Chapter Thirty-One

We're halfway to the hotel when Serena calls.

‘Just wanted to give you a heads up that we've had someone poking around outside the house with a camera,' she says after I put the phone on speaker so Theo can hear.

‘Paparazzi?' Theo asks, his eyes sliding to mine for a moment. My stomach dips.

‘I think so,' Serena huffs. ‘He had the requisite darting ferrety features and long lens adored by tabloid trash and perverts alike.'

‘Could have been a bird watcher,' I say hopefully. ‘There are lots of rare birds around.'

‘My sweet, sweet summer child,' Serena sings. ‘I love your optimism. Never lose it.'

‘Yeah, yeah, okay. Not a bird watcher, I get it,' I grumble.

‘It doesn't matter anyway, because you're not here, are you? He had to satisfy himself with pictures of me having a frank conversation with an inept delivery driver, who Lil then had to make a cup of tea for while he practically wept into her shoulder. Jesus, why do people need so much coddling? I'm surrounded by incompetents.'

‘It's your burden to carry,' Theo says. ‘Thanks for letting us know. Looks like we picked the right time to get out of Dodge.'

‘You certainly did. I wonder if he's still out there,' Serena muses. ‘I could turn the garden hose on him.'

Theo smirks. ‘Sounds like you've got it handled. Can you let David know, too?'

‘Will do,' Serena says and cuts off the call.

‘Are you okay?' Theo asks me.

I shift in my seat. ‘I guess so. I don't like how close that was, but like Serena says, we're out of the way now.' I watch his face closely. ‘What about you? Are you okay?'

‘Me?' He taps his fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Sure.' When I stay quiet, he glances over and gives a short laugh when he meets my eye. ‘Okay, I'm annoyed. I don't like thinking about photographers at Granny Mac's house because of me, but we avoided any major disasters.'

‘What about now? Are you worried they'll follow you to the wedding?' I feel that lurch in my stomach again at the thought.

‘I'm always worried where my family's involved,' Theo says with a lightness I'm certain he doesn't feel. ‘But there's no reason to think it will be a problem. And the hotel has security. It's not vulnerable in the same way the house was. They're plenty used to dealing with celebrities. It will be fine.'

I'm not completely sure if he's trying to convince me or himself, but when he takes my hand and presses his lips to it, just as he had on my birthday, I try to ignore the tight feeling in my chest.

Despite Serena's warning, I had underestimated the reality of Lisa's wedding venue. Almost four hours later, we pull up a long, gravelled drive lined with tall, sentry-like poplar trees, all slender elegance, providing a canopy of soft, bright green. Birds are singing. The light is actually dappled.

When we finally reach the end of the drive, we turn a corner and the view of the hotel opens up in front of us.

‘What in the Jane Austen is this place?' I ask, dazed.

‘Yeah,' – Theo glances up – ‘I think they used it in one of the Pride and Prejudice films or something. Lisa's mad for that stuff.'

The building is a dream, all tall Georgian windows, climbing greenery and pale honey-drenched stone. There's a wrought-iron conservatory attached to one side of the hotel, flowerbeds spilling over with frothy pastel-coloured roses, and an enormous lawn mown in such perfect lines of alternating light and dark green that I half wonder if someone's been out with a ruler and cans of spray paint.

Theo pulls the car to a stop, and as we get out, a woman in a smart black suit and impossibly high heels clips down the front steps.

‘Mr Eliott,' she says warmly, and she almost manages to maintain a perfect air of professionalism, but when Theo smiles and holds out his hand to shake hers, there's the tiniest catching of her breath.

‘I'm Cassandra,' she says, ‘the hotel manager, and I'll be overseeing everything this weekend. We're going to make sure your sister and her fiancé have a perfect wedding.'

‘That's all that matters, and please, call me Theo.' He turns to me, wraps his hand around mine, pulling me forward. ‘And this is my guest, Dr Clementine Monroe.'

‘Hi,' I say shyly, and I sense Cassandra's curiosity, even as she greets me smoothly. It's in the way her eyes linger on me, the way I feel her making a quick inventory of my person. That feeling of uneasiness grows as several other staff members arrive, a younger woman to move the car, and a pair of men in their twenties to collect our bags. These three are less skilled at hiding their interest, and Cassandra's smile grows slightly strained as they blush and stammer, and cast a lot of wide-eyed glances Theo's way and several at me, too.

Theo takes it all in his stride, obviously used to it, and I try to force myself to relax. After all, they're not being rude or difficult. It's not bad… it's just weird. In an abstract way I know that Theo is very famous, but I'm so used to thinking of him as my Theo that it's jarring to realize that he belongs to all these people too.

