Page 57 of A Wedding in Tuscany

‘No. Jean-Luc and his grandmother. He says she would have loved me.’

‘Of course she would have.’ I swallow the hard lump that’s almost choking me. ‘Hey, it doesn’t matter that Vanessa wore it. He doesn’t love her now. They’re not married anymore.’

‘I know. But part of me is jealous of her.’

‘Well, that’s understandable with how his family treats you.’

‘Yes, but … that’s not what I mean. I …’ Her arm wraps around my shoulder and I lean into her. ‘It’s just … she got to meet Ellie, got to know her even, and I never will and …’ Sarah’s hand grasps my shoulder tightly. ‘If I think about it too much … how Jean-Luc had to ask for this ring back … it makes me feel a little sick.’

‘Well, then don’t think about it.’

‘Hah.’ It’s less of a laugh and more of a sardonic utterance.

‘I’m serious. What good does it do?’ I’m silent, knowing she’s right. ‘Zero, Cat. It does zero good, so you’ve got to stop it.’ I nod. ‘We could do, like, a cleansing ritual or something,’ she says. I pull away and look at her. ‘What?’ She laughs. ‘I know you’re not really into all that?’

‘Neither are you.’

‘So? It can’t hurt?and it may just help, the symbolism of it.’

I shake my head and shrug. ‘All right, why not.’

‘Awesome,’ she says?a word she rarely used to say, but since she’s been with Josh, says all the time. She gets up and retrieves her phone from her handbag and starts typing. ‘I think you’re supposed to use sage. I haven’t seen any of that around the grounds but there’s lots of lavender and rosemary.’

‘Isn’t it supposed to be dried?’

‘Oh …’ She reads something on the screen. ‘You’re right.’ She looks up from her phone. ‘How about we use the citronella candles?’

‘You want to cleanse my engagement ring, passed down from my fiancé’s deceased grandmother, with a citronella candle?’

‘Like I said, it can’t hurt. Besides, it’s just symbolic. We could light a match and do it?doesn’t matter how, just matters that you’re doing it.’

‘If you say so.’

‘Come on. The guys will be back soon and we’ll wanna be done before then.’ She goes to leave the room but there’s one thought that won’t let me be.

‘Sez?’

‘Mmm?’ She pauses at the door.

‘Why don’t they like me?’ My voice cracks on ‘like’ and in a millisecond my sister is across the room, kneeling in front of me as tears spill down my face.

‘Hey … Oh, Cat.’ She reaches up and envelops me in a big sisterly hug. ‘Because they are fucking arseholes, okay? It has nothing to do with you. You are incredibly likeable?loveable. You’re loveable, Cat, and Jean-Luc loves you more than anyone else in the world, and that’s all you need to worry about, okay?’ I sniff, a ragged sob escaping. She holds me tighter then pulls back and looks at me intently.

‘You have me, and Mum and Dad, and the girls … you are so loved and you have so much family … you don’t need them, okay?’ I dip my head in a half-nod and wipe a finger under my runny nose. Sarah stands and snatches a handful of tissues from the box on the bedside table. ‘Here.’ She bobs down again. ‘Cat, seriously, fuck them, okay? Fuck them and as soon as I get back to Sydney, I’m sending them a giant box of exploding glittery dicks.’ I cough out a laugh and she smiles at me. ‘No, I mean it. I’m talking extreme glitter bomb here. They’ll be finding glitter in every nook and cranny for the rest of their miserable lives.’ I snigger softly.

‘Thank you.’

‘You don’t have to thank me. This is what big sisters are for.’

‘Sending glitter bombs to shitty in-laws?’

‘Sending glitter bombs in the shape of dicks to shitty in-laws.’ We grin at each other. ‘Now, go get cleaned up so we can cleanse the fuck out of that ring before the guys get back.’

‘All right.’ I sniff and wipe my nose. ‘I love you, Sez.’

‘I love you too. Now go.’

---