“I’m married to Will’s brother Jack,” Rachel says to Chrissy, whose confused expression suggests she’s waiting for Paige to elaborate.
“Oh,” says Chrissy, visibly relaxing. “So you and Ali are now sisters-in-law.”
Rachel nods, unable to comprehend how any kind of sister could do what she’s doing. “Yes, I suppose we are.”
“Cool,” says Chrissy. “You’re going to have so much fun. She’s such a great girl.”
Rachel and Paige snatch a glance at each other.
“So, you’ve known each other forever,” says Paige.
Chrissy smiles. “Since primary school. We met when we were nine and have been as thick as thieves ever since.”
“What was she like when she was younger?” asks Paige. “I assume not the same as she is now.”
The line of questioning is making Rachel feel uncomfortable and she wonders how far Paige is going to go.
A perplexed expression crosses Chrissy’s face as she mulls it over. “I guess not, but so much has changed between then and now that I suppose it’s impossible to stay the same. But for Ali, it’s all been for the good—mostly.”
“Mostly?” presses Paige.
“Well, compared to what she was like back then, she’s definitely come out of her shell.” Chrissy smiles, as if remembering fondly. “We were so similar when we were growing up—I think that’s what drew us together.”
“I can’t imagine you ever being similar,” says Paige disparagingly.
Chrissy, in her floor-length maxi dress, seems to shrink into the ground. Her knees bend, her shoulders round even more than they do already and her head dips, as if she’s trying to make herself invisible.
“We wouldn’t say boo to a goose,” she says quietly. “She was even shyer than I was.”
Paige laughs falsely. “And now look at her.”
They all turn to where the most noise is coming from, knowing that that’s most likely where Ali will be—right in the middle of it.
“Oh my God,” she shrieks, as her family circles around her. “I honestly thought I was going to pass out. When the registrar said, ‘Do you, Alison Foley, take Will…’ I could feel myself swaying and thought, I’m gonna go! I don’t know how I didn’t.”
Will walks over to the group and they all cheer and crowd round for hugs and celebratory pats on the back. “Please may I introduce my husband,” shrieks Ali, holding a glass of champagne in the air. “Woo-hoo!”
“I’ve never seen her so happy,” says Chrissy, smiling reflectively. “It’s so wonderful to see.”
“Especially after everything…” says Paige, leaving it hanging there.
Rachel looks at her, dumbfounded, wondering where the hell she’s going with this. She can suddenly visualize Paige in her wig and gown, commanding a court room in a criminal trial. If she followed this line of questioning at work, she’s sure the judge would accuse her of leading the witness. For a moment, it feels like Chrissy isn’t going to take the bait, and Rachel breathes a sigh of relief, but a part of her hopes that she might, even if it’s just to give her a tiny window into Ali’s world, and the slightest explanation as to why she would do what she’s doing with another woman’s husband. With her husband’s brother.
“Exactly,” says Chrissy. “The accident hit her really hard.”
“Her mum’s, you mean?” asks Rachel.
Chrissy nods. “She still blames herself, no matter how many times Maria tells her not to.”
Rachel desperately tries to claw back any nuggets of conversation that she’d had with Ali on the subject, but there’s little to glean. Either Ali hadn’t divulged the details, or Rachel hadn’t bothered to listen.
“That must be an awful burden to carry,” offers Paige.
“It doesn’t help that she came out of it unscathed, of course,” says Chrissy. “I honestly think she would have coped better if she’d been injured in some way. Because at least then she would have gotten what she thought she deserved.”
Rachel audibly gasps and instinctively goes to put her hand to her mouth, but Paige stops it in mid-flow, discreetly taking hold of her wrist and lowering it, as if a show of emotion might detrimentally affect whatever Chrissy says next.
Whatever Ali may have told Rachel about the accident, she’d certainly not confessed to being the driver and causing it. Who would?