With a sinking feeling I realize how familiar this all is, how the looks and the strangled buzz of excitement used to follow us whenever I was with Ripp. For a moment I remember how it felt to hold his hand while people stared and whispered, and inched closer to us, how it made me want to crawl out of my skin and hide.

Thankfully, I'm not given too long to dwell on that because a tiny body comes storming through the door at a hundred miles an hour screaming, ‘UNCLE THEEEEEEEEEEO!!!!!!'

And then the strange mood is broken as Theo's four-year-old niece hurls herself into his arms, and he is laughing and spinning her around.

‘Hannah-banana!' Theo groans. ‘When did you get so big?'

‘When you were away,' the little girl answers earnestly. ‘I got big because you only saw me on the computer and so you must have thought I was very small.' She holds her fingers apart to indicate how tiny computer-screen Hannah was.

‘Very true,' Theo agrees. ‘Now, let me introduce you to someone very special. This is Clemmie.'

‘Hi, Hannah,' I say with a little wave.

Hannah looks at me consideringly. ‘Why is she very special?' she asks Theo. Her tone conveys her doubt over this assessment.

‘Because she's the best at telling stories,' Theo says. ‘And because she does magic spells.'

‘You do?' Hannah's eyes widen.

I nod. ‘With my sisters. Ever since we were little.'

Hannah's eyes grow rounder as she considers the possibility that the decrepit old hag in front of her was ever a child. ‘Okay,' she nods. ‘I will go with her, then.' Her tone is regal and she holds out her hands to me, flinging her upper body forward with serene confidence that someone will always catch her. Theo is forced to bundle her quickly into my arms.

I grab onto her, and she clings to me like a koala, pressing a hot cheek to mine and whispering loudly in my ear, ‘Will you teach me to do a spell?'

‘What kind of spell do you want to do?' I ask.

Hannah's answer is immediate. ‘One that turns Oliver into a bunny. I think a bunny would be more fun than a brother.'

‘Hannah, are you—Aaaaaaah! Theo! You're here!' A small, brunette woman, who must be Lisa, with a baby – presumably the much-maligned Oliver – strapped to her chest, appears in the door screeching over her shoulder, ‘Mum! Mum! Theo's here!'

‘Teddy!' A shriek comes from inside and then another woman – silver-haired and elegant – barrels outside. Theo's dad and Lisa's future husband follow.

And suddenly Theo is surrounded by people hugging and kissing him.

Oliver lets out a wail of protest.

‘See,' Hannah mutters, casting a darkling glance at the baby. ‘They told me a baby brother would be fun, but he doesn't do anything.'

‘Mmm,' I hum in agreement. ‘Babies aren't terribly useful, but they do grow up, you know.'

‘I s'pose,' Hannah sighs gustily.

‘Mum, Mum, stop!' Theo is laughing as she smothers his face in kisses.

‘My Teddy bear!' she coos. ‘So tall, so handsome.'

I snort, and Theo's eyes slide in my direction.

‘Muuuuum!' he whines, embarrassed.

‘What?' Her eyes widen as she takes in his face. ‘Theodore! You need a shave! This is how you turn up to your sister's wedding? Looking like a scruffy reprobate?'

I snort louder.

His mum looks over at me and smiles, though the smile is smaller, more polite. ‘You must be Clementine,' she says, stepping forward. ‘I'm Alice, and this is my husband, Hugh.' She tugs Theo's dad forward and when he smiles I notice he has the same heartbreaker dimple in his cheek as his son.

‘It's nice to meet you.' I can't shake their hands because I'm still holding Hannah but I sort of bob my whole body which I realize instantly is a totally weird thing to do.

Theo slips his arm around my waist, tickles Hannah's feet. ‘Did you just curtsey?' he whispers gleefully in my ear.

‘Shut it, Teddy bear,' I hiss between clenched teeth.

‘Right, right.' Lisa claps her hands. ‘Theo, you can sort out getting all the stuff up to your room and then I'm sure Dad can find something useful for you to do. Mum and I are taking Clemmie with us to the spa.'

‘What about me, Mummy?' Hannah asks.

‘You're going with Uncle Theo,' Lisa says tranquilly, already bundling Oliver into her fiancé Rob's arms.

‘I can show you my bridesmaid dress,' Hannah says happily as I lower her to the ground, her hand slipping into Theo's and tugging at him impatiently. ‘Did you know bridesmaids are the most important bit of the wedding?'

He shrugs at me, a rueful grin on his face, and I feel a moment of panic at having my Theo-shaped security blanket ripped away already, while I try to remind myself that I am a functioning adult, capable of talking to other people in lots of different situations.

As I watch him disappear inside, Lisa's arm comes around my shoulder and she squeezes gently. ‘The best thing about it being my wedding weekend is that people keep trailing after me with alcohol. Let's go and have a drink, shall we?'

