She pushed the door open and stepped inside. From memory, the old restroom had been a tiled, cold and fairly basic area, but was now transformed into something surprisingly opulent. A small chandelier was suspended over a sitting room area with deep grey walls and furnished with two armchairsupholstered in a pale shade of pink. Through an inner doorway was a sleek sink. The overall feel was extremely elegant for a country pub. Jenny sank into one of the armchairs and let out a satisfied sigh. She kicked off her heels to wriggle her toes in the fluffy pink mat that graced the floor between the two chairs. Maybe she could just stay in here for the rest of the night. Her ears were loving the sudden quiet after the music and chatter outside.
The door swinging open made Jenny jump slightly and she dragged her shoes closer to her feet to put them back on, feeling awkward at being caught out enjoying the peace and quiet.
‘Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,’ Cassie said, noticing her on the chair. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Everything’s fine,’ Jenny said, putting a smile on her face. ‘I just needed … a minute.’
‘Are you sure everything’s okay?’ Cassie asked slowly, hesitating and then taking a seat opposite her.
‘I guess I’m just not used to this whole dating thing. You might have realised this is the second one I’ve been on in two days,’ Jenny said, twisting her mouth wryly.
‘I think it’s great you’re getting out there.’
‘Do you? My darling children and best friend ambushed me with it. I didn’t even pick the men. Would you do that to your mother?’ she asked as an afterthought.
‘Probably not, since she kind of likes my dad and they’re still married,’ Cassie said with a grin.
‘Oh. Well. No, you probably wouldn’t want to do that.’
‘I know Brittany and I’m sure they’re all just trying to help. Maybe these dates are a way for you to see what youcouldhave? If you don’t particularly mesh with any of these guys then maybe you’ll know what youdowant from someone else?’
‘Hmm. So far, I’m fairly certain it’ll be the opposite of what they’ve found me.’ She eyed the younger woman curiously for a moment. ‘Are you back for good? I remember you moving away a while back.’
‘I did. But I’ve recently come home. Mum hurt herself, and I came back to help Dad with the farm. But she’s on the mend now.’
‘That’s good. You should get in touch with Brittany, I’m sure she’d like to catch up. She doesn’t really get out that much with Sophie to keep her on her toes.’
‘She’s a good mum. She seems happy.’
‘She’s a great mum.’ Jenny smiled fondly as she thought about her eldest daughter. ‘She’s doing so well—considering she’s working full-time and raising a little one. But I worry that she’s a bit lonely. She doesn’t really have much of a social life. Most of her friends from school moved away. It’d be nice for her to have a friend around again.’
‘We’ll be meeting up soon,’ Cassie promised. ‘I’ve really missed being back home. I guess Brittany and I have that in common—we’ve both moved back in with our parents.’
‘Well, if your mum and dad are anything like me, I’m sure they’re happy to have you home. But I suppose I better get back out there before my date breaks into another cold sweat over something.’
‘Good luck.’
Jenny slipped her heels on, took a silent breath and counted to five before resolutely standing and making her way back to her table. She only had to get through the meal and then it would be over. How bad could the second half be, after all?
‘So, astronomy?’ Alan suddenly asked, as they finished some small talk about the weather. Jenny looked at him quizzically. ‘Your profile listed astronomy as an interest.’
‘It did?’What the actual hell?
‘It’s one of mine, too.’
‘Oh. Right. Yeah.’ She didn’t know a damn thing about astronomy. She was going to seriously kill those kids of hers.And Beth, she added as she pictured their smug faces.
‘What’s your favourite planet?’ he asked.
Again, Jenny stopped eating to look at him and realised she needed to do a quick memory check of primary school and early science lessons. ‘Ah, Pluto,’ she said, coming up with the name triumphantly.
‘Very funny. Pluto was declassified as a planet.’
‘Really? Well, that’s weird. What is it now?’
‘It was officially classed as a dwarf planet back in two thousand and six.’
Dwarf planet … so it’s technically still a damn planet then, she thought irritably. ‘Well, if they’re going to go and change everything we’ve already learned, shouldn’t they at least bring it up with the times and rename it a “planet of short stature”?’ she asked lightly. ‘You know … politically correct terminology and all.’
