‘Not bad. I’ve had worse and much better.’
‘You’re funny.’
‘I have opinions about many things. Try me on olive oil.’ Darby gestured around. ‘Ooh, it’s so good to get away, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, even when you live somewhere like we do. It’s nice to do something different.’
‘It sort of resets you in a way.’
‘Helps with the struggle of it all.’ Darby nodded as she forked another piece of tiramisu into her mouth.
‘The struggle?’ Archie frowned.
'Yeah, you know. Sometimes, no most of the time, I feel like I'm constantly making it up as I go along. I keep wondering about things. I don’t know.'
'About what?'
Darby straightened. 'Nothing. Ignore me. I'm being maudlin. Sorry.'
Archie didn't let it drop. 'What do you mean?'
Darby gestured between them. 'I don’t know. This is so nice and all, but what happens when this lovely phase ends?'
'That's not going to happen.'
'You say that now, but I've heard it before.' Darby flicked her hands. ‘Cut. Let’s not continue this. Sorry…’
Archie’s expression was serious. 'It’s not ending from my side of the fence.'
Darby tried to make a joke. ‘Good to know. I didn’t mean ending as in ending-ending. I don’t know what I meant. Sorry. It’s just that I have a talent for picking people who leave.' Despite trying to sound funny, Darby’s voice, as far as she was concerned, was loaded with old disappointments, a shattered heart and guarded hopes. She needed to backpedal and quickly.
Thankfully, Archie picked up the banter. ‘Well, you will insist on partaking in very odd pastimes. I've already seen you trapped in a fur coat on the floor of a charity shop, covered in flour with a smoke detector wailing and a howling dog going nuts. Oh, yes and demolishing half of your kitchen.’
Darby giggled. ‘Ha, you have! It’s a miracle that Lola and I are still alive. My three offspring, too.’
Archie nodded. ‘I think I can handle whatever disasters you throw at me.'
Darby bantered. ‘Though not social media ones. You want to be kept well away from those. Am I right?’
‘Let’s not go there.’
'When you think about it, it does sound like I've already shown you my worst side. I think the first time you saw me was when you first pulled up to scope the job at the farmhouse. I was in my dressing gown. Not my best look.'
'Not your worst side. Your real side. The side that doesn't have everything perfectly sorted, that makes mistakes and gets flustered and sometimes needs help getting out of vintage clothing. That's the side I fell for.'
‘Aww, thanks. I spent so many years trying to be, actually, I don’t know what. Anyway…'
'I love that you get excited about old buildings and charity shop finds. Not sure about making videos about your daily life, but each to their own, as they say.’
Darby wasn’t going to divulge that Love from Pretty Beach had saved her. He didn’t need to know about the doldrums and where they might have led her. ‘I’ll keep you out of my vlogs from now on.’
'Best.'
Darby looked around and felt eminently pleased to be out for the day. Small minds and all that. 'Do you know? Since I’ve taken the bull by the horns, sometimes I feel like I'm finally becoming the person I was always supposed to be, but it's taken me forty-one years to figure out who that was. Having the girls so young and all that meant I had to focus on other things. I’ve got myself back. It’s nice.’
Archie took a forkful of tiramisu. 'I hear you.'
'Do you think it's too late? To become the person you're meant to be, I mean. At our age.'
