Page 3 of Be More Lucy

Lucy responded with some weird face-pulling and hand signals that implied she wanted to strangle someone, Adam presumably.

A cough interrupted their conversation.

The registrar was standing at the front, staring at her. ‘We’re ready for the bride now,’ she said pointedly.

The wedding guests were spilling out onto the hotel terrace. Jack went in search of the gents while Em made a beeline for Lucy, who was talking to their old school friend, Charlotte.

‘Hey, Em.’ Charlotte gave her a hug. ‘What a lovely wedding ceremony.’

‘Yes, it was beautiful. Even Connor didn’t screw up!’ Em turned to Lucy. ‘What happened to you?’’

Lucy rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Bloody Adam. He was supposed to be stopping at mine last night, then he texted me to say he was working late and he’d come around first thing. But he didn’t turn up so I phoned him several times. All I got was his voicemail. I was starting to think something awful had happened. Then he finally called me back, saying he had an emergency at work.’

‘I thought he was an accountant,’ Em said. ‘What sort of accountancy emergency justifies missing a wedding?’

‘Perhaps a spreadsheet wouldn’t add up?’ Charlotte suggested.

Lucy grimaced. ‘I’m sure it’s just an excuse to get out of coming today. And there’s one thing that’s bugging me. When he phoned, I swear I could hear a baby crying in the background.’

‘In the office?’ Em asked.

‘When I asked about it, he said he was in a coffee shop. Why would he be in a coffee shop when he’s in the middle of a crisis at work? And it didn’t sound like a busy cafe either.’

‘He could have needed a caffeine hit,’ Em suggested. ‘It must be challenging keeping awake looking at all those numbers.’

Lucy swirled her champagne thoughtfully. ‘I think he might have someone else.’

Charlotte looked uncomfortable. ‘Whereabouts does he live?’ she asked.

‘He’s got a flat in the Rotunda. Why?’

‘Oh. It probably wasn’t him then.’ Charlotte looked even more unsettled now.

‘Who wasn’t him?’ Lucy asked.

‘I was at a family christening in Moseley last Sunday, and there was this guy in the congregation who was the dead spit of Adam. I thought he must have an identical twin.’

‘Adam’s an only child,’ Lucy said. ‘And he’s an atheist. Anyway, he spends every Sunday morning at the tennis club. That’s why he doesn’t stay on a Saturday night. He likes to go home to get plenty of sleep. He’s very competitive.’

‘Every Saturday night on your own?’ asked Charlotte. ‘I don’t think I’d like that.’

‘We get to spend most nights together during the week and Sunday nights, too, so I don’t mind catching up on my sleep on Saturdays.’ Lucy looked on edge.

‘Well, it can’t have been him,’ Charlotte said, ‘because this guy was with a woman and a couple of kids.’

A waiter approached them with a plate of canapes, stopping Charlotte from elaborating further. ‘I’m just going to get another drink,’ she said.

As Charlotte walked towards the bar, Lucy started drumming her fingers on her champagne flute.

‘It can’t be Adam,’ Em said. ‘You’d have found all that out when you started dating him.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Your detailed online research would have revealed a wife and family.’ Em remembered the extensive dossier Lucy had produced on Jack when Em had first met him.

Lucy didn’t say anything.

‘You did Google him, didn’t you? I thought you always did that when you started dating someone new.’

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