Page 53 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

*

‘Scrabble-themed fancy dress?’ said Florence later. ‘I’ve not got a clue what I could go as.’

‘I think it’s more for the children,’ Jo said.

Her meeting with Sal had overrun and Jo had dashed back to Hazel Lane, grabbed a piece of cheese on toast and hurried back down the hill twenty minutes late for Scrabble club to find that a) Ras had had to leave – he was on out-of-hours duty, apparently, and there’d been an emergency – and b) word had already got round about the festival and everyone was far more interested in hearing about her plans for that than they were in playing an actual game.

‘Our Robert’s kids go to that school,’ said Sylvia. ‘Suppose I’ll end up sewing their costumes. I always have to for World Book Day – their mother claims she’s too busy. Trouble is, these days I can’t see to thread the needle. I’ll have to see Doctor Ras about my eyes.’

‘Our Knit ‘n’ Chat group could make scarves featuring letter tiles,’ said Florence.

‘Great idea,’ said Jo, somewhat absently. She was really disappointed that Ras wasn’t here – after she’d been thinking about him all day – but at least she’d see him tomorrow.

‘You’d be surprised how much knitwear twenty-eight retired women can generate,’ said Sylvia. ‘Although knitting does play havoc with my joints.’

‘Letter tile scarves,’ said Jo, finally managing to push Ras from her mind. ‘I like that idea. We need to make as much money as possible for the school.’

‘I could make biscuits,’ said Annie. ‘With iced letters on. To look like Scrabble tiles. Like the ones we sell in the (Not So) Little Board Game Café.’

‘Thanks, Annie.’ Jo made a note in her Filofax to check this with Sal; she didn’t want Annie stepping on the toes of whoever was running the PTA refreshment stall.

‘And there’ll be a tournament?’ Mr B said.

‘There will.’ Jo nodded.

‘Can anyone enter?’ said Cosmic.

‘Yes, but there’ll be a small entry fee,’ Jo said.

‘I hope you’ll be bringing plenty of dictionaries,’ said Florence, glowering at Mr B.

Jo knew that Florence and Mr B argued every time they played together, Mr B trying it on with proper nouns, words of his own invention and, on one occasion, a Polish word – it was his mother tongue – and Florence spending entire games with her nose buried in the Oxford English Dictionary.

‘I will.’ Jo added ‘dictionaries’ to her list. How many would they need? And where could she get them from? The school, perhaps? Or perhaps they could use an online dictionary?

‘Have you thought about insurance for this festival?’ said Malcolm.

Everyone groaned.

‘No, hear me out,’ he said. ‘What if there’s a major incident? An earthquake? Or a terrorist attack? What if the school burns down the day before the festival?’

‘In the unlikely event of an earthquake, we’ll cancel,’ said Jo, but made a mental note to check with the school in case they did need insurance.

*

Saturday morning. Jo hadn’t ventured into the (Not So) Little Board Game Café in Essendale since she’d first decided to move out of Manchester and had been hunting for somewhere to live. She’d been preoccupied then – with Gemma moving so far away, with the search for a new place, with Leona’s recent arrival at Pop! Productions – and hadn’t noticed what a lovely place it was. The walls were painted in a delicate shade of grey and hung with enormous photo canvases showing close-ups of board games pieces. Red and white bunting hung from the ceiling and a long shelving unit stacked full of games ran along the entirety of one wall.

Kate was sitting at one of the brightly painted tables, talking to the waitress that Jo vaguely remembered from her first visit. She was pretty, with a long, wispy fringe, pale-blue eyes and an elfin face, and she was wearing an olive-green dungaree pinafore.

‘Jo, this is Em,’ Kate said. ‘Em, meet Jo.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Em.

‘Great place you’ve got here,’ Jo said.

‘Yeah, it took a lot of hard work to get it like this, but it’s paid off in the end. And I’m opening a second one in Hebbleswick. You’ll have to come along.’

‘Yeah, that’d be good,’ said Jo. ‘Providing you’ve got a few Scrabble boards.’