‘Wow!’ Erin said to Carrie. ‘For a first attempt, that’s really good.’
‘You’re too kind, but I don’t think I’m a natural,’ Carrie replied, her laughter reverberating around the room. Shestretched. ‘It’s tiring though, learning something new. All of that concentrating, I suppose.’
‘Concentrating is good,’ Jules said, working some sgraffito decoration around the edge of her bowl.
‘And that,’ said Erin, ‘is really, really good.’
Jules felt herself beginning to blush.
‘Look at this, Dad,’ Erin said, handing her father a large mug with the words Keep Calm and Carry On emblazoned on it in scarlet font.
‘I’ve seen it,’ he said, looking up from where he was chatting to John.
‘I’ve done this a bit before,’ Jules murmured.
‘Not since you were twelve,’ Carrie protested, ‘and that’s ages ago.’
‘Thanks!’ Jules replied, and everyone laughed.
‘You ought to keep going,’ Erin said, ‘shouldn’t she, Dad?’
Jules glanced over at Lance who was now busy clearing a few things away.
‘I think so,’ he replied, ‘but Jules might not want to. It might not be for her.’
‘You must come back,’ Erin said, earnestly. ‘We do a discount for returning customers.’
‘Erin,’ Lance said, moving over and putting an arm around her shoulders, ‘give Jules a bit of space. She’s here on holiday. She might not want to spend another day wrapped in a massive apron and getting clay all over her face.’
‘Oh,’ Jules exclaimed, blushing even more. ‘I haven’t, have I?’
She put her hand up to her cheek and then realised that she’d be putting even more clay on herself.
‘Does it make a good facemask?’ she asked.
‘Not if my wrinkles are anything to go by,’ Lance replied, passing her a box of tissues.
‘My granny says that we earn our wrinkles and we shouldn’t wish them away. They tell the story of our lives,’ Tasha said, perching on the windowsill, fingering some geranium petals.
‘Your granny is a very wise woman,’ Lance said.
As Erin went to talk to Daphne and Tasha joined her, Lance sidled over to Jules.
‘I’m sorry about Erin being a bit pushy,’ he said, his voice dropping to a whisper. ‘She’s always been involved in the business and she’s so eager to keep it going, expand it even. She thinks I’m not commercially minded enough. But…’
He shrugged and glanced out of the window for a brief second before allowing his gaze to rest on her bowl.
‘She’s right about your bowl though. That’s pretty good.’
Jules blushed as everyone looked over and murmured their agreement. They were such a nice group, so supportive. She felt silly for being so worried about coming.
‘It’s not totally symmetrical.’
‘Neither is life, Jules,’ Lance said. ‘We’re all works in progress.’ He was about to move away and then turned back, dropping his voice. ‘If you do want to carry on while you’re here, but don’t want to join a class, you can always come back later in the day. You could have the place to yourself then. No charge.’
She blinked up at him. That was so kind. She dropped her head low so he wouldn’t see the tears pooling.
‘Thanks,’ she muttered, ‘but I couldn’t possibly.’
