(Maybe I wasn’t the best friend when she got home to England, and I think she was worried I would go back to James.)
Would you?
Jo smiles at Malcolm. (Not now.He may have been my lover, but he was never my friend.)
How do you feel about Lucy’s baby?
(Happy.)
At this point Ruth had paused expectantly, but Jo had kept silent.
When is the baby due?
(Early February.)
Ruth says decisively, ‘You must go home for a weekend. Malcolm and I will look after the shop.’ In the next instance, a shadow of anxiety passes across Ruth’s face and Jo wonders why it is Ruth sometimes suffers these mood changes.
‘You are right, I suppose,’ Jo responds, slowly, ‘I do need to go home.’ At the same time she wonders: where is home for her now? She had been so sure it was in the North, but with the shop and these friends …
As they linger over sticky toffee pudding, Jo finds herself watching the table across the room. From the body language and laughter, Lando and Eric are clearly back to teasing each other. She is reminded of her meal with them when they had interspersed jibes with fulsome praise. In some ways, it is similar to the verbal to-and-fro that Ruth and Malcolm seem to enjoy so much. Eric appears to be drawing Ferdy on to his side, and Jo watches him pull the little boy onto his lap so they can both start pointing at Lando, swaying in unison, heads together. Jo wonders if Eric will get glued there and can’t decide if she wants to laugh or cry.
‘There’s no time like the present,’ Ruth suddenly declares, and Jo looks at her, startled.
‘I think you should text Lucy now and say you are planning on coming home for the weekend.’
Jo sees Ruth glance towards Eric the Viking and begins to think these are diversionary tactics aimed at helping her. She gets her phone out and composes a text to Lucy. She sends it quickly, before she changes her mind.
Almost as soon as it is sent, Jo’s phone pings. She looks down hopefully and then up at Ruth and Malcolm in shock and distress.
‘What?’ they both say, leaning forward.
Jo holds up her phone so they can see the one-word reply:
Don’t
‘Oh, my dear,’ Malcolm says, reaching out his hand.
‘Well …’ Ruth starts, and then for once seems lost for words.
A second ping makes Jo look down again. This time when she looks up she is beaming, the relief evident on her face. She holds the phone up again, this message reads:
Sorry, sent that without finishing. Don’t come home at weekend. I’m coming to see you this week! Sanjeev booked me tickets as a surprise. Will text later, in an antenatal class at mo. Woman’s waters just broke. Sanjeev says if it’s like this, he’s buying a boat. L x
29
William Foyle & John Lobb
Jo feels like a great weight has been lifted; she has no idea what Lucy’s visit will bring, but surely they must be able to sort this out? She wouldn’t be coming if she didn’t want to.
As a waiter arrives with coffee, a thought comes to her. She suddenly knows with complete certainty what the ghosts of William Foyle and John Lobb would talk about on Christmas Eve. She glances towards where Eric and Lando are sitting and then back at Ruth and Malcolm.
‘I’d like to tell you about William Foyle and John Lobb,’ she says with decision.
‘Oh, splendid!’ Malcolm declares, pulling his chair up closer to the table.
To start with, Jo tells them all she has learnt about John and William. Their poor backgrounds and the wealth they then accumulated during their lives. ‘Not that it was always easy for either of them, even when the businesses were established.’
‘So, both self-made men who could duck and dive,’ Malcolm suggests.
