Thirteen Weddings Book Tour – Deleted Scene With Alex And Lachie

‘You choose,’ I say distractedly.

‘How many songs do you know?’ Bridget asks, impressed.

‘How long is a piece of string?’ Lachie replies.

‘You are so talented,’ Lisa gushes. ‘When did you start playing the guitar?’

‘When I was about six.’ Pause. ‘Hang on,’ he decides suddenly, completely at ease with all the female attention. ‘I’m going to need some help, though.’ He starts plucking his guitar strings, and as he hums along, I recognise the intro to Gotye’s ‘Somebody That I Used To Know’.

Wow. He is such a good singer. When it comes to the female vocal part, he nods for us to join in, and even though we sound pretty dire, it’s a lot of fun. I barely notice when Alex sits back down next to me.

Lachie finishes playing and we all cheer and clap as Alex cracks a bottle of beer open.

‘What next?’ Lachie asks.

‘Do your Arctic Monkeys one,’ I say, wanting to prove Alex wrong about him. He doesn’t just do mushy stuff.

‘Which one?’ Lachie asks.

‘Anything,’ I tell him, grinning stupidly at Alex as Lachie starts to play a truly rocking acoustic version of ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’.

‘Yeah, alright, he’s pretty good,’ Alex admits reluctantly, and I elbow him in the ribs.

‘Told you.’

He gives me a small smile before taking a swig of his beer. I look back at Lachie.

When the song comes to an end, the claps and cheers are even louder than before.

‘More!’ Lisa shouts at him.

‘I need a drink,’ he bats back, standing up and scratching his navel. ‘Anyone else want a go?’ He clutches his guitar by the neck and offers it up as his T-shirt falls back down.

I think every woman here is in agreement with me that this fire is too hot.

Russ seems to think about it, but declines. ‘I haven’t played for years,’ he says.

‘Go on,’ Maria urges.

‘Nah.’

I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to step into Lachie’s shoes, either.

‘Bron!’ Lachie shouts, making my head snap towards him. I’m about to tell him I can’t play the guitar, but then I see he’s picked up a bottle of Prosecco. ‘You want another?’

‘Sure.’

He leaves his guitar with Russ, ‘in case you change your mind,’ and comes over to top me up. Then he tells Lisa to budge up and sits down close to me, the whole left-hand side of his body flush to mine.

Alex shifts away to make more room so I move along a bit.

‘Where do you think you’re going, little one?’ Lachie says cheekily, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me close to him again.

‘Will you stop manhandling me?’ I snap jokily, edging away again. ‘Anyway, who are you calling “little”, youngster?’

‘I’m not that young,’ Lachie brushes me off.

‘How old are you?’ Alex asks him, perking up a bit.

‘Twenty-four,’ Lachie replies.

‘Really?’ Alex looks surprised.

‘Age is but a number,’ Lachie says philosophically.

‘Too true.’ I bash my plastic cup against his. He grins at me and knocks some back.

‘Well kiddies, I’m off,’ Rachel says, standing up and gathering her things.

‘Have you called a taxi?’ I ask.

‘No, I’m fine,’ she says. ‘I’ve only had one and a bit.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Completely. Now, does anyone want to come back to the B&B with me?’

I look across at Bridget and see her wavering. She glances at me and then back at Rachel. I laugh at her. ‘You know, you can still catch a taxi if you want to stay for a bit longer,’ I gently point out.

‘Phew,’ she exhales with relief. ‘I thought I had to make a decision now. I would have chosen to stay, of course,’ she says hastily.

‘Maria?’ Rachel checks. ‘You happy?’

Maria looks very happy to me. ‘I’m fine!’ she says brightly. She and Russ are sitting close together on the other side of the fire. ‘See you in the morning?’

‘I’ll drop by after breakfast,’ Rachel promises, leaving us to it.

‘Who’s she calling a kid?’ Alex mutters once she’s left.

‘How old are you, then?’ Lachie asks him.

‘Thirty-one.’

‘What do you do?’ Lachie asks.

‘I work with Bronte,’ Alex replies.

‘He’s the Art Director,’ I elaborate, because of course Lachie already knows that we work together.

‘Sounds impressive,’ Lachie comments.

Alex says nothing, so I agree with Lachie on his behalf. ‘It is.’

‘What does your missus do?’ Lachie asks.

‘She works in advertising,’ Alex replies, getting up and putting another log on the fire. He prods the embers with a stick.

‘Who’s up for toasting a marshmallow?’ I say.