‘Sounds good,' I smile weakly.

Not too long later, Lisa, Alice, Lisa's best friend, Cara, and I are reclining in soft white leather massage chairs inside a long brick building that has been converted into a spa. Outside the tall glass doors bees dip drowsily through the Victorian walled garden. The room is draped in a hazy web of golden sunlight, everything from the floors to the furniture is in soft shades of white and cream, and the overall effect is of floating serenely in a cloud. The air smells like lavender; the chair is digging pleasantly into the muscles in my back; there's a glass of something sparkling and alcoholic in my hand; and my feet are soaking in a basin of warm, scented water scattered with rose petals.

I think it probably takes a special skill to be tense in such a situation, but I'm doing a great job. Mostly because of the three sets of eager eyes trained on me.

‘So, you and Theo…' Lisa looks at me over the top of her glass.

‘Yeah,' I say weakly. ‘It's… new.'

‘He seems very taken with you.' Alice's words are casual but I can sense the steel behind them. ‘It must be serious for him to bring you to the wedding. He hasn't introduced us to anyone in a very, very long time.'

I'm not sure how to respond to that. ‘I care about him a lot' is what I settle for.

‘I hope so,' Alice says, the sharpness less covert now. ‘He's not as tough as people think. I'd hate to see him have his heart broken.'

‘We're all just a bit cautious, you know,' Lisa says almost apologetically, ‘with Theo's… life being what it is. There have been plenty of people happy to take advantage of him.'

I'm starting to feel a much deeper sympathy for Theo over his encounters with my sisters now. ‘Mmm,' I say, wiggling my toes. I wonder how much Theo has told them about my own history. ‘I know a little bit about that. My father is a musician.'

‘Is he?' Alice's eyebrows lift.

‘Anyone we'd know?' Cara asks idly, topping up her glass with the chilled wine sitting beside her in an ice bucket.

I grimace. ‘Er… probably. His name's Ripp.' I never really know how to introduce my dad, but the single name usually seems to do the trick and today is no exception.

Alice chokes spectacularly on her prosecco. ‘Your father is Ripp Harris?' she finally croaks.

‘Holy shit!' Cara exclaims, sloshing her perfumed foot water everywhere. ‘He's actually quite fit for an older man,' she adds ponderously.

‘Cara!' Lisa hisses.

‘What?!' Cara's words have a slightly slurred edge. ‘It's a compliment. That's in her DNA. She's got hot genes. Hot old guy genes.'

Don't love that, but I maintain a stoic silence, try to keep the polite smile frozen on my lips.

Lisa turns to me. ‘I'm so sorry; this is the down side of being fed mimosas from the moment you wake up.'

‘It's fine,' I say.

‘No, it's not,' Lisa insists. ‘People do that to me all the time with Theo and it's like, "The man is my little brother. Will you please put your tongue back in your mouth?"?'

‘Ripp Harris,' Alice says a little dreamily. ‘I had all his records when I was a teenager. Saw him in concert once.'

Lisa's head thuds against the back of her chair and she lets out a pained groan. The gesture reminds me so much of Theo that my smile is genuine.

‘Alice?' A woman with luminous skin and a perfect manicure appears from behind a gently swishing screen door. Her voice is hushed and I worry for a second that she's going to try to get me to meditate again. ‘If you'd like to come through to the treatment room?'

Theo's mum glides off, leaving me and Lisa behind. Cara is lying back in her seat, eyes closed, and the odd snuffling sound issuing from her lips indicates that she is not exactly present with us.

‘Ripp Harris is your dad,' Lisa says, shaking her head. ‘What's that like?'

‘We don't really have much to do with each other,' I explain. ‘But I just… you know, I get it. How weird it can be, being related to someone like that.'

There's a flicker of shared understanding between us, a pulse of recognition.

‘Yeah,' Lisa says, letting out a deep breath. ‘It is pretty weird. When you're not the famous one, but you're sort of… famous-adjacent. Not that we're not proud of his success,' she adds quickly. ‘But it's probably good that you have an idea what you're getting yourself into. I have to admit, when Theo told me you weren't in the business, I was a bit worried.'

‘Sure,' I agree. ‘It's quite a full-on thing.' I say the words easily enough but they're accompanied by a ripple of anxiety, the worry I can feel like a living thing crawling under my skin. I take another deep gulp from my glass.

‘It is full on,' Lisa says. ‘When Theo joined the band, I was at uni, having a great time, and then boom!' She mimes an explosion with her hand. ‘Suddenly everyone was talking about him. His face was everywhere. When we went out, they played his music. People found out he was my brother and they wanted to be my friend, wanted to know if I could hook them up with tickets or introduce them. It happened so fast, I couldn't get my head around it.' She looks sad for a moment. ‘I was just starting to be my own person, you know. Then I wasn't; I was only Theo's sister. I hated it so much.'

