I glance at Brandon, but his face is very still, gaze carefully averted.
Barbara lays down her knife with a delicate clink and adds, “All the more reason we’re glad you’re here, Lily. It’s nice to see him with company.” She gives me a knowing smile, her fine-boned hands deft and graceful as she sets another scone before me.
Where on earth did it come from?
Her keen eyes fix on me, unwavering, and I feel compelled to take another bite.
That’s when she strikes. “So, tell us, Lily…are you single?”
I freeze mid-chew, clotted cream and jam that’s suddenly too sweet congealing in my mouth.
Brandon sighs heavily.
Our eyes meet—just for a second—before he looks away, a flicker of embarrassment crossing his face. I can’t help wondering if this has happened before. If neighbours are forever trying to set him up with someone they think might ‘cheer him up.’
“Single?” Rupert barks a laugh. “Well, of course she is! Why else on earth would she be visiting our Brandon, eh?”
Brandon interrupts. “Say, Rupert—tell us about the paintball competition. Didn’t you just take home another trophy?”
Rupert puffs up instantly. “We did indeed, we did indeed. The boys did a fantastic job, though I knew they would…”
He launches into a lively account of his team’s victories, the medals lined up in his shed, and the tournaments he runs for the ‘troubled youths’.
“That’s amazing,” I remark. “You run a team for them?”
Barbara beams. “Most are local kids who simply needed something positive to throw themselves into.”
Rupert waves a hand modestly but can’t quite hide his pride. “Gives them a bit of direction. And keeps me young, or so I tell myself.”
The corner of Brandon’s mouth barely lifts, but it says so much. His pride, affection, and amusement for Rupert are all there, though his eyebrows lift in exasperation when Rupert starts showing me photos of his trophies on his phone.
“Sorry,” Brandon mouths.
Rupert’s still talking. “See these medals here, Lily? From the mid-eighties, before eye protection became mandatory. It was a different world back then, let me tell you—a real Wild West.”
Barbara nods along, smiling fondly at her husband and echoing his words whenever he pauses for breath.
Across the table, Brandon’s watching me with concern. I give him a quick smile to show him I’m fine. And I am. Though the neighbours’ matchmaking still hums between us, it's impossible to ignore.
And then, in the same whirlwind they swept in with, the couple sweep back out. But not before Barbara invites me on a shopping trip to Canterbury—ignoring my protests that I haven’t even seen Whitstableproperly yet—and Rupert finds and confiscates Brandon’s oysters as ‘recompense for the beers’.
When Brandon objects, Rupert lifts a hand. “Now, now, none of that. You let me and Barb deal with these.Youought to be taking Lily out to a proper restaurant. Relax and let others cook for you! We can’t have you two slaving away shucking shellfish.”
“Actually, I really don’t mind—” I begin, ready to convey just how much I was looking forward to having the oysters we’d brought home. Rupert, however, ploughs ahead, jabbing a finger at Brandon with well-meaning authority.
“Go to one of those nice places with white tablecloths and wineglasses.”
“And music,” Barbara adds. “Did you know Brandon is a musician, too, Lily?”
“She’s aware,” he says dryly.
“You two ought to play a duet,” Rupert calls over his shoulder as he wheels down the side path to the gate. “But another time, of course. A nice dinner out at a nice restaurant is in order, Brandon. Yes, that will be far more romantic than eating in. One with tablecloths, don’t forget.”
“Brandon doesn’t have a tablecloth,” Barbara says to me gravely as we follow. “I’ve tried to give him one, but he’s too modern, apparently.”
“I just don’t think it necessary,” Brandon says, bristling.
I might find the sight funny if I weren’t also the target of their meddling. For a split second, I picture it anyway, sitting across from him at some quiet restaurant with wineglasses and candlelight instead of a crowded pub. The image feels impossibly out of reach. Thrilling, and a little terrifying.
