I picked up the glass of wine that had awaited me. ‘I was showing him the flat if you must know.’
Erin narrowed her eyes. ‘Is that all you showed him?’
‘Yes,’ I replied, surprised yet not surprised she’d question otherwise. ‘I thought about what you’d said about my spare room. Thanks to Beryl breaking down, I need the extra cash, so it seemed like a no-brainer.’
‘Gideon isn’t happy with the situation though, is he?’ Joyce asked. She, too, picked up her glass.
Pursing my lips to hide my amusement, it seemed nothing got past Joyce. I often wondered if she had a network of spies in and around Settledown or if she operated some heavy-duty surveillance equipment. ‘No. He wasn’t.’
Erin smirked. ‘He suffered an attack of short man syndrome, by all accounts.’
I shook my head at her naughtiness. ‘Most men appear short next to Alex.’
‘Not that I’m surprised he felt threatened,’ Erin said. ‘What man wouldn’t? Our new barmanisgorgeous to look at.’
We all stretched our necks trying to get a glimpse of him, each of us frowning at the crowds that blocked our view.
‘Regardless, Gideon’s behaviour was rude and embarrassing.’
‘I bet he’s since upped his game though, eh?’ Erin said. ‘Now he thinks he’s got competition.’
I chuckled. For a dedicated singleton, Erin seemed to know a lot about men.
Joyce tucked into a sandwich.
‘To be fair to him, once he got over his sulking, he did the right thing and apologised. To Alex and to me.’ Although, as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t say Alex’s presence didn’t continue to be Gideon’s primary focus that night. ‘He also said I was right for insisting we put more effort into our relationship.’
‘Bywe,he meanthimthough, correct?’ Erin asked. ‘And what about this Julia woman?’
I pictured my fingers hovering next to Gideon’s phone and how, in the end, I’d snapped my hand back, unable to bring myself to go through with it. I shrugged in response to Erin’s question. ‘That’s something we still need to discuss. He suggested another date night, so I’m planning on bringing it up then.’
‘Well that’s progress,’ Joyce said. ‘It’s usually you making all the arrangements.’
‘Exactly. And not only that, he’s taking me out for a change.’ For weeks, Gideon had been too tired to do anything but land at mine, eat and then sleep. That’s if he turned up at all.
‘At least one of us has something positive to report,’ Erin said.
‘Still having problems with Callum?’ I asked.
Erin let out a laugh. ‘Funnily enough, he seems to have gone quiet. Which hopefully means he’s done with his fun and games.’ Her face turned serious. ‘It’s Mum that’s really worrying me. She’s acting a bit strange.’
‘How so?’ Joyce asked.
‘She dug out some old letters the other day, from a penfriend she used to have. A French girl, through one of those correspondence exchanges schools used to organise. Hers was a long time ago, as you can imagine. I’m surprised she still had them.’
I took in Erin’s concern. ‘A trip down memory lane, maybe?’
‘Possibly. But I can’t help thinking there’s more to it than that. Reading them clearly isn’t doing her any good. She keeps telling me about how close they were, although they never actually met, and she’s got this sad look in her eye. She just keeps saying she wishes they’d never lost touch.’
‘That’s life for you,’ Joyce said. ‘It has a habit of getting in the way of things.’ She turned her attention to a sausage roll.
‘But is that normal for someone her age? Or a sign that something isn’t right?’ Erin chewed on the inside of her cheek, as if contemplating her own question. ‘Plus the lad from next door’s still showing his face. Not that Mum sees him as a problem. According to her, she’s glad of the company. I mean, what am I? Chopped liver? It’s not like I never visit. I’m round there every week.’ She took a deep breath and exhaled. ‘Anyway, that’s enough of that.’ Shaking her worries away, she fixed a smile on her face and turned to Joyce. ‘So, how are things with you?’
Pushing her plate of food to one side, Joyce wiped her lips with its accompanying napkin. ‘I have both goodandbad news.’
‘This sounds interesting,’ Erin said, raising an eyebrow.
‘Firstly, I took your advice about encouraging Richard on the domestic front and the very next day, I got him to work.’
