Page 58 of The Happiest Ever After
‘Sorry, I am joking,’ he said then. She smiled and he thought what a beautiful mouth she had. He wondered what her lips would taste of and that rogue thought shocked him because he didn’t think of her in that way and he didn’t want to start either. He plunged his attention back to the menu and decided on a pizza.
‘Have you noticed how many people have a one-course pasta main at lunchtime in your restaurant?’ Sabrina asked him.
‘There’s a big business park five minutes away. A lot come in to grab a quick bite.’
‘Then you should have a takeaway service, something likeFasta Pasta.Something they can whizz in for, pick up and go back to the office with. Maybe they’d send a runner to collect a bulk order. OrPiece-a-Pizza. You do takeaway pizzas, I presume?’
‘No, we don’t,’ said Teddy.
‘You should think about it. You’re shut on Sundays, but not everyone wants a roast dinner. You should shut on Mondays instead.’
Teddy looked at her across the table in something resembling awe. This woman wasn’t a bluffer or a phony, he’d bet his week’s takings on it. ‘You really do know what you’re talking about, don’t you?’
‘Yes, I do,’ she replied.
In Diana’s beautiful lounge, the Mad Cows were salivating over her clotted cream scones. When it was her turn to host, in came her mother’s recipe and out went any diets.
‘I can’t stand going out for an afternoon tea when they don’t give you butter,’ said Jackie, spreading one of her scone halves with a curl of Lurpak before loading it with jam and clotted cream. She made a noise of delight when she bit into it.
‘Ey up, Jackie, you nearly had to unhinge your jaw then to get it into your mouth. You looked like a snake about to devour an antelope,’ Bev laughed. ‘Ooh, and talking of snakes, I saw Cilla and Internet Hugo in Wellem on Monday.’
‘Did you stop and chat?’ asked Diana.
‘Well, it wasn’t exactly a chat. She said, “Bev, I didn’t recognise you. You’ve put a bit of weight on since the lasttime I saw you, haven’t you, but I have to say it suits you.” I mean, who says that?’
There was a collective gasp and a mass ‘She didn’t!’
‘She bloody did. I thought of a million comebacks in the car on the way home but all I could say at the time was, “You’re looking well though. That cruise air must have done you good.” I’ve done nothing but gnaw on it ever since. Like a dog with a bone.’
‘She’s not exactly Twiggy herself,’ said Jackie. ‘She’s got one of those arses that would wipe out her own footprints in the snow. You should have told her that.’
That made them all laugh, except for Marielle who was in a world of her own today. Jackie gave her a nudge.
‘Earth to Marielle. You okay?’
‘Sorry,’ replied Marielle, ‘I was away with the fairies then.’ She picked up her scone. This interruption of her relationship with Sabrina was taking her over. She’d have to sort it one way or another.
As if Bev could see into her head, she said then, ‘How’s your lodger? Sylvie said she seemed very nice.’
‘She is,’ said Marielle cautiously.
‘I must admit I was quite surprised,’ said Sylvie. ‘I actually felt quite assured having met her.’
‘She’s working in Teddy’s restaurant, isn’t she?’ said Jackie, loading up the second half of her scone. ‘How’s that going?’
‘Good. Teddy says she’s a hard worker.’
‘If I’d had a son, I’d have wanted one just like your Teddy,’ said Diana, who hadn’t been able to conceive and it had caused her a lot of heartache over the years. ‘I can’t understand why he’s still single.’
‘Me neither,’ Sylvie nodded. ‘He needs to get a move onand give hismammasome grandchildren. I do hope Waltzing Matilda didn’t put him off.’
‘I hope so too but I try not to quiz him,’ said Marielle. ‘If he wanted to tell me about his love life, he would.’
‘Deep as a flipping well, aren’t they, blokes?’ said Bev. ‘You can’t tell from their faces what’s going on behind them.’
Some women were just like that as well, thought Marielle, trying not to let her sadness show.
The Ciaoissimo starters weren’t great. Some of the prawns in Sabrina’s cocktail were still frozen and she’d sent them back and had creamed mushrooms instead, which were okay, though she’d had to wait a couple of minutes for them to cool down because they’d been over-nuked in a microwave. They were molten; she could have cauterised wounds with them. Teddy’s bruschetta was beyond bland, more or less tomatoes on toast without any effort to sex it up.
