini while he stares at me, his mouth twitching. We both know I’ve changed the subject to avoid talking about Nicholas.
He lets me off the hook. ‘Twelve years.’
‘Twelve?’ I exclaim. ‘That’s a super long time to date someone.’
‘I suppose,’ he says, his lips flattening into a line. Oops – nowI’vehit a nerve.