Darby added a spoonful next to the pudding, tucked in and smiled across the table. ‘I don’t exactly have much room for this, but how could anyone say no? I’ll need to do a spin class tomorrow to work off the calories from the ice cream alone.’
‘I didn’t put you down as a spin class sort of person.’
‘I was joking. I’d rather poke my eyes out than go to any sort of class. The last time I did it, I had baby weight to lose and let’s just say it was not one of my better ideas. It did not end well.’
Archie put a spoonful of pudding into his mouth. ‘Well, this has been nice.’
Darby, as usual, spoke before she thought. ‘Yeah, it has. It's been rather a long time since I've done anything like this. To be frank, I'd convinced myself that I'd forgotten how to have normal conversations with attractive men over dinner.'
'Am I the attractive man in the scenario?'
Darby bantered back as quick as a flash, trying to cover her tracks. 'Don't let it go to your head. I have to say, though, I didn’t really expect you know, well, for you to, I don’t know, go to the pub with someone like me.'
'Someone like you? And that person is?'
'Over forty, complicated history, prone to domestic disasters and yeah, I do not have my ducks in a row. To be honest, I’m not exactly what most men are looking for in their dating profiles. They always say they want someone fun-loving and are looking for zero complications and all that old tosh. I mean, really? Who doesn’t have complications if they are on a dating site in the first place? Sorry, I don’t know why I’m mentioning dating apps. They literally make me shudder. Once bitten, twice shy.'
‘I’m hearing you.’
Darby swiftly changed the subject, wishing she hadn’t blurted out anything. Her stomach was doing a complicated fluttering thing and the blood again rushed here, there and everywhere. Archie almost swam in front of her eyes. Thealcohol, her emotions, and the warmth made her feel dazed. Archie was either an exceedingly good actor or he was funny, charming and so laid-back he was almost horizontal. She wanted to get into his bed.
By the time another round had been suggested, Darby was in up to her neck. She’d fallen deep and hard, and oh, howgloriousit was wading around in it. So nice. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but she did know that she was feeling something she hadn’t in a long, long, long time.
As it dawned on her that the thing she was feeling started with “H”, she swallowed. Good God! She was happy, yes, that was it. As the room continued to swim in front of her eyes, it swirled around her. Happy, happy, happy. Clap, clap, clap.
There was only one problem in the distance, rearing its ugly troll-like head. It was probably all too good to be true. Because, of course, this couldnotbe real. This Archie character was ever so good-looking, ever so nice, younger than her and ever so baggage-free on first encounter. That alone, unfortunately, told our lovely Darby that there had to be a catch. No doubt she would find out, by hook or by crook, soon enough. For now, she’d continue to wade around. It turned out that having a happy evening wasn’t too hard after all.
24
After he'd walked away into the Pretty Beach evening, Darby stood by her front gate for a few minutes. Processing the fact that she'd just had what could only be described as a successful dinner date with someone who seemed to find her interesting, she couldn’t quite believe her luck. Remarkable. The evening had been lovely and nothing like she'd feared. Despite her vaulting around brain, there had not been a single awkward silence, no desperate attempts to find common ground, no sense that either of them was trying not to be themselves. As far as she’d seen, he’d not wanted to tie her up, chop her up and dispose of her body parts in a freezer, either, so that was a plus. Not that people tended to advertise that fact, but anyway.
As she unlocked her front door and stepped into her house, Darby mused that Penny had been absolutely right about not overthinking things. Sometimes the universedidsend you exactly what you needed exactlywhenyou were ready for it. Sometimes the best things happened when you just showed up in a blouse you’d stalked for a very long time and were yourself.
Walking in and checking that Lola was settled for the night, again, Darby felt happy and things were good. As if having someone genuinely interested in her life had buoyed her a littlebit. Chatting with someone other than a wall, phone, one of her offspring, or dog had been genuinely lovely.
Trying to decide on a nightcap, a hot chocolate or a cup of tea, she plumped for tea and sat in her kitchen, looking at the bare wall where the orange cupboards had been, thinking about the evening. In her partially renovated kitchen, surrounded by jobs, she felt more optimistic about the future than she had in ages. Which, considering how low she’d been at the turn of the year, was saying something. Wrapping her hands around her mug and breathing in the steam, she thought about the evening.
Her phone buzzed on the table, lighting up with a message from Molly.
Molly:Well?
Darby smiled and pondered what to respond. With her fingers over the screen, she wasn’t really sure what to say. It was sweet that Molly was concerned and interested. No doubt all of her children were sick to the back teeth of her disasters with men. At the end of the day, she was always a parent. It wasn’t as if she was going to say to Molly that she wanted to jump on the man.
Darby:It went well xxx.
Molly:Well, as in just fine, or well as in you actually enjoyed yourself?
Darby:Well, as in I actually enjoyed myself.
Molly:Oh! This is excellent news. Tell me everything.
Darby:Not much to tell, really. It was easy. No awkwardness. I actually had a nice time.
If it hadn’t been her daughter, Darby might have said that she fancied the pants off him, too.
Molly:I’m so glad, Mum. You deserve it.
Darby:It felt nice. Different. In a good way.
