Quiz night was clearly popular as The Hardy Herdwick was packed.
‘How long is it since you’ve been in here?’ Georgia asked as we grabbed a table with Keira while Mark and Johnnie went to the bar to get the drinks in.
‘A decade? Maybe more?’ It had been several years before Noah died. Flynn and I used to love coming here. It was the place where we met so it had always been special to us, but we both got so busy with work that we’d stopped finding the time. ‘It hasn’t changed much.’
In some ways, that felt reassuring. The walls were painted a different colour but everything else was so familiar from the dark wood furniture to the pictures of Herdwick sheep all over the walls to the soft toy sheep beside the optics. There was a real fire burning, taking me back to how much Flynn and I had especially loved coming here on a winter’s evening to relax with a drink in front of the crackling fire. We’d been so happy back then. If Noah hadn’t died, we likely still would be.
Regan and Clarke joined us just after Mark and Johnnie returned with the drinks, wishing Georgia a happy birthday and giving her hugs. Mark returned to the bar for their drinks and then we all toasted to Georgia’s fifty-fifth birthday.
‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling round the group. ‘I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my birthday or better people to spend it with. But you know what will make it the best birthday ever? If we actually win for once.’
‘You haven’t won before?’ I asked, surprised.
‘Second’s the best we’ve come,’ she said. ‘We’re usually somewhere in the middle.’
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask why they kept coming if they never won, but I reminded myself that my sister had never been competitive. She didn’t mind being at the bottom as long as she felt she’d done her best and I had to applaud her for that. It was a much more relaxed way to approach life instead of wanting to be the best at everything like I always did. When you lived your life the way I did, failures were so much more catastrophic and I’d had plenty of those.
A young woman approached the table clutching several sheets of paper and a pot of pens. ‘Are you quizzing tonight?’ she asked.
Following an enthusiastic chorus ofYes, Connie, she placed an answer sheet and a pen on the table.
‘Please forgive the picture round. Arnie made one too many Christmas ones and decided he might as well use it tonight.’
I smiled at the quiz name which Regan added to the top of the page – Tequila Mockingbird. Nobody needed to explain the name choice to me. Harper Lee’sTo Kill a Mockingbirdwas my sister’s all-time favourite book and I loved how they’d blended that with a drinks reference.
Regan removed a staple from the corner of the answer sheet and placed a second page down on the table with a declaration of, ‘Seasonally inappropriate picture round.’
I stared at the small photographs of scenes from Christmas films. I recognised a few obvious ones fromElf,It’s a Wonderful LifeandLove Actuallybut nothing else looked familiar. Although…
‘That’sDie Hard,’ I exclaimed. ‘That’s not a Christmas film.’
Regan and Clarke both stared at me, their expressions incredulous.
‘Take that back!’ Clarke said, clapping his hand to his chest in mock indignation.
‘Why? It’s an action film.’
‘Set on Christmas Eve at a Christmas party,’ Regan stated, shaking his head.
‘You’ve started something now,’ Georgia warned and, sure enough, Regan and Clarke presented an argument as to whyDie Hardwas not only a Christmas film but the best Christmas film ever. I wasn’t convinced by the latter, although I hadn’t watched enough Christmas films to offer a winner myself, but I had to concede that it did have Christmas all over it and wasn’t sure why I hadn’t thought about that before.
‘I can’t believe you haven’t heard the debate about it,’ Keira said. ‘It’s been all over the socials for years. There are stacks of reels about it on TikTok.’
I shrugged apologetically. ‘I don’t really do the socials and I definitely don’t do TikTok.’
‘Speaking of which, I loved your post on TikTok earlier,’ Keira told her brother and Clarke. ‘And how many followers? I’m in awe.’
I was the one in awe as I listened to them discussing the enormous social media presence Regan and Clarke had built up for both Darrowby’s and their textiles business. They showed me some of their recent posts which were funny and imaginative. I’d missed out on so much by not being more present in their lives, but that was going to change.
A buzz from a microphone interrupted us, followed by a man’s deep voice announcing, ‘Five-minute warning, quizzers, five-minute warning.’
‘That’s Arnie,’ Georgia told me. ‘He’s the landlord.’
I vaguely recalled her telling me that the pub had changed hands but I couldn’t remember how long ago that had been. The past seven years had blurred into each other.
The quiz got underway and, sure enough, my niche knowledge of historical buildings was no help whatsoever. I knew a couple of easy general knowledge questions and one of the music ones but the others got the answers quicker than me so I sat back, enjoying my drink and soaking in the atmosphere.
It was lovely observing the banter between Georgia, Mark and their kids but soon my mind drifted. If things had been different, would Flynn, Noah and I have joined Georgia and her family for weekly quiz nights? Maybe we’d have made our own team and there’d have been some family rivalry – Waters family versus the Crofts. Noah might have had a girlfriend who joined us. He might still have been with Jessie – perhaps engaged or even married. I glanced across at Keira on the other side of the table – older than Noah by only seventeen months – and felt a tidal wave of grief threatening to pull me under as I noticed her hands resting on her baby bump. Noah and Jessie could have had children by now. My grandchildren. Throat burning, tears blurring my vision, I had to get out but without alerting Georgia that something was wrong. I’d been to the ladies’ less than ten minutes ago and had made a trip to the bar on my return so the only thing I could think of was to fake a coughing fit. With one hand over my mouth, I tapped my chest, rolled my eyes at Georgia and pointed out the window. She nodded, indicating her understanding, and I dashed outside.
