Page 28 of Plot Twist

‘But Edinburgh is just so beautiful,’ Ellie said. ‘Do you ever visit?’

It took me a moment to answer. My memories of Edinburgh were entangled with thoughts of Rae.

‘Yes, I go quite a bit,’ I said, quietly. ‘It is beautiful.’

‘Dinner is served,’ Riley called from the kitchen at the same time. ‘Head on outside and I’ll bring it out.’

We stood up, clutching our wine glasses, and filed out onto the patio area. Ellie and Bridget chatted to Ivy about her dolls as she carried them out to the garden. Riley brought out plates of pasta, while Ivy took her dolls to play on the slide.

‘Are you all right?’ he turned to whisper in my ear as he placed a sandwich platter on the table.

The low hum of his words near my skin made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I felt myself nod and he nodded swiftly and carried on as though nothing had happened. Bridget and Ellie made various appreciative noises about the food, although they were clearly more impressed with the wine.

‘Becca told us the story of you guys meeting in real life,’ Bridget said to her brother. ‘What a laugh.’

‘I’m glad you’ve decided to give it a chance though, Becca,’ added Ellie. ‘He’s not a crazy person, I promise.’

‘I don’t know if we should promise that,’ Bridget whispered to her partner.

Ellie laughed and playfully punched her partner on the arm, while Bridget let out a large yelp and rubbed it, grinning back at Ellie. I was fascinated, watching them gazing adoringly at one another as if they had just met and finishing each other’s sentences.

I glanced at Riley. He was looking straight at me. He winked.

‘You guys are just the perfect couple,’ I said, drawing my eyes back to Ellie. ‘Riley said you met while travelling through South America?’

Bridget and Ellie beamed at each other as they halved a sausage roll without any prior discussion.

‘We sure did.’ Bridget smiled wistfully. ‘Love at first sight.’

‘She sat down beside me on a long coach journey and we just clicked straight away,’ Ellie confirmed. ‘I almost missed my stop because we were chatting so much.’

‘Ha! Unlikely. You’ve never been late for anything in your life, Ellie,’ Bridget said. ‘A bit like myself.’

Bridget laughed loudly at her own joke.

‘You two talking too much? Never!’ Riley teased. ‘And yes, Bridget will be late for her own funeral.’

‘Speaking of talking a lot, what about you two?’ Bridget sat back in her seat and grinned. ‘Firing messages back and forth all day.’

I didn’t dare to glance at Riley as I felt my cheeks flush.

‘At least you’ll fly through the last couple of chapters of your book, Riley,’ Bridget said confidently. ‘Now Becca’s here.’

It was Riley’s turn to avoid my gaze. He fidgeted in his chair and I watched his face cloud over. I wondered how he’d managed to convince his sister that his writing was going well. He had a terrible poker face.

‘Of course we will,’ I replied, raising my wine glass. ‘We’ll have that book bashed out so quickly, we’ll spend the rest of our time in the pub.’

Riley grinned. ‘Sure, we might as well go now. Start as we mean to go on.’

‘We still get our Ivy every week though, right?’ Bridget asked. ‘Even though Becca’s here?’

‘Ivy comes to our house for a sleepover every Thursday night. Without fail,’ Ellie explained. ‘We just love it.’

‘Good practice for us,’ Bridget winked.

‘Why?’ I asked. ‘Are you guys planning to. . . Oh God, sorry. I can’t believe I’m asking that.’

‘It’s no secret, don’t worry, Becca. We are going to adopt. We’re actually already on a list waiting to be matched.’