‘That’s only right and proper,’ he said with a smile.
A couple of days before the party, Hattie went to see Mary with an invitation. She found her friend sitting in her chair, facing the garden, as usual.
‘Hello!’ she said brightly, having let herself in. ‘I’ve come to invite you to a party. It’s for my birthday,’ she added, giving Mary her invitation. ‘I know it’s a long shot, but if you thought you could manage it, I could bring you, and take you home. You wouldn’t need to stay long if you didn’t want to.’
Mary took the invitation. ‘It’s very pretty. Did Rose design it for you?’
‘Yes. She’s so clever.’
‘And remind me who Sheila is?’ asked Mary, reading the details.
‘The mother of the bride, Fiona. I told you all about it.’
‘Oh, yes. The awful man. You were so clever to stop the wedding. So is that why she’s giving you a party?’
‘Partly. But do you want to come?’
Mary shook her head. ‘To be honest, if parties don’t start at twelve midday and stop by half past one, I usually give them a miss. I love seeing people individually, but too many at once make me tired.’ Mary smiled reassuringly. ‘Now, would you like some tea?’
‘I’d love some. But I’ll make it.’
In the kitchen, possibly Hattie’s favourite room in a house she loved, she could see that Mary hadn’t done much cooking lately. There was food in the cupboards (Hattie had ordered and put this away herself) but it wasn’t eaten. As there was cheese and a couple oftomatoes, she made some sandwiches and cut them into quarters. Mary could have any that were left over later.
‘I took the liberty of making us a snack,’ she said as she brought in the tray. ‘I suddenly had a longing for a cheese and tomato sandwich. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘They’re my favourite!’ said Mary, putting one of the small triangles on her plate. ‘You make them so neatly. Mine are always so lumpy.’
Hattie stayed until Mary had eaten three sandwiches and drunk two cups of tea. Was she getting enough to eat? Hattie wondered. Her appetite seemed OK, but she obviously couldn’t manage very much at a time. Hattie resolved to come over the day after the party with some food and champagne. She couldn’t bear the thought of Mary struggling on her own.
Rose called Hattie early on the morning of the party. ‘Have you used your Spidey senses to magic this perfect weather?’
‘I do not have Spidey senses, so no. But it’s good, isn’t it? Such a relief!’
‘When are you going over to Sheila’s?’
‘I’m going to pop in at lunchtime to see if anything needs doing, but otherwise, I’m frantically tidying up here so Leonie can stay. The good thing is, with Xander already at Luke’s, it’s only my own stuff I need file away out of sight.’
Rose laughed. ‘Well, call on me, if I can be of use. I’ve got my favourite mother-and-daughter team in the shop all day. And I’m very happy not to drink, if you and Leonie want to be picked up. It is your birthday, after all, in spite of you pretending it’s not.’
‘That would be nice,’ she said. ‘We could always get a taxi back. Leonie might need to stay late if she hits it off with Tom.’
‘We’ll be fine to stay late. I’ll clean out my car.’
‘Oh! Surely you don’t need to do that?’ Hattie was horrified at the thought of putting Rose to so much trouble.
‘I collected some lovely ceramics the other day, but they were packed in straw. It’s all over the seats now.’
‘OK. I will have Ms Picky with me.’
Hattie found herself surprisingly pleased to see her sister. She collected her from the station and they hugged affectionately.
‘You will see Xander. Luke’s bringing him to the party and you’ll have all of tomorrow to be with him. He’s such a nice boy.’
‘Is he? I’ve always found him rather difficult.’
‘I think college has matured him. And I told you his English teacher is coming to the party, didn’t I?’
‘Oh? Did you?’
