Jules tilted her head. ‘Did you talk to Grace or was it too late when we’d all gone?’
Caitlin smiled as she reflected upon Grace’s kind words the night before. ‘She came to see me before I went to bed to say she’d heard us talking and that it was fine with her if I got a man in my life.’
Jules grinned. ‘There you go then! No excuses now!’
Caitlin widened her eyes. ‘It doesn’t appear so, does it?’
‘Look, let me know if you need any help getting ready or picking out an outfit. You’ve helped me out plenty of times.’
‘Thanks, Jules. I’ll probably just stick my jeans on to be honest. I don’t want to look too desperate.’
Jules smiled and shook her head. ‘Well, you’ll look lovely no matter what. I must get going or the men in my life will be moaning at me. Speak later.’
Caitlin raised a hand. ‘Bye, Jules.’
* * *
When the bakery was closed for the day, Caitlin returned through to the house to find Grace in the garden playing fetch with Cleo. The two-year-old Yorkie Poo had been Grace’s shadow ever since they took her in as a pup.
‘Hey, love. I’ve made you the tray bake to take to Cora’s. It’s here all wrapped up for you.’
‘Thanks, Mum. You’re a star,’ Grace said with a wide smile. ‘Are you going to the pub tonight with Jules?’
Caitlin began riffling through the cupboards to find something for dinner. ‘No, not tonight… I have other plans,’ she said, feeling heat rising in her cheeks.
Grace appeared beside her. ‘Don’t bother making anything for me. Cora’s dad is ordering pizza. What plans have you got then?’
Caitlin gave up the search and straightened up to face her daughter. ‘Well… there’s a singles night up in Broadford. I thought I might give that a go.’
Grace scrunched her brow. ‘Singles night? That’s so last year, Mum. You need to get find-a-mate. It’s an app. You get to see a wee video message from people who fit your criteria and if you like them, you can arrange a date.’
Caitlin flinched and pursed her lips. ‘Oh, I don’t know about that, love. I think maybe that’s for young folk. I think I’m more of a find-a-mate-in-the-old-fashioned-way type of gal.’
Grace shook her head. ‘No, lots of old people use it, too.’
Caitlin grinned and rolled her eyes. ‘Thanks for that, hen.’
Grace covered her eyes with her free hand for a second and groaned. ‘I didn’t mean it to come out like that. It’s just that Mhairi at school said so. Her aunty uses it and she’s like forty-two or something.’
‘Wow, that old?’
Grace gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. ‘Yes, and Mhairi has a mobile phone. That’s how she knows this stuff.’
Caitlin held in a sigh. ‘I’ve said you can have one when you’re fourteen.’
Grace huffed. ‘I’ll be practically an old maid by then. Anyway, go to your singles night, but make sure you don’t let anyone buy you a drink unless the barman hands it right to you. There’s people that try to drug you these days, you know.’
Caitlin widened her eyes, surprised and a little horrified at how much her daughter seemed to know. ‘I’ll bear that in mind. But… how—?’
‘Autumn, in my class, watched a true crime programme with her older sister about a woman that was drugged and abducted. It really scared me. I don’t think I’m ever going to go to pubs or drink alcohol. I think I’ll probably just marry Evin. That way I don’t have to do dating.’ She shrugged like it was the most natural conclusion to come to.
Caitlin stifled a giggle. ‘Aye, that sounds like a grand plan. So long as Evin’s up for that.’
Grace smiled. ‘He is. We’ve already talked about it. I mean, he’s not my boyfriend now, but I might let him be when we’re seventeen.’
Impressed with her daughter’s decision to hold off on boys for five years, Caitlin planted a kiss on her cheek, even though she knew once the hormones kicked in, it would no doubt change. ‘You’d better go get your stuff together if I’m to drop you off at six.’
Grace skipped through towards the lounge and stopped when she reached the hallway door. ‘Cora’s dad is single, you know.’ She shrugged. ‘I could say something to—’
