‘Nope,’ said Stella. ‘Well, other than one of us will call for you at half ten.’
‘Ey up, have you seen who’s just walked in?’ said Maggie, nudging Florrie with her elbow.
They all turned, following her line of sight to see Ando Taylor wearing his usual attire of baseball cap turned back to front, his battered leather jacket and ripped jeans. But what had caught Maggie’s attention was the young woman making moon eyes at him.
‘I reckon from your description that’s her: his paramour,’ said Stella, peering around Lark.
‘I reckon you’re right, Stells,’ said Florrie. ‘And from the way she’s looking at him, I’d say she’s got a major crush on him.’
‘Doesn’t she just?’ said Maggie. ‘And for once, he’s not rolling drunk and making a turkey of himself.’
‘Bless, I’m happy for him,’ Lark said softly.
‘Me too,’ agreed Florrie, as Ando looked in the direction of their table and nodded a hello.
‘There’s a lot of love in the air here tonight.’ Lark smiled over to where Jean and Amery were sitting.
Florrie followed her gaze. ‘Looks like the stars have aligned for quite a few folk recently.’ The friends looked on as Amery raised Jean’s hand to his mouth and lay a gentle kiss on it, a collective ‘Ahh’ following.
THIRTY
SUNDAY 19TH APRIL
An eager knocking at the door set Gerty off barking and charging down the hallway. Florrie glanced at the kitchen clock. It was just after ten fifteen; whichever of her friends had come to call for her, they were early.
‘Blimey, someone’s keen,’ said Ed. He was busying himself replacing the batteries in the fairy lights that decorated the dresser.
‘Aren’t they just? And you can calm your jets, Gerty, it’s not an axe-wielding burglar, it’s just one of the lasses.’ Florrie chuckled as she padded after the Labrador. As per their instructions on Friday evening, she was dressed as if she was heading out on a walk and just had her pair of sturdy walking shoes to put on.
Grabbing Gerty by the collar and pulling her back, Florrie managed to open the door, her face falling when her gaze landed on the last person she expected to see on the doorstep. Gerty’s hackles stood on end as a low growl emanated from her. Florrie felt herself bristle.
‘Dawn. What are you doing here?’ she said coolly. After what the woman had said and done, there was no way Florrie was going to waste pleasantries on her.
‘I’ve come to see my son.’ With adefiant glint in her eye, Dawn took a step forward as if to walk in, but Florrie stood firm, blocking her path along with Gerty.
She wasn’t going to bow down to this bully for a moment longer. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t use the key you copied from ours and let yourself in again.’
Dawn flinched. ‘I don’t know what you mean, you’re being paranoid, and I don’t take kindly to being accused of such preposterous things.’
Florrie could feel herself shaking. Confrontation like this was so out of her comfort zone, but her anger towards this woman for what she’d said to Ed pushed her on. The gloves were off! ‘We both know I’m not being paranoid, that you’ve been letting yourself in here and going through our stuff while we were out.’
‘What rubbish!’ Dawn gave a scornful laugh. ‘If you leave your things in a mess, it’s got nothing to do with me, I think you’ll find it’s all down to you.’ Dawn folded her arms across her chest. ‘Are you just going to keep me standing here on the doorstep? I’ve already told you, I’m here to see my son. I need to speak to him.’ Her eyes flicked to Gerty who was glowering at her.
Dawn’s posture only served to make Florrie all the more determined to stand her ground. ‘Is he expecting you? Has he invited you here?’ A bolt of alarm flashed through Florrie’s mind. Had Ed asked his mother here knowing Florrie was going to be out for several hours? As she was wrestling with this thought, she sensed him appear behind her.
‘No, she hasn’t been invited, and no, I wasn’t expecting her.’ Ed’s voice held a cool tone Florrie hadn’t heard before.
‘Edward, I want to talk to you.’ From the way Dawn barked at him, no one would ever guess she was addressing her son, more like a person she really didn’t like. And if Florrie wasn’t mistaken, she was sure she detected a flicker of uncertainty in Dawn’s eyes, no doubt at Ed’s response. It took Florrie by surprise. She hadn’t had much contact with her up to now, so wasn’t familiar with the woman’s mannerisms, but it suddenly struck Florrie that Dawn’s style was classic bully behaviour, made up of intimidating bodylanguage and overbearing bluff and bluster. And, much as she understood Ed’s mother thrived on confrontation and arguments, something told Florrie if ever she was properly challenged, Dawn would become a quivering cowardly mass. What’s more, she thought, now would be the perfect time to put that theory to the test – though Florrie wasn’t entirely comfortable conducting such a conversation on their doorstep. Somewhere private would have been preferable but there was no way she was going to let Dawn set foot in their cottage. She didn’t want to give her the opportunity to dominate them in their own home.
‘You need to stop speaking to Ed in that horrible tone. Like you said, he’s your son, not some dog you order around.’
Dawn glared at her, her mouth twitching with anger. Florrie was barely aware of the low hum of a car engine as a vehicle made its way steadily down the road, a seagull crying in the distance.
‘After Thursday night, I’ve heard all I ever want to hear from you. Please go back to London and leave Florrie and me alone.’
‘Don’t be so stupid, boy, we all say things in the heat of the moment. I’m your mother – you can’t dismiss me just like that, I won’t allow it.’
Gerty’s growls grew louder.
