‘I think he’s…splendid!’ Radia exclaimed, using a new word she’d picked up fromThe Borrowers, and Joy clamped her lips.
‘That’s an excellent word for him. Heissplendid,’ said Mrs C., smiling approvingly.
Jude’s grandmother chuckled from the sofa, enjoying the drama very much, but evidently taking pity on Joy. ‘My husband was splendid. Did I ever tell you the story of how we met, Jude?’
Jude had heard it before, many times, but she’d never say so, and the room was going to hear about it anyway, there was no stopping her.
Daniel turned in his seat to listen and everyone fell silent.
‘When I was just a girl my mother told me aboutthe recognition,’ Jude’s grandmother began, her musical Scottish accent turning dramatic. Radia was already hooked.
‘Ah, yes, the recognition,’ said Jude’s mum, bringing her Prosecco with her from the kitchen, where she’d pulled the mozzarella sticks from the oven and tipped them into a dish with a chilli dip. She perched on the arm of the sofa next to her mother-in-law, who continued her tale.
‘My mother told me that one day I’d be going about my business and it would simply happen. I’d meet a stranger and I’d recognise them as my own.’
‘Isthat what happened?’ Radia asked.
Joy tipped back her glass in a long gulp.
‘It was. Of course, I hadn’t believed her at the time,’ Jude’s gran pressed on. ‘Nobody listens to their mother when they’re young, but she was right. One day I was walking down Marygreen High Street with my friend Gayle Dodds, on our way to the pictures, and there he was.’
‘What was he doing?’ Jude asked, even though she knew all this.
Radia shoved a second mini pizza into her mouth, transfixed.
‘He was standing on the pavement all by himself, looking right at me. He told me later he couldn’t move. He justknewhe had to say hello.’
‘Didhe say hello?’ Radia struggled to ask through her mouthful, making the grown-ups chuckle at her interest, which in turn made her scowl. ‘Wha’s funny?’
Jude’s gran took pity on her, taking her hand. ‘Not quite, actually. He said,Toffee?’
‘Toffee?’ Radia echoed, tickled.
‘That’s right. He offered me a toffee, and it didn’t strike me as odd in the slightest. And we went into the pictures together and watched the film and he held my hand even though he’d only said that one word to me.’
‘Gran!’ Jude laughed.
‘It wasn’t me, it wasthe recognition. I just knew I’d be holding that man’s hand for the rest of his life. It didn’t seem strange at the time, more like magic really, and yet it was the most normal thing in the world as well.’
‘That’s how it was with my Ernie,’ said Mrs Crocombe, who seemed to be staring blindly into the past, no longer in the room but back in her memories and laying eyes upon her husband for the very first time. A sorrowful look passed over her face, and only Joy recognised it for what it was. Guilt.
‘I couldn’t recognise Elliot,’ said Jude. ‘He was behind a door when we first met.’
‘Behind a door?’ cheeped Radia, still thoroughly enjoying herself. Adults talking about important things, a lovely granny holding her hand, and no grown-ups paying any attention to how many little pizzas she’d had.
‘It’s true,’ said Jude. ‘I was hiding in the bedroom upstairs in the bookshop and he’d just let himself in. He was gate-crashing my holiday! I was terrified.’ Jude thought for a second. ‘Although, I knew I liked the sound of him, even then. Even through a door.’
Ekon and Daniel had slipped their hands together, squashed up on the couch, and Ekon took the opportunity of telling everyone how he’d liked Danielfor ages, but Daniel was ridiculously slow on the uptake and hadn’t understood what was happening.
‘Until I intervened,’ Jude said, ‘and told you to actuallytalkto Ekon.’
‘Matchmaker,’ accused Daniel, smiling over the top of his champagne glass at his friend.
‘Nothing wrong with giving love a nudge in the right direction,’ insisted Mrs Crocombe.
The Spotify playlist Jude had made for the evening changed to a jarringly happy Harry Styles song and the little moment of hen party sentimentality melted gently away, but Joy was left thinking about it for a long time, even while the mozzarella sticks and even more mini pizzas were passed around. She wondered whether it was really possible to meet someone and just know they were the one.
It certainly hadn’t been that way with Sean, even with all his charm and confidence and compliments. He’d swept her off her feet with fancy dinners and presents, made it impossible not to feel flattered and wanted. He’d told her how amazing she was and how he’d never met anyone like her. Three dates in and he was declaring that he loved her. She’d been so overwhelmed by it all, and so young and caught up in thinking that this was what it was supposed to feel like. Then there’d been all the flashy stuff that, she was ashamed to admit it now, had bowled her over. Like the cars he’d pick her up in (always a different one, and fancier than the one before), and he’d always worn the nicest suits and taken care of himself. Everything seemed to come so easily for him.
