Chapter 4: The Rehearsal Dinner

On Friday evening I walked into the rehearsal dinner with a folder in my hand and my engagement ring in my pocket.

The dinner was in a glass room at the back of the venue, with long tables and about forty guests.

Rupert's colleagues from Tarrant Holdings sat on one side, and Anne's relatives sat on the other.

Poppy was at the end of the head table in her flower girl dress, swinging her legs.

Lydia saw me first.

She stood up with her arms open and a bright, relieved smile.

"Claire! You came. Sit by me, I saved you a chair."

I didn't take it.

Rupert was already on his feet, and he had the look of a man trying to decide whether to be angry or glad.

"Claire, thank God. Can we talk outside?"

"No," I said. "I'll be quick."

The room had gone quiet.

I opened my folder and took out the sheet I had written for Poppy's school nurse two years ago.

"I'm not here to make a scene. I'm here for Poppy's medication."

"Claire," Lydia said gently, "this isn't the place."

"It's exactly the place. Everyone who loves her is here."

I turned to Rupert.

"What does Poppy take at breakfast?"

He looked at the table, then at his sister-in-law.

"The pink one," he said. "I think."

"There's no pink one. She takes a small white tablet with milk, at seven fifteen, before school."

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