After turning the closed sign round and cashing up for the day, I went up to the flat and told Trevor about my day. The chicken casserole I’d set away this morning in the slow cooker smelled divine but I didn’t have the stomach for it and, after pushing it round my plate for several minutes, I shoved it aside with a sigh.
Feeling restless, I put my boots on, grabbed my coat, hat and keys and left the flat. It was dark so a walk alongside the lake was out of the question but I could do a lap of the village. The wind was stronger than it had been this afternoon but it wasn’t particularly cold. I turned right out of the shop and right again at the corner, taking me alongside the main road out of the village. There were streets on the left and the right so I wandered along each, picking out the houses I liked the most and imagining what they looked like inside. Try as I might to keep houses my sole focus, my thoughts kept drifting back to Will. He’d promised me he’d ring and I believed him but how long would he need? Days? Weeks? Months? What could his complications be? Had he remarried? Could he be going through a second divorce?
I passed The Hardy Herdwick and turned right into Paulette’s street. A man walking a golden retriever said ‘hello’ as he passed and I paused outside the village hall. The lights were on but the blinds were down so I couldn’t see what was happening inside. Reaching Paulette’s house, I checked my watch. It was ten past seven so not an unreasonable hour to ring the bell.
Saffy answered the door, looking lovely in a pair of dark jeans and a sparkly top.
‘Hi, Yvonne,’ she said, beaming at me.
‘I was out for a walk and I thought I’d drop in and see your grandma. But if it’s a bad time…’
‘Perfect timing as I’m about to abandon her for the evening.’
‘Going anywhere nice?’ I asked as I stepped into the hall. ‘You look stunning, by the way.’
‘Thank you. I’ve got a date with Felix.’
‘Thefitchef? Oh, Saffy, that’s fantastic.’
‘I’m so nervous. I’ve never dated anyone but Kyle.’
‘You’ll have a great time.’
We joined Paulette in the lounge and Saffy offered to make drinks, saying she was ready far too early and in need of a distraction.
‘I met Mel for lunch yesterday,’ Saffy said when she handed me a mug of tea shortly after. ‘Thanks for giving me her card, Yvonne. It was so helpful chatting to her. She’s given me a couple of interior design scenarios and asked me to share my ideas with her later this month. I know she’d said to you that she couldn’t guarantee any work but that sounds promising, doesn’t it?’
I nodded. ‘It sounds like she was impressed with you during your chat and now wants to see what you’re capable of. Do you think interior design’s something you might like to do?’
‘I loved designing the shop – probably my favourite worky thing I’ve done so far – so I’m keen to look into it.’ She nervously checked the time on her phone. ‘Are you ready for me to set you up on a dating app yet?’
I grimaced.
‘You said you’d let me do it after the Easter holidays were over and we’re more than halfway through.’
I smiled at her, recalling the conversation we’d had while setting up the shop.
‘Nice try, but I told you I’dconsiderit after the Easter holidays. How about you focus on your own love life for now and I’ll give you a shout if and when I’m ready to let you meddle in mine?’
Saffy grinned back at me. ‘You’re on!’ The doorbell rang and she squealed. ‘That’ll be him. Wish me luck.’
‘Good luck,’ Paulette and I chorused and Paulette stood up to hug her granddaughter.
‘Felix is a nice lad,’ Paulette said when the front door closed. ‘She was so excited when he asked her out. I think they’ll be good together.’
‘Another reason for her to stick around here,’ I said.
Paulette nodded. ‘How are we already a week into April and they haven’t made peace?’
‘Do they speak to her at all?’
‘Andrew phones her every week but it’s always the same day and time and Saffy knows that’s when Joanne goes out so she’s convinced Joanne doesn’t know he’s doing it, which means Joanne thinks they’ve severed ties and is clearly okay with that.’
‘That must hurt.’
‘It does. If she’d just finished three years at university, spent all her time going out drinking, skipped all her lectures and failed her finals, I could understand them being annoyed at spending a fortune for nothing, but she dropped out after one term and the punishment really doesn’t fit the crime, especially when there’s no crime committed.’
There was nothing I could say that hadn’t been said already so I settled on a sympathetic eyeroll.
