Page 128 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

‘You must have bad letters,’ she said.

‘I have.’

Jo made HOPEFUL going down the board, using the last L of WILL. It summed up how she felt about the evening – about her life in general, right now in fact – and scored her 31 points as both her H and F were on triple letter scores.

‘There’s only going to be one winner here,’ Razz said, placing a G in front of the O of hopeful to make GO. The G was on a double letter but it still only scored 5 points.

‘That can’t be the best you can do.’

‘I told you – bad letters.’

On his next turn, Razz fidgeted as he thought about which word to make, rooting around in his pocket, pulling out a tissue and dabbing his nose.

‘Hay fever,’ he said. He used the U of HOPEFUL to make OUT.

‘Why not make POT with the P? It scores more. Can’t believe you didn’t spot that. Allow me.’ She leaned over and rearranged his tiles. ‘Must be tricky without your right hand.’

Jo scored 33 points – with bonuses – on her next move, placing SWEATER on the board. Razz’s score for the entire game so far was only 31 points. She was going to walk this one.

He was rooting around in his pocket again so Jo passed him a tissue from her handbag. He wiped his nose and put down an O and a U making OUT using the T of SWEATER.

‘You’ve a limited vocabulary this evening,’ she said.

‘It’s the hay fever. I can’t concentrate. And I’ve got bad letters.’

‘Can’t you prescribe yourself something?’

‘There’s no cure for bad letters.’

‘For the hay fever.’

‘Yeah, I’ll sort myself out on Monday at the surgery.’

It was boring when a game was this easy, Jo thought as she laid her next word, but things were going to get trickier now as she picked up the Q from the box. There were only two tiles with a letter U and both were already on the board, in places where she wouldn’t be able to use them. She racked her brains for words that contained a Q but no U.

Razz, she noticed as she weighed up the possibilities, was fiddling with his sling.

‘Is your shoulder okay?’ she said.

‘Yes, a little uncomfortable. Bit itchy.’

‘I thought people got itchy under a plaster cast, not a sling.’

‘I’m a bit hot, that’s all.’

He was twitchy, Jo thought. She turned her attention back to her letter rack, rearranging the tiles, considering the options. Razz made WITH for 10 points.

‘Is there nothing better?’

He shook his head. ‘Can’t see anything.’

‘You really are struggling this evening,’ she said. ‘Have you lost your touch? It’s me who’s got concussion, not you.’

She placed WIDGET for 22 points on a double word score. Then she chose her new tiles and was surprised to see a U amongst them.

‘That’s odd. I’ve just picked up a U. But there are already two on the board and there are only two in a set.’

‘Weird,’ said Razz. ‘Perhaps some extra letters got mixed up and found their way into your box at Scrabble club last week.’