‘Renting still gives you some rights. But moving in with a man who owns it leaves you high and dry if things go wrong.’
‘I suppose we’d talk about all that when the time comes.’
‘Be careful. Make sure you have a backup plan.’
‘I would always do that.’
‘You didn’t do it with your Ritchie.’
‘Ritchie and I were both on the mortgage – I didn’t need a backup plan.’
‘But it all went south, didn’t it? In the end, and he led you a merry dance over it.’
‘And I learned my lesson, which is what we all do as we travel through life, isn’t it?’
‘You’d think. I wish someone had given me this advice before I met your dad.’
‘Mum…’ Zoe held back the biggest, most impatient sigh. It was taking all her strength not to walk back to the car and drive off, preferably without her mother. ‘Can we not just enjoy the day?’
‘You don’t want me to talk about things that are on my mind? What’s the point in us being together if we don’t talk?’
‘We can talk, but…’ This time the sigh pushed its way out. ‘Of course we can talk, but the business with me and Alex and where we’re going to live…right now it’s all hypothetical. Can we talk about something else? Something a bit cheerier?’
‘I would if I had anything cheery to share with you.’
‘There must be something good happening for you right now! What about the ladies at your Zumba class? Are you still all going on that weekend away you’d been talking about?’
‘Not since Maxine decided to make it a week in Greece rather than a weekend in Whitby. I can’t afford Greece, so it looks like I won’t be going.’
‘Oh…hasn’t anyone had anything to say about that? Doesn’t seem fair that some won’t be able to stretch that far. What happened to all of you being a support network for one another?’
‘Everyone else can afford to go; it’s only me who can’t, so nobody’s made anything of it.’
‘That’s not the sort of support network I’d want to be a part of. Hardly one for all and all for one.’
‘It doesn’t bother me. They were all starting to annoy me anyway. I might stop going to Zumba, in fact. It’s become far too cliquey.’
‘But you said you loved it!’
‘I’ll find something else.’
‘What about the salsa classes you told me about?’
Cherie gave her head an emphatic shake. ‘Oh no, I can’t possibly go there now.’
‘Why not?’ Zoe showed her phone to the woman at the entrance, who scanned their tickets with a nod.
‘Would you like a map of the grounds?’ she asked, holding up a leaflet.
‘Oh…yes, thanks…’ Zoe gave her a distracted smile.
‘There are a couple of special exhibitions on today,’ the woman continued as she handed the map over. ‘They’re in this building…’ She opened up a map of her own and showed Zoe the spot.
‘Right…thanks…’ On any other day, Zoe would have been far more enthusiastic. ‘We’ll take a look…’ She turned back to Cherie as they went inside. ‘What happened at the salsa? Was it cliquey there too?’
‘I have no idea; I didn’t go.’
‘Why didn’t you go?’
