Page 37 of Match Point in Crumbleton
‘Yep. Andy’s already brought them over. Actually—make sure Andy gets name-checked—right at the top if you don’t mind! He’s been brilliant, the guy’s hardly stopped. He’s done all the work on the court, and I’ve roped him in to help me pick the strawberries from Harold’s tomorrow morning so that they’re as fresh as they can be for when we kick things off at eleven.’
‘That boy’s being very helpful these days,’ said Caroline, wriggling her eyebrows.
‘I’d hardly call Andy a boy,’ said Cath with a straight face, deliberately ignoring the less-than-subtle undertones to Caroline’s pronouncement.
‘Okay, fine,’ said Caroline. ‘Lemme ask this, then—is Andy your manfriend?’
Cath snorted with laughter, almost inhaling a mouthful of wine. She couldn’t help it. There was something about Caroline that made keeping a straight face pretty much impossible.
‘I couldn’t possibly comment,’ spluttered Cath.
‘Blimey, you picked that up fast,’ grumbled Caroline.
‘Picked what up fast?’ said Cath, suddenly lost.
‘The no-comment thing,’ she huffed. ‘One of the drawbacks of being the town’s only reporter Is that I get “no comment” from all my friends whenever I want to engage in a bit of harmless gossip!’
‘Aw,’ said Cath. ‘Sad for you, but still… no comment.’
‘Spoilsport,’ said Caroline with a pout. ‘For what it’s worth, I think the pair of you would make a very cute couple.’
‘Well… I…’ Cath took a deep breath, wondering when the little flat had grown quite so warm. ‘Here’s the thing, I’m not sure I want to be half of a cute couple just yet. Not considering it’s taken a couple of particularly tricky years to forget about the gittish other half of the last cute couple I was part of.’
‘Oh,’ said Caroline. ‘Poo. Sorry.’
Cath shrugged. ‘That’s life, right?’
‘It doesn’t have to be like that,’ said Caroline, shaking her head. ‘Not all blokes are first-class asshats.’
‘Is your bloke one of the exceptions?’ said Cath.
‘I don’t have one,’ said Caroline. ‘Mainly because the ones who aren’t first-class asshats are either taken or I’ve known them since we were wearing identical baby rompers and sharing toddler paddling pools.’
‘Cute!’ chuckled Cath.
‘Erm, nope. Far far far too close for comfort. For example—your Andy? Kissing him would be like snogging my brother.’
‘Eww!’
‘Yes,’ agreed Caroline. ‘Maximum ick factor right there, my friend.’
‘Okay I get it,’ said Cath. ‘But still… I’m not sure I’m ready.’
‘But if you were?’ said Caroline.
‘If I was… he’s seriously cute,’ said Cath, keeping her eyes on her glass of wine. ‘Especially without a top on.’
‘Cath Walker, you naughty girl!’ squeaked Caroline. ‘And also, EWW!’
Cath grinned at her. ‘I do like him. He’s been lovely to me. But… I’ve only been in town for five minutes.’
‘Yep, and in that time you seem to have managed to charm half of Crumbleton’s population,’ said Caroline.
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Cath awkwardly.
‘Well I do—it’s kind of my job, after all!’ said Caroline. ‘Enough people have stopped me in the street to tell me they think you’re the best thing to arrive in town since Ruby Hutchinson – and she’s a bloomin’ celebrity author!’
‘Well, thanks,’ said Cath, taking a fortifying sip of her wine. ‘I mean, I’m flattered, but—’
