‘Lethal, more like,’ said Nora. ‘I’ll not be able to knit if I finish that.’ She’d made the decision to reduce her slightly ambitious goal of a jumper for her dad’s birthday down to a sleeveless sweater vest, but it still needed to be finished. ‘I wonder if the Brownies next door have any lemonade I could put in it,’ she added, thinking out loud.
Renee gasped. ‘Damn sacrilege!’
‘Or you could have mine.’ Nora pushed her glass towards Renee.
‘I’ll not see it go to waste.’ Renee swiftly tipped it into her own glass.
Jay put his cocktail down carefully as if he feared it would spontaneously ignite, which would not have surprised Nora. She was grateful the Brownies weren’t having a campfire in the vicinity.
‘Have you heard from Dixie?’ asked Jay, glancing at Nora.
‘Have you not been following her adventures in the Instant Gram?’ asked Renee.
‘You’ve signed up to Instagram?’ asked a wide-eyed Jay.
‘Absolutely. It’s a fascinating thing. I have four Keanu Reeves accounts and a Prince Harry who keep telling me how beautiful I am.’
‘You have to block those,’ said Jay. ‘I’ve had some weird ones recently. Probably bots, at least I hope they are.’
‘I’m not worried,’ said Renee. ‘Worst case I’ll get a restraining order. It won’t be the first time,’ she said with a wink.
‘What has Dixie posted?’ asked Nora.
‘She’s made her first stop and seems quite taken with the outdoors,’ said Renee. ‘Forests here are much safer than North America, no chance of bear or puma attacks. Dolly Parton and I once had our tent trampled by a rampant elk in the rutting season.’
‘And one of the many reasons I prefer Leicestershire,’ said Jay.
‘I’ve had a few texts from Dixie.’ Nora felt a little guilty that she’d not been following the Instagram posts, but she had messaged Dixie each morning and she’d sounded like she was enjoying every minute. They’d stuck to texts to preserve Dixie’s limited battery life on her phone but Nora missed chatting to her friend.She was pleased for her that she was living her dream, or one of them at least. The one where Dixie invented something better than the air-fryer was still probably some way off. Nora decided she’d give her a call when she got in.
It turned out Renee could actually knit faster after a few drinks and while she was meant to be showing Nora how to do the tricky bits around the neckline, before she knew it Renee had virtually finished it and all Nora had left to do was sew it up. Nora and Jay had both insisted on walking Renee home because after a flask of Dirty Martinis they weren’t sure how she was still upright. That left them closer to Jay’s place than to Nora’s.
‘You need to go that way,’ said Nora, as Jay was still alongside her.
‘It’s OK. I’ll walk you home.’
‘There’s no need to go that far out of your way and Bruce will be waiting for you. Go on, I’ll be fine.’ She could see he was reluctant to leave her. But it wasn’t late so it was still light and there were people about so Nora calculated that her odds of being attacked were remote.
‘If you’re sure.’ He bit his lip.
‘Certain. I’ll see you at climbing,’ she said and she started walking off. After a few steps she checked over her shoulder and Jay was jogging towards his house. He’d obviously been keen to see if Bruce had done any damage. Nora smiled to herself and strolled on. It was a lovely evening and while she hadn’t finished the Martini,the small amount of cocktail she had consumed had given her that chilled-out feeling. Her phone beeped and she was smiling as she pulled it from her pocket because she was sure it would be Jay checking she was OK. It was an unknown number. She stopped walking to investigate further.
She opened the text.
Hey Nora, Long time and all that. I agree it would be good to reconnect. How are things with you?
She was surprised and delighted. The message was from Liam, who was ex number seven.
She pinged back a quick reply.
I’m good. Still playing with numbers, which I see you are too. I’ve got my own place which is a bit odd on my own but I’m getting used to it. How are things with you?
She’d not gone far when her phone rang. Her stomach flipped. She’d not been expecting to speak to Liam. She took a deep breath and answered the call– it was Jay.
‘What’s up?’ she asked. ‘Has Bruce eaten your sofa?’
‘I have no idea because he won’t let me in my own front door. Listen.’ Jay must have held the phone nearer to the door as all Nora could hear now was ferocious barking.
‘He thinks you’re an… Jay?’ All she could hear wasbarking. ‘Jay! I can’t have a conversation with Bruce.’ She waited longer than she would have liked to for Jay to come back on the phone.
