Chapter 9
9
‘Honestly, Giles talks about you so much,’ Sienna said as she picked up the jug of water on the table and promptly filled Holly’s glass. ‘And Hope. Do you know he’s very protective of you both? He thinks of you as family.’
‘Yes, well, we’ve been through a lot.’
Rather than respond, Sienna picked up her wineglass and took a long sip.
‘He told me about his past,’ Sienna said, an unusual look of seriousness on her face. ‘About the things he did with the sweet shop when you first took over the place. Some other things he did too, involving Ben and Jamie. He sounds like he was quite a different person then.’
‘He was,’ Holly said in surprise.
Giles’s wayward past was common knowledge among the group, and they would regularly rib him for it, commenting on how they needed to be careful in case he returned to his traitorous ways. But they were friends. The lack of scruples with which he had gone through his early adulthood hardly seemed like something he’d talk to a stranger about, but then Holly reminded herself that Sienna wasn’t exactly a stranger. They were dating. Still, the relationship was obviously more serious than Holly had realised if he was telling her about those things. Those words, Aunty Sienna , sprung back into her mind, but before she could dwell on them, Sienna was talking again.
‘Hope is just adorable. I think that every time I see her. And now Giles has said that she’s got a lead part in the upcoming school concert?’
‘Well, I’m not sure I’d call it a lead part,’ Holly replied. ‘But she is playing the ukulele, and she does have to sing a solo line too.’
‘You must tell me all about it.’
By the time the main courses arrived, Holly had spent more time talking to Sienna one on one than in all their other meetings put together. Fin was right about her charity work. The passion with which she spoke about her job implied it wasn’t quite the frivolous activity that Holly had previously envisioned, even though during their conversation, she named four celebrities and countless swanky venues. And as silly as it was in comparison, Sienna appeared genuinely enthused by Holly’s own charity work for a local care home.
‘I don’t visit as much as I used to,’ Holly said with a pang of guilt. ‘To be honest, after Verity passed away, I didn’t go in for a long time. I found it too difficult. But over the last couple of years, I’ve been making more of an effort. I’ve taken Hope in a couple of times too, and hopefully, we can build that up as she gets older.’
‘Oh yes, that would be a wonderful experience for her, I’m sure.’
Conversation passed around the table as they enjoyed their main courses, including countless anecdotes about Jamie and Fin’s wedding.
‘And Evan’s guitar solo,’ Caroline said, shaking her head. ‘Of course, he could play the guitar. He could do everything.’
‘Yes, had we known he was going to steal the spotlight, we’d have just let him be part of the band,’ Michael said. ‘Actually, no, we wouldn’t. He would have shown us all up.’
The group laughed. Including Holly.
For a long time, Evan’s name hadn’t been mentioned in situations like this. The group had shied away from talking about him at all, as if saying his name would be enough to bring all the memories and heartbreak flooding back to Holly. But the heartbreak was always there. The wound hadn’t healed, and she knew now it never could. But speaking about him helped keep him a little more present in her mind.
After the waiter had taken their dessert orders, Holly cleared her throat.
‘If you’ll excuse me, Sienna, I’m just going to head to the ladies’.’
‘Oh, I’ll come with you,’ Sienna said, placing her napkin on the table in front of her, but before either of them could move, Giles had stood up and clinked his knife against his glass.
‘Hi, everybody, just while we’re waiting for our desserts, I wanted to say a few words.’