‘Tyler!’ Joe yells. ‘Awesome.’
It’s Darcy, Tyler and an older guy – balding, but in good shape – who I assume must be her husband. They look like something out of a luxury holiday brochure. Her, in a sheer turquoise kaftan, Aviators, and boho jewellery, hair sun-kissed and lightly tousled. Him, in a white shirt, Ray-Bans, and khaki shorts. By contrast, I must appear crumpled and sweaty. I attempt to brush the sand from my clothes and hair.
‘Hey,’ Darcy says. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’
We kiss on the cheek.
‘Hi,’ I say.
‘This is my husband, Mike.’
‘Good to meet you,’ he says with a smile. Mike seems as warm and friendly as Darcy.
‘This is Jared,’ I say with a swell of possessive pride. Next, I introduce my parents – John and Barb – then Beth, Carys and Megan.
‘You look like you’ve had a great day,’ Darcy says, eyeing our picnic rug, paddle boards, wet towels and plastic Tesco rubbish bags. ‘Nice boards,’ she adds. ‘We love paddle boarding.’
A tinge of envy needles me. Because of my knee, I can’t manage many sports activities any more.
‘We’re just packing up,’ I say.
‘Well,’ Darcy says. ‘You should all come back to our place for a drink. We’re just a few minutes’ walk along the beach. We can fire up the barbeque. John, Barb, and everyone, you’re more than welcome, we’d love you all to come, too.
‘Can we?’ Joe asks, turning to me, his eyes round and pleading.
‘It’s a bit late,’ I say. ‘You’ve got school tomorrow.’
‘He’ll be fine,’ Jared says, not picking up on my reluctance. He turns to Darcy and Mike. ‘We’d love to come.’
‘Thank you for the kind invitation,’ my dad says, ‘but we’ll bow out this time.’
‘Dad’s itching to get back to his garden,’ I say.
He ruffles my hair. ‘You know me so well, LouLou.’
Beth gives me a sympathetic glance. ‘Thanks for the offer,’ she says to Darcy. ‘But Megan here is about to have the mother of all meltdowns. We need to get her home, pronto.’
‘I totally understand,’ Darcy says. ‘What a sweetie, though. Another time?’
‘Absolutely,’ Carys says, expertly folding up their travel rug.
Eventually, we say our goodbyes to my parents, my sister and her family, waving as they leave the beach and head back home.
‘We’re in the car park,’ Jared says. ‘We’ll pack up and drive round to yours, shall we?’
Mike nods. ‘Sure. We’ll head back along the beach – take Joe with us, if you like.’
Joe’s face lights up. He and Tyler high five each other and make off down the beach kicking Joe’s football to each other as they go.
‘Thanks. See you there,’ Jared says. He shakes Mike’s hand and kisses Darcy’s cheek.
It’s funny how you can just click with people. It already feels like we’ve known them for ages. They head off along the beach towards Sandbanks, while Jared and I turn our attention to packing away our gear.
‘They seem nice,’ Jared says.
‘Really friendly,’ I agree. ‘I wish we had time to go home and get changed. I feel like a right mess.’
‘You look fine,’ Jared says, brushing sand off his board. ‘It’s just a barbeque.’
