Sandra shook her head. ‘It seems such a big move and I thought I couldn’t do it. But look at your brother and Mary, they’ve moved all the way over to Spain and made a happy, new life for themselves. Maybe I’m being a bit of a stick in the mud.’
‘It’s a massive decision and there’s nothing wrong with taking your time over it,’ Patti told her. ‘Whatever you decide, just make sure it’s what you want.’ She didn’t add that she wasn’t sure if Keith and Mary were actually that happy. Mary had seemed so pleased to see them, so eager for company, and Keith was obviously struggling to cope. She needed to find time to speak to him alone, but she knew her brother, he was stubborn and when his mind was made up, it was hard to change it.
27
SANDRA
They all tried to persuade Keith to join them on their trip to Málaga the next morning but he shrugged them off. ‘You girls go and have fun, I’ll stay and keep Rags company.’ So Sandra, Patti and Mary drove down to Málaga, parking in an underground car park near the port.
‘We can spend the whole day here, if you both want,’ Mary said. ‘We can go shopping, take a walk over to the beach, and go on a boat trip later. How does that sound?’
Sandra thought it all sounded splendid. She and Brian had been to Barcelona but never to this part of Spain. Brian hadn’t wanted to go to either Benidorm or the Costa del Sol saying that both regions attracted the wrong kind of Brits. Maybe he was right in some coastal areas, but certainly not here. Málaga was a thriving, cosmopolitan city, with rows of shops and restaurants opposite the seafront. It was a warm, sunny day, and the sunlight was shimmering on the ocean, where three large ships were moored. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.
‘I love it here. We used to visit a lot when we first moved to Spain,’ Mary told them. She didn’t add but now Keith won’t goanywhere, but the undertone was there. ‘Now how about we have a cool drink at one of the cafés before hitting the shops?’
They sat down at one of the tables outside a café facing the port and ordered a soft drink each from the waitress who spoke very good English.
‘Is English widely spoken over here?’ Patti asked.
‘It is in the big cities where lots of tourists go but not so much in the smaller towns,’ Mary replied.
‘Can you speak Spanish?’ Sandra asked.
‘A little. Enough to get by for everyday things such as ordering a coffee or buying stuff from the shops but it can be difficult in more formal situations or when we go to the doctors. Thankfully, when Keith was in hospital, most of the doctors spoke English.’
‘I seem to remember that you went to Spanish lessons when you first came over to live,’ Patti said.
‘We did, then Covid came along and everything was cancelled. We just couldn’t get back into it. We have a couple of apps and keep trying but it’s harder to remember things as you get older.’
‘Tell me about it. I can’t remember where I’ve put my house keys most of the time and spend ages looking for them only to find that I’d stuffed them in a coat pocket,’ Patti replied.
‘I was looking for my glasses the other day and they were on my head,’ Sandra said.
‘We’re all as bad. Keith was on the phone to someone yesterday and shouted, “where’s my mobile?” at me!’
They all laughed. It was good to share things, Sandra thought. It made you realise that you weren’t the only one who was forgetful, lonely or scared sometimes. When you were younger, working and bringing up a family, there wasn’t really time to think about things, you just ploughed through. But when you were on your own everything seemed bigger, scarier, worse. Well,it did to her anyway. She’d even started worrying that she might be getting dementia because she was so forgetful, but listening to Mary and Patti, it was perfectly normal at their age to forget a few things or get a little mixed up.
The waitress returned with their drinks, placing them on the table in front of them. They all thanked her.
‘Would you like anything to eat?’ she asked.
They all shook their heads and she went off to serve someone else.
‘This is gorgeous,’ Sandra said, gazing across at the sparkling ocean.
‘It is, isn’t it? Málaga Port is one of my favourite places.’ Mary picked up her glass and took a sip of the cool fruit juice.
‘I wouldn’t mind going on that yacht.’ Patti pointed to a huge white luxury yacht. ‘I wonder where it’s going.’
‘That’s probably belongs to a Greek or American billionaire. We’ll go take a closer look at it when we’ve finished our drinks, if you want,’ Mary suggested.
‘A billionaire! It’s like something out of a novel. Maybe we should have glammed ourselves up a bit more,’ Patti said with a grin. ‘Do you think he might invite us on board for a few cocktails?’
‘If only! Perhaps if we were forty or so years younger.’ Mary gave a mock sigh and they all chuckled.
‘I don’t think I’d want to be young again, would you?’ Patti sipped her drink thoughtfully. ‘All that angst and drama. I wouldn’t want to go through it all again.’
‘I don’t know,’ Mary cocked her head onto one side. ‘I was so positive back then, so full of life and hope. Now I feel a bit jaded and life’s so mundane.’
