Page 102 of A Secret Cornish Wish
‘You and Mack kept in touch, did you?’ Mandy asks, raising her eyebrows at me suggestively. ‘I never knew that.’
‘By email only,’ I say firmly. ‘Nothing else. I haven’t spoken to him in quite a while though.’ I turn around again, and I see Rob, Nixie and Mack making their way over to our table. So I swiftly turn back.
Alice shrieks. ‘Oh my God! He’s only coming over here!’
‘Alice, calm down,’ Claire says. ‘It’s only Rob.’
‘Hey,’ Rob says with a slight LA twang to his voice. ‘How are we all?’
He goes around the table giving each of us a hug and kiss on the cheek, with Mack following. Nixie stands to the side watching them, looking a bit bored.
I smile as Rob gets to Alice. Her face turns a deep shade of beetroot and she looks like she might faint when Rob lightly kisses her cheek.
‘I can’t believe this is little Alice,’ Rob says to Claire. ‘The last time I saw you, you were twelve, I think, Alice. How are your brothers?’
‘Good . . . I think.’ Alice stutters a little as she stares at Rob. ‘I love your movies,’ she blurts out suddenly, and immediately looks mortified.
Alice is usually so composed and confident, so seeing her turn into a quivering mess at meeting Rob is actually quite disconcerting.
‘Thank you,’ Rob says, obviously used to this. ‘I appreciate that a lot.’ He comes to Rosie next. ‘And who is this lovely lady?’
‘I’m Rosie,’ Rosie says, not in the least bit starstruck like Alice. ‘You’re my mum’s friend, Rob, aren’t you?’
‘I am indeed.’ Rob smiles at her. ‘Pleased to meet you, Rosie.’ And he formally shakes Rosie’s outstretched hand. ‘I can see you’ve inherited your mum’s beauty.’ Rob looks at me over the top of Rosie’s head. ‘Hi, Frankie,’ he says, leaning forward to kiss my cheek. ‘How are you?’ he whispers in my ear.
‘Good, thanks,’ I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘How are you?’
‘Yeah, good.’
Rob moves on to Mandy and Jules, and suddenly Mack is next to me.
‘Hey, Frankie. Long time,’ Mack says, as he too kisses my cheek. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
‘And you too,’ I tell him. ‘How’s things? How’s your family?’
‘Well, thank you,’ he says. ‘And you must be Rosie. I feel I know you already, Rosie. Your mum has told me a lot about you.’
‘Thanks,’ Rosie says. ‘Are you the one who bought me my pink rabbit?’
‘I am!’ Mack says, looking surprised. ‘Do you still have it?’
‘Yes, she sits with my other favourite cuddly toys in a hammock over my bed.’
Mack, looking quite moved, nods. ‘I’m very pleased to hear that, Rosie, very pleased.’ He turns to me again. ‘I’m sorry we lost touch lately,’ he whispers. ‘Can we catch up properly later?’
‘Yes, sure,’ I say, smiling at him.
Rob, Mack and Nixie – who is very quickly introduced to everyone – all sit down at the table with us. But before we have time to start catching up, Suzy arrives with her husband and the greeting process begins all over again.
‘Let’s make this easy on us all, shall we?’ Rob says as Suzy’s husband, Harry, arrives back at the table with their drinks. ‘Shall we all go round the table one at a time and share any news we have, so we’re all caught up with each other’s lives? Otherwise, we’ll spend all night saying the same things time and time again.’
‘Good idea,’ Mandy says before I have a chance to object to this idea. ‘I’ll start, shall I? As some of you know, this is my partner, Jules. We’ve been together five years now and she is my rock.’ Mandy reaches across and squeezes Jules’s hand. ‘She’s one of the main reasons I’m still sitting here now. I was in a pretty bad place the last time you saw me. But with a lot of therapy and Jules’s support, I’m now in a much better place in my life . . . I’ve been sober for almost five years now, and, most importantly, for once in my life I’m truly happy.’
‘That’s fantastic, Mandy,’ Suzy says. ‘I’m so pleased for you. And your business – how’s that going?’
‘Strength to strength,’ Mandy says. ‘It’s doing incredibly well. I’m truly blessed in life right now.’ And again, she gazes at Jules. ‘Suzy – your turn?’
I glance at Claire and raise my eyebrows.I knew this was going to happen.
