‘Pretty much as soon as possible, yes. Why do you ask?’
Mark recalled his discussions with Declan and how he dreamt of setting himself up.
‘Let me just have a chat with someone,’ said Mark. ‘I know an accountant who works for the council. Ambitious, and a cracking young man who is looking to go self-employed.’
‘Interesting,’ said Ken, stroking his chin. ‘Okay, let me know what he says, and I will set up a meeting.’
Mark had enjoyed a second pint, glad that he had walked down to the marina, especially as it was such a pleasant day. He wondered what on earth he would do with his days if he wasn’t a member of the club. No doubt he would waste his days away, watching too much television or going to the pub. But then, he did enjoy the company of Alice, who was quickly becoming the confidante he never knew he needed.
Some might say he viewed her as the mother he never really had, but it was more than that. She was a friend. She had a gift of being someone you could talk to about anything, and you would always head home feeling so much better about life. Not many people could do that.
He couldn’t bear the thought of not seeing her around anymore. But there were some things that even the wonderful Alice had no control over.
TWENTY-SEVEN
JESS
‘Mum!’ Jess crushed her mum in an embrace as she dropped her floral overnight bag in the hall.
‘Hello, love.’ Her mum’s partner, Pete, said a quick hello, before telling her mum he would see her on Sunday.
‘Nanny!’ Maisie came running out from the bathroom then, and wrapped her arms around her grandmother’s waist, resting her head on her hip.
‘How’s my gorgeous girl.’ Jess’s mum picked Maisie up and swirled her around, before kissing her on the cheek.
‘It’s so good to see you both. It’s just not the same on FaceTime,’ said Jess’s mum and Jess agreed.
Carol, an attractive redhead who looked younger than her sixty-two years, pulled a packet of fudge and a small dolly for Maisie from her bag, much to the little girl’s delight.
‘Is it too early?’ she asked Jess hopefully, producing a bottle of white wine. It was just after two o’clock in the afternoon.
‘Not really, but I think I’ll wait for the BBQ later. I’ll be asleep by six otherwise. You go ahead, though,’ said Jess.
‘You probably have a point. Shall we have one before we leave instead, whilst we get ready?’ suggested Carol.
Jess thought of the days preparing for a night out with her friends as a teenager then, music blaring and a glass of wine in her hand. She had lost touch with her best friend from school, who had moved to Scotland a year before Jess became pregnant.
They had been back and forth visiting each other for a while, but their friendship came to a natural end as the years rolled by.
It occurred to Jess that even though she had made friends at work and at the school gates, she didn’t really have what you might call a best friend. Perhaps she ought to get herself a hobby or join a club of some sort, but it was difficult being a single parent.
‘I’ll pop the kettle on,’ Jess said, taking the bottle of white wine and placing it in the fridge to chill.
She left her mum in the lounge with Maisie, who her mum squeezed for the umpteenth time, before popping a square of fudge into her mouth that Maisie had given to her. She was a lovely child. Jess had done such a good job with her and she could not imagine life without her.
Not for the first time, Carol felt bad about not being involved in her daughter’s life more, having moved out of the area. She missed collecting her granddaughter from school and collecting shells from the beach on fine days. Thank goodness for her tablet and all the FaceTime calls after school, although sometimes they left her feeling a little down afterwards.
On one such occasion, she took the ninety-minute drive back to Liverpool, to tuck her granddaughter into bed and read her a bedtime story and ended up staying the night. She admonished herself all the way home the following morning and told herself to get a life. Pete had been a little surprised too, as he had planned to cook a steak for them and open a bottle of wine the previous evening.
After Jess’s dad had left, Carol never imagined herself being with anyone else. She remembered Jess being concerned thather mum had sold up and moved to the Lake District a bit too quickly with someone she met at a school reunion, although she was happy for her.
Maybe she had been right all along. Jess’s dad had handed over the house to Carol, no doubt riddled with guilt when he upped sticks and moved in with a work colleague ten years his junior.
‘There you go.’ Jess placed a mug of tea down onto a coffee table in front of her mum. ‘Do you want a biscuit?’
‘No, thanks, love. I’ll wait for later. Do we need to take anything?’ Carol asked.
‘Mark said not to, but I’ll walk down to the Co-op and buy some beers in a bit. Maybe a cheesecake or something for dessert,’ she said.
