Page 32 of Forever Summer

“Okay, I might head out there.”

“No!” I all but shouted, causing Tammy and Toby’s heads to swing around comically fast.

“I mean, you can’t, you, um, have to have lunch, it’s a really important part of the day.”

Oh God. Lame much, Ellie?

Now Tammy was looking at me like I was some crazed bag lady.

“I’m not skipping lunch, I’ll head out after. What’s on the menu?” Toby asked Tammy who was still way too casual.

How was I supposed to put a stop to this? Faint? Drug him? Throw myself across the bonnet of his car? I would do whatever it took to keep this a secret, unlike Tammy, who was damn well useless in a crisis.

“You know that you’re going to look at the menu and order a pot and a parmi anyway, right?” Tammy mused.

“Well, yeah, that’s true,” Toby conceded.

Tammy laughed. “I’ll go put your order in.”

Wait, what? She was leaving me? Abandoning me to be with Toby alone to face the myriad of questions about what I was doing here.

He would be suspicious straight away. There would be no way of me being here without Tess not knowing and therefore him not knowing; it just wasn’t possible.

Tammy paused halfway through the sliding door, “Oh, Ellie, by the way, Toby knows,” she said, a huge smile spread across her face as she winked at Toby.

“Knows?”

“I know.”

I tried to grab Tammy’s attention but she was long gone toward the kitchen. I was going to kill her.

I shifted uneasily in my chair. Was this a case of entrapment? “Know what, exactly?” I asked innocently.

Toby dragged out the chair next to me. “The very same reason you’re here, I’m sure.” He sat down, stretching out his legs, still clad in his navy work pants that were covered in grease and oil, the burden all mechanics must bear.

“For a pot and parmi?”

“Well, that, no doubt, and a certain surprise engagement party.”

I should have visibly sagged in relief that he knew, that I didn’t have to worry about keeping up the façade and be on anyone’s shit list for being discovered by one of the guests of honour. I blamed my sceptical heart. Was it common knowledge that Toby knew?

“H-how…”

“Do I know?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Sean has always had this inability to keep secrets from me.” Toby linked his hands behind his head, stretching and yawning. “Plus, it was kind of my idea.”

“Wait, the party?”

“Initially, I mentioned it ages ago and then when Sean said he and Amy were going to throw us an engagement party I jumped at it. Tess has been driving herself mad stressing about work and the thought of planning the engagement, so I’ve kind of taken the initiative.” Toby looked proud.

There was a sudden heaviness in my heart. My best friend had been struggling, stressed beyond belief and I hadn’t even noticed. I was too busy worrying about my own ridiculous problems.

“Well, at least I don’t have to stress about you blowing my cover,” I said, playfully nudging Toby’s foot.

“No chance, you’re my wild card. Tess hasn’t a clue you’re around and I want to keep it that way. She’ll probably be more excited about seeing you than the actual surprise party itself.”

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