The four women burst into fits of giggles as they settled into their seats. The waiter placed down the two bottles of chardonnay and was quick to retreat and then reappear with extra cutlery, glasses, menus, and two more bottles of wine.
‘Shall I open and pour?’ he asked holding up one of the bottles.
‘Yes please,’ answered more than one voice simultaneously. The women looked at each other and laughed.
When all glasses were filled, Morgan raised her glass. ‘A small toast to my fading fifties. You were good to me health wise, and you let me enjoy a wonderful social life with my friends.’ She paused, inhaling a jittery breath. ‘But you also took my beloved sister away from me.’ Morgan could see her friends look from one to the other. They all loved Marie as much as she had. Morgan continued, trying to keep the tremor from her voice. ‘I know and I accept losing loved ones is part of the circle of life, but it’s still difficult.’ Morgan looked up. ‘Anyway, I know you are with us in spirit Marie, so if you can lend a helping hand from the other side, please let my sixtieth decade be as good to me health wise as my fiftieth was.’ She raised her glass higher. ‘To my sixties.’
The four friends looked from one to the other, eyes brimming with tears and filled with understanding as they all raised their glasses and spoke in unison. ‘To your sixties.’
‘And new possibilities in love,’ Christine quickly added.
Morgan spluttered as she sipped her wine. ‘New possibilities in love? I don’t think that’s in my life’s path, Christine.’
Christine shrugged. ‘Never say never, love. Look at Tom and me. Who’d have guessed I’d be in a new relationship twelve months ago, and with Tom of all men?’
Pamela shook her head as she turned to look at Christine. ‘Not me. I thought you were a happy singleton until the new dog groomer came to the bay. Then, for a short while, I actually thought there was something going on between the two of you.’
‘Who? Marcus and me?’ Christine’s voice pitched high as she pointed a finger at herself before quickly shaking her head. ‘No-no-no. We were, and still are, just good friends.’
Katherine looked around the table going from face to face, looking at her friends, her mouth dropping open. ‘Crikey. What have I missed since I’ve been gone?’ she finished with a smile and a wink.
Morgan held the palms of her hands up and hitched her shoulders. ‘Oh, you know what the bay is like Katherine. Why don’t you just call in on Mrs Calloway when we get back to the bay, she’ll tell you every single little thing you’ve missed since you left.’
They all laughed.
A well-dressed man in his early forties, dressed very stylishly in a navy suit, walked up to their table. ‘Good afternoon, ladies.’ Morgan recognised him as the owner. His smart attire had caught her eye a few visits prior to today when she’d overheard him talking to an employee. ‘It’s lovely to have you back again. I’ve been told by my maître D you come here every month.’ He pointed at the sign sticking out of the flower arrangement and chuckled. ‘He told me you were celebrating a special occasion. This is certainly a first in my restaurant. And for that, I want you to accept a bottle of my finest champagne.’
The four women cooed their thanks.
‘That’s very generous. Thank you,’ beamed Morgan.
The owner smiled. ‘It’s my pleasure.’ He gave her a small wink which didn’t go unnoticed by her friends as he pointed at the sign. ‘Are you sure you haven’t gotten the decade wrong? Shouldn’t it readfortiesinstead of fifties?’ With a charming smile lighting up his face, he dipped his head in leave and walked away.
Each of the women had a hand held up to their open mouths, stifling their excited astonishment, until the owner was out of earshot, before they all erupted into giggles.
‘See!’ said Christine, hiking a thumb in his direction. ‘New possibilities in love.’
Morgan swept the comment away with the back of her hand, but she still couldn’t stop herself from laughing as she spoke. ‘I’m old enough to be his mother.’
The waiter came back to the table with a notepad and pen as the last of their titters stopped. ‘Are we ready to order yet, ladies?’
Morgan shook her head as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes. ‘Sorry love no, we haven’t even looked at the menus yet. Can we have another five minutes please?’ The waiter nodded with a smile and left. Morgan intertwined her fingers, resting her elbows on the table. ‘Actually ladies, before we order, I want to tell you about the plan I have for my birthday.’
‘Plan for your birthday?’ asked Christine with a frown. ‘Are you planning on doing something special like celebrating abroad?’
Morgan shook her head. ‘No, nothing like that. I want to be here with family and friends. In fact, I was thinking of combining my birthday celebration with a community one. I want to hold a barn dance.’ She looked towards Pamela. ‘Is one of your barns for hire Pamela?’
‘As the barn dance is for your birthday, and it benefits the community as well, I’ll let you use it for free. The one we store hay bales in will be best. It’s getting low in stock so there won’t be much work needed to empty it or move the hay to one side. But although it’s airtight and dry, it will need heating Morgan. It gets really cold in there this time of year. In addition to that, we’ll also have to get safety measures in place—you know, get the fire crew in for the go ahead, safety advice and whatnot.’
Morgan nodded enthusiastically as she listened intently. ‘Sounds perfect love.’
‘What about doing some fun activities too? Like a mocktail competition for the children? Or even a cocktail competition for the adults?’ Katherine’s enthusiasm was contagious, there was no way Morgan could say no.
‘As long as you are still there to judge them,’ Morgan’s brow lifted questioningly, she hoped Katherine would still be here forthe party and wouldn’t have to go back to her mother’s house continue the duty of care to her mother too soon.
‘Well I’d love to attend, but it depends on whether you are holding this celebration on your actual birthday, because I have to go back the day after.’
Morgan looked expectantly at Pamela. ‘Do you think we can get the barn emptied and up to code by then?’
