Page 16 of The Wedding Forecast

We look at the dips together.

‘Hummus,’ I say. Joel hates hummus.

‘Sounds good,’ Mac says.

I grab a stack of other dips, picking randomly, and almost bump into an elderly man beside me.

‘Sorry,’ I say, stepping around him.

‘Cheer up, love,’ he says to me. ‘Smile. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.’

It can! I want to scream. It can! The man walks away, and my eye twitches, but I won’t yell at a stranger who is possibly over ninety and just trying to be pleasant. I still have a small grip on reality.

I forcefully dump the dips into the basket Mac is holding, and he grimaces.

‘What?’ I say.

‘You seem upset.’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Well, I’m sorry about your arsehole ex.’

‘He’s not an arsehole.’ I don’t know why I still have the automatic urge to defend Joel.

‘He’s not?’

‘Well he is, to me, but not, like, in general. He’s probably going to make some big scientific breakthrough that will save lives one day.’

‘Being an arsehole to you still counts.’

‘You just don’t like him because he stole Luke from you,’ I say.

‘It’s true. There’s a saying. Never trust your best friend’s other best friend.’

‘That’s not a saying.’

‘It is now. I just coined it.’

‘Well, I appreciate your support,’ I say, throwing crackers and chips into the basket.

‘For what it’s worth, you’re not on your own. Being here is hard for me too,’ he says.

‘Why is that?’

He looks like he regrets saying anything.

‘Oh, you know. I’m not a wedding guy.’

‘Right.’ I don’t know what that means but I’m not sure I have the capacity to dig into someone else’s issues right now. I really need all my mental space for feeling sorry for myself.

We meet Luke at the checkout, and we all carry the bags back to the car. Luke falls into step beside me.

‘You don’t have to do this, you know.’

‘Which part?’

‘Staying in the house.’