Page 41 of Be More Lucy

Mark replied straightaway.

Yes pls

Jack walked back into the hall again. He looked at Lucy. ‘Mark does have a sister called Gabriella.’

Lucy looked stunned. ‘Shit.’

‘Do you want some tea? It’s a bit early for anything stronger.’ Em asked, ushering Lucy to the sofa in the living room.

‘I’m going to have to apologise.’

Jack was curious why all this mattered. ‘What’s his sister got to do with anything?’

‘I thought he was having an affair with her.’

Em looked baffled. Lucy summarised what had happened in Spain last year.

‘Why didn’t you let him explain at the time?’ Em asked.

‘I thought he was the second man to cheat on me in two months. I wasn’t going to hang around to be humiliated again. I blocked him and got a taxi straight back to the airport.’

Em put her arms around Lucy. ‘What a mess.’

‘It’s an understandable conclusion to jump to,’ Jack said. ‘Why don’t you go back over to the house and apologise? I’m sure he’s just relieved to know finally why it all went wrong.’

The quicker Lucy went to find Mark, the quicker Jack could get back to bed and possibly persuade Em to join him.

‘It’s embarrassing,’ Lucy said. ‘Anyway, it doesn’t make any difference now. We’ve both moved on.’

‘He might not be in a relationship for much longer. They never seem to last for more than six months. I reckon they get clingy, so he breaks up with them.’

Was Em seriously suggesting that? Nancy’s matchmaking tendencies were rubbing off on her. Jack needed to nip this in the bud.

‘I hate to rain on your parade, but Hannah seems to have more staying power than the others,’ Jack said.

‘Yes, but …’

Jack guessed what Em was about to say, but that wouldn’t be helpful. He glared at her. She took the hint and shut up.

But Lucy knew Em too well. ‘Come on, spit it out.’

Em avoided catching Jack’s eye again. ‘Mark was upset last night. He said at one point he used to think you were the one.’

Exactly what Jack thought Em had been about to say. Encouraging Lucy to think there was a chance she and Mark could get back together would not help the situation.

Lucy went quiet for a moment. ‘I thought the same about him.’

This was so not going to end well.

‘Shall we invite Mark over for breakfast?’ Em asked Jack.

Jack sighed. There was no chance of going back to bed now. But, on the positive side, if Lucy did apologise to Mark, they could have that joint stag and hen do after all. ‘Fine,’ he said.

‘What are you expecting me to do?’ Lucy didn’t sound keen on the idea of Mark joining them either.

‘You can make peace with him. See where it goes.’ Em got up. ‘Jack’s just going to get dressed.’ She shepherded him into the bedroom and shut the door.

‘You’ve given Lucy false hopes. I don’t think Hannah’s going anywhere soon,’ he said.

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