‘That must have been difficult,' I say softly.

‘I don't think I handled it great, to be honest.' Lisa sighs. ‘I gave Theo a hard time. I wasn't really thinking about how it was for him – he seemed to be having a great time. I just felt like he'd tossed this weird grenade into my life and then buggered off on some rock-star tour of the world.' Her eyes widen. ‘God, sorry! That's a lot to unload on you when we've only just met.'

‘No, not at all,' I smile. ‘I get it, I really do. I'm not sure we're built to handle stuff like that.' I lean back and close my eyes for a moment. ‘In a funny way it must have been harder for you. I never knew anything different. The very fact that I was born was just part of the Ripp Harris circus. For you it was all normal… until it wasn't.' When I open my eyes, Lisa is looking at me with a sympathy that has me awkwardly clearing my throat. ‘But like I say, Ripp isn't really in my life anymore anyway.'

‘Do you mind me asking…' – Lisa hesitates — ‘is that because of all the press stuff? I know from bitter experience how hard that can be. Theo's done his best to shield us from it, but the paparazzi are wild. It was especially bad at the beginning.'

‘Partly, I suppose. Mostly it's Ripp stuff. Let's just say he's not exactly made for fatherhood.'

‘Not like Theo, then. He'd be a great dad,' Lisa says and then she flushes. ‘Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that you and Theo should start making babies.' She winces. ‘Jesus, I sound like Mum. I just meant Theo is such a good guy.'

I laugh then. Mostly because I feel comfortable with someone who's clearly as skilled at putting her foot in it as I am. ‘Theo is a good guy,' I agree. ‘The best. It actually really took me by surprise, how kind he is.'

Lisa looks pleased. ‘Yeah, he creeps up on people like that. I mean, don't get me wrong, he's been a massive famous star for over half his life so he can be wildly out of touch with reality at times. But he's also very thoughtful. Comes from being a shy music nerd when he was growing up, I guess.'

‘Have you seen him try to work a washing machine?' I ask.

Lisa giggles. ‘Obviously not, because when I see him, if he doesn't have David wiping his bum, then Mum is there fussing over her little baby. Let me guess, he turned everything pink?'

‘Worse; he absolutely boiled this beautiful cashmere jumper that definitely cost more than my car. It's only wearable by Ken dolls now.'

‘I'm surprised he didn't try and fit in it anyway,' Lisa snorts. ‘Loves wearing those insanely tight T-shirts to show off all his muscles.' She shudders.

‘Mmmm,' I agree, unable to hide my approval.

‘Ewwwww!' Lisa bats me on the arm. ‘Clemmie!'

‘Hey,' I shrug. ‘What can I say? He's got a nice… pair of arms.'

‘Just when I thought we were going to be friends,' Lisa teases, and I feel a glow at the words.

We sit for a moment in comfortable silence, only interrupted by the odd snore from Cara.

‘I actually think Theo has been really lonely lately,' Lisa says finally. ‘I'm glad he's found someone who makes him happy.'

‘You guys don't get to see him much?' I ask.

She shakes her head. ‘Hardly ever. He's pretty good about FaceTiming and stuff, so Hannah knows who he is, but he's just so busy…' She trails off. ‘Last time I actually saw him I was barely pregnant with Oliver. We weren't even sure if he'd make it for the wedding, what with his schedule, so the fact that he came for the whole weekend and brought you with him… it really means a lot to all of us.'

I frown in confusion. ‘I don't think there's any way Theo would have missed this,' I say. ‘As far as I know he planned this whole album-writing trip around it.'

Lisa looks surprised. ‘He did? No, I don't think so. At one point he was really vague about whether he was going to be in the country or not.' She looks down at her toes. ‘I mean, I don't want to sound ungrateful. Look at this place, I can't believe we get to have our wedding here and, you know, that was all him. I think I could have told him I wanted to get married on the moon and he'd have found a way to make it happen, but I would have been gutted if he hadn't been able to make it.'

Although I have gooey feelings about Theo (or – let's face it – David) sorting out his sister's wedding, something about what she's saying doesn't feel right to me.

‘But he did come,' Lisa says brightly. ‘And he brought you, too. So there's plenty to celebrate.'

‘Absolutely,' I agree, lifting my glass. ‘Here's to you and Rob and a lifetime of happiness.' Lisa clinks her glass against mine.

Cara lets out a sort of spluttering snore and then lurches up in her seat. ‘Woooo! Wedding bitches!' she slurs, lifting her own glass before collapsing back again.

Lisa and I exchange a look. Then both of us burst out laughing.

After that, it's much easier to relax.