‘Why did you do it, Winnie?’ asked Fraser, softly.
‘Dolly and I got chatting at the Saracens charity quiz and she was concerned about you after Lizzie and Callum did what they did. She felt you had gone into your shell. Said you were sucking your thumb again.’
Fraser’s face was one of horror. ‘Thanks for that, Granny. I don’t do that by the way. It’s a hangnail that I sometimes chew… anyway carry on.’
‘Dolly said you needed to meet a nice Scottish girl but as you were throwing yourself into the restaurant you had no time. You might remember I suggested to you that online dating might be an option?’ Winnie looked at Fraser.
‘Don’t remember that.’
‘Anyway,’ said Winnie. ‘I thought if I could do the groundwork for you – find you a perfect match – there would be little for you to do other than meet her, and you would instantly charm her and then you’d be happy again and Dolly wouldn’t have to worry about you. And I do like to have a surf on the internet.’
‘Aww that’s really cute,’ said Effie, wriggling from under Robbie’s arm.
Fraser abruptly folded his arms. ‘But Winnie. That’s not how it turned out. How did you find Liv? What happened?’
‘There were a few no-hopers and a lot who were clearly not after anything long-term. Some of the messages were borderline pornographic, which I’ll not go into. But Olivia, because that’s what she called herself, Olivia seemed lovely. She was a little feisty but driven and kind. She was self-employed like you. She liked food, action films and was mad about Mariah Carey. I clicked the like button and so did she, which led to us corresponding. There were daily messages. I answered everything as closely as I could to how you would so that any connection was based as much on you as possible. And Ihaveknown you since you were in nappies.’
‘That’s okay then,’ said Fraser looking dumbfounded.
Winnie brightened. ‘There were some quite lovely discussions about things. She really did seem to like you in a big way.’
‘Heavens, Winnie!’ Fraser’s voice was shriller than normal.
‘Don’t shout. New battery,’ said Winnie pointing at her hearing aid.
Fraser lowered his voice. ‘At what point did you think you’d maybe gone too far?’
Winnie took a moment to think about the question. ‘I suggested that we meet up. And that’s when I realised how far away she was. You see she said she was from Blackburn. Which I assumed was Blackburn, West Lothian.’
‘It’s nice there,’ said Effie.
‘It is,’ agreed Winnie. ‘I had a cousin Maud who lived there. And it’s a perfectly acceptable distance. But it was actually Blackburn, Lancashire, which also meant she was English – and after what happened with Lizzie.’ She pulled a face like an exaggerated version of the grimacing emoji.
‘And what did you do then?’ Fraser was staring at her hard.
‘I did the only thing I could. I stopped replying to her messages and I deleted your profile.’ Winnie blinked and paused. ‘That’s what you young ’uns call ghosting, isn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Fraser shook his head and began pacing. ‘How did you not recognise her when she turned up here?’ he asked.
‘The photograph on the dating app was very small. That reminds me, I’d best get booked in for an eye test.’
Fraser rolled his eyes.
‘Anyway,’ said Winnie continuing. ‘The photo was of a young woman with more golden blonde in her hair than auburn. She looked quite elegant with a sort of film star quality about her. Although I did think Liv was familiar.’ Winnie put a finger to her lips as if remembering. ‘I thought it was just because she looked like Amy Pond.’ Winnie giggled but stopped when nobody else joined in.
‘And her name. Liv is short for Olivia,’ said Fraser.
‘That one passed me by completely,’ admitted Winnie. ‘But in my defence, I wasn’t looking for a connection and she’d only been here a few days. I didn’t spend that much time with her.’
Fraser shook his head. ‘I don’t believe this. Poor Liv. Hell, all the things I’ve said to her. All the times I thought she was a fruitcake and it was because of your meddling.’ He stared at Winnie. ‘This is not good.’
‘I am truly sorry,’ said Winnie. ‘I was only trying to do a nice thing and to help you find someone lovely. And she was lovely, wasn’t she?’
Effie and Robbie both nodded.
‘I panicked when I realised she was English,’ said Winnie. ‘I didn’t think through how she might feel. She did say some lovely things about you though.’
‘Like what?’ Fraser softened.
