Page 66 of The Last Saturday In July
‘I’M GLAD we came out tonight.’ Jess reached across the table at La Vivanda and took hold of Simon’s long, slim hands.
Simon rolled his shoulders as if easing out some tension. ‘Well, at least I got my work finished. Although I’m not sure going out on a Sunday night is a very good idea.’
Jess squeezed his hands. ‘I know, but I feel bad about Thursday, and this was the only night we were both free.’
‘Was that the reason for the engagement photos?’ Simon smiled tiredly. ‘I appreciate the effort, Jess. I’m just sorry I can’t enjoy it a bit more.’
Jess thought about their engagement shoot in Malahide Castle earlier in the day. Zoe had done her best to relax them, but had finally said that if Simon didn’t smile, she wouldn’t Photoshop out his bad bits.
‘I don’t expect you to Photoshop anything, thank you, Zoe. My parents like me exactly the way I am,’ Simon had replied.
Zoe had unclipped a lens cover and given Simon a pointed look. ‘I suppose they have to, they’re your parents.’
Jess had imagined an engagement shoot would be a lot of fun, but after about twenty-five minutes it had been easier to call it a day.
Zoe had shrugged. ‘Suits me. Finn and I promised Nana we’d go down this evening to make her dinner and do a bit of cleaning.’
‘Actually, I asked Zoe to do our photos ages ago.’ It was tempting to tell him what she’d done on Friday for his boss, but it was better to make it a surprise. She caught their waiter’s eye, and he hurried over to their table.
‘Such a pleasure to see my two favourite people. How are you both this evening?’
Jess beamed. She was convinced that Italian men had to attend charm school. ‘We’re celebrating, Luca.’
Simon looked astonished. Luca looked delighted.
‘Birthday? No, a baby?’ His eyes flicked briefly over Jess’s slightly rounded tummy.
She sucked it in, feeling a bit annoyed now.
‘Actually, Luca, we’re just celebrating the fact that we’re getting married in a couple of weeks’ time, so we’ll have …’ she glanced at Simon, who was looking at her as if she’d sprouted an extra head, ‘er, our usual bottle of wine, please. You know the one.’
Simon cleared his throat. ‘Cabernet Sauvignon.’
Jess nodded. ‘Right, that one.’
After Luca left, Jess took Simon’s hands again. ‘This is nice, isn’t it? Just the two of us. I mean, I feel like we don’t see each other anymore.’
Simon extracted one hand to push his glasses up his nose. ‘We see each other every day.’
‘Well, yes, obviously. I just feel it’s important for us to make time to really talk to each other.’
He sighed. ‘It’s also important we don’t break promises to each other.’
Jess felt colour flash to her cheeks, as a sharp memory of her night with Adam on the Isle of Man caught her unawares. She forced herself to concentrate.
‘I know, I should have asked Zoe to step in. But I thought that was behind us?’
Simon pushed his fringe out of the way. ‘It is, I’m sorry, I’m just a bit caught up with work right now. Liam has spoken to Bill, and he thinks we might win him over, but I still let the firm down.’
Jess tried to think of something comforting to say. ‘A lot of that was outside your control, Simon. He can’t blame you for bad food or terrible service in a restaurant. You did your best.’
Simon folded his hands on the table. ‘Jess, you do understand how important my career is, don’t you?’
Jess nodded. ‘Of course, I love what I do too.’
Simon seemed to be trying to choose his words. ‘Look, Jess, I don’t want you to get upset but …’
‘Okaaay …’ Jess shifted in her chair.
