Molly:You sound happy. Are you happy?
Darby shook her head. How funny for Molly to pick that up just from a text conversation.
Darby:I think I am.
Molly:OK. I’m so pleased it went well. I was just checking in. I’m going to bed early b/c I’m getting up for yoga in the morn so I’ll spk to u tmr.
Darby:Thx for asking. Love you.
Molly:Love you loads. xxxx
Darby rinsed her mug, put it in the dishwasher and turned it on. With Lola shuffling out of her bed and following her as she went upstairs, she could hear the dishwasher rumbling away to itself and somewhere along the lane an owl hooted. As Molly had so cleverly clocked, she felt almost deliriously happy. Not just because of one date and one man. More because she’d forced herself to start feeling better and it appeared that it was working.
Upstairs, the top stair creaked as she padded towards the bathroom, washed and then changed into her oldest pyjamas, soft with years of washing, and folded herself into bed. Lola made one attempt to get on the bed and then hopped into her basket and let out a ginormous contented sigh as if she had picked up on Darby’s mood. The sound was almost comically loud in the quiet room and quickly turned into a Lola snore.
Lying in the dark, with the duvet tucked under her chin, Darby listened to Lola’s little snoring sounds. The pub had been just the right casual setting and the conversation had rolled easily from one thing to the next. The best thing was that she hadn’t had to edit herself or be anything she wasn’t. Archie hadn’t annoyed her either, which was not only unusual but a bonus. With her brain still tumbling over and over the evening’s happenings, she tried to listen to what was going on outside and let her brain calm down. The tide was clearly on the turn because she could hear waves and shingle on the beach. Somewherefurther off, a boat’s rigging clanged against its mast in the breeze and another owl hooted away into the night.
Turning on her side, Darby watched moonlight on the floorboards touching the corner of the rug under her bed. As she willed herself to drop off to sleep, she tried to remember the last time she’d felt good about something that was just for her, but couldn’t. Not in recent years, at least.
Closing her eyes, she did a few rounds of block breathing to get herself to drift off and as she finally did, things felt on the up, good even. With her body heavy after a good day, she drifted. Maybe all the lows of the past few years were behind her. Was it too much to ask that good bits were finally on their way?
25
The next morning, Darby was sitting up in bed with a cup of tea on the little nightstand beside her. With her knees up, she listened to the dustcart outside in the street doing its thing. The noise deafened her for a bit and she sat staring into space and waited until it was gone. Looking outside the window, she thought about the night before as she watched the willow trees catching the light. A few people were already bringing in their wheelie bins, there was a lovely patch of sunshine on her bedroom floor and it didn’t feel quite as cold, so that was good.
Snatching her phone up as it pinged with a message and hoping it was Archie, she frowned at the first few lines from Penny.
Penny:What coffee do you want? Cinnamon buns, too?
Pushing the sculpted eye mask she’d lifted from her face when she’d woken up further onto her head, Darby frowned. What the actual? In a flash, she remembered that Penny and Jack were coming to help with the kitchen. Jack was putting shelving and hooks up and Penny was in charge of painting doors and walls.
All the drama with her date had made Penny and Jack’s arrivalcompletelyslip from Darby’s mind. Out of bed and in theshower like a shot, Darby then cleaned her teeth like someone possessed. After which she pulled on her striped T-shirt and painting dungarees, shoved her hair up on top of her head in a messy bun and whilst trying to make her bed, squirted a huge dollop of tinted moisturiser on her face and rubbed it in like a maniac. Flying down the stairs, she rushed around pulling curtains, flung open the back door for some fresh air and quickly unloaded the few things in the dishwasher. Just as she was spraying the sink with cleaner, she heard Penny coming up through the back garden. Pretending that she was calm and expecting them, she stood at the back door and watched Penny walk up the path with a coffee in both hands and a white bag of buns dangling.
Penny raised her eyebrows. ‘Morning. How was it?’
‘Morning. Where’s Jack?’
‘He’s following in about an hour; he had to go and sort his mum’s lawn out.’
‘Thanks for coming.’
Penny rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t be silly. As I said, how was it?’
‘How was what?’
‘As if you don’t know? You’re funny, Darbs. The date! I thought you’d text me last night.’
‘Don’t know what you’re talking about!’
‘I want a nuclear-level debrief.’ Penny handed over a coffee and looked up at the sky. ‘It’s actually quite warm.’
‘I think we can sit in the garden.’
Penny held up the bag. ‘Yes and eat these.’
A few minutes later, the little sunspot in the corner of Darby's garden was indeed warm enough to sit in and the pair of them were sitting there sipping and eating just out of the oven cinnamon buns. Penny widened her eyes in question. ‘Right, I want every detail. What was he like?’
Darby blushed. ‘Nice.’
