Page 35 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘So, do you reckon Saskia will go for it?’ Shaz asks me.

‘I have no idea. If Paloma and Ursula think it will work, they may be able to persuade her. I guess we’ll see.’

‘And will you be involved?’ Lauren asks.

I laugh. ‘I hope not. For a start, I have no idea what I’d bring to the table – not with what they have in mind. We may need to get the agency’s investigator involved but…’ I shrug.

Lauren seems satisfied with my answer, so I return to what we were talking about before Kate called. ‘Now, tell me more about your sperm donor.’

Like Tristan and me, Shaz and Lauren want to be parents, only their journey has been markedly different to ours. And, as Tristan’s best friend and his wife – Ravi and Jacinda – are expecting Baby Sharma in a few months, there’s a buzz of excitement in our friendship group. With any luck, we’ll get to experience parenthood together and our kids will grow up as cousins.

‘He’s a rocket scientist,’ Lauren replies. ‘An actual rocket scientist.’

‘No way.’

‘Way,’ Shaz quips, then she fills me in on the rest of their donor’s profile.

* * *

Kate

‘Well, that went better than expected,’ I say, stepping back inside after the call with Poppy. I fill the others in, eliciting varying responses: an excited smile from Adriana, an I-should-hope-so nod from Margot, and a scowl from Willem.

‘And this is the matchmaker who introduced you to Dunn?’ asks Willem. If he believes that, then no wonder he’s scowling.

‘No, of course not,’ I reply. ‘It’s a different one.’

‘Right.’

He doesn’t say anything else, but his meaning is clear: what sort of woman hastwomatchmakers? I look away from his scrutinous scowl. Willem and his judgement can get in the bin!

‘So, what are we all doing now?’ asks Margot.

It’s presumptuous of her to ask. I assumed we’d leave Willem and Adriana to their day and head out to explore Amsterdam. And with Willem’s unsupportive, judgey attitude, I’m inclined to make a swift exit.

‘Oh, er…’ mutters Willem. ‘I’ve got a meeting to prepare for.’

A perfect excuse to wrap this up, and I turn towards the door.

‘Boring!’ Margot declares. ‘Andit’s Saturday. Why are you working on a Saturday?’

‘Margot!’ I hiss as Willem stumbles over an explanation, but she ignores me.

‘Come on!’ Margot exclaims. ‘If we were in one of those heist films, this is the part where we all go out and celebrate.’

Adriana chuckles – she obviously finds Margot amusing – but Willem shoots her a disdainful look. ‘Celebratewhatexactly?’

I can tell he’s about to say more but Margot cuts him off. ‘Assembling the team! You know, like inOcean’s 8.’ He stares at her blankly and rather than dropping it, she doubles down. ‘When Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett bring all the others together to brief them on the heist, they crack the champers and celebrate.’

I don’t bother correcting her – they celebrateafterthey pull off the heist – because when Margot gets like this, there’s little that can dampen her enthusiasm.

‘Right,’ Willem growls, his scowl intensifying. That’s twice he’s said that since I came back inside. It must be Willem speak for ‘you are completely bonkers’.

‘But you’re forgetting that I’m notonthe team,’ he says sharply.

Adriana sighs, drawing attention from the rest of us. ‘Sorry to interrupt this fascinating discussion,’ she says, her optimism ebbing away before my eyes, ‘but I’ve just realised something. If you and I are staying engaged to Jon until we do whatever it is we’re going to do, then how do I get out of dinner with our parents?’

‘Oh,’ I say, ‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

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