‘What’s the prize?’
‘Dinner for two, I think.’ She flicks her eyes to the ceiling. ‘No prizes for guessing who Patrina will be inviting to share her voucher if she wins.’
‘Matt.’
We exchange a look and Bertha says, ‘You should definitely sabotage their cosy running twosome. Just invite yourself along. Matt’s not going to say no, is he?’
I smile grimly. ‘I’d never be able to keep up. Stamina or no stamina.’
So Patrina will get what she wants. As always.
The idea of Patrina and Matt running together and getting friendlier with each other – and maybe worse - hangs around me for the rest of the day. And by the time my shift is drawing to an end, I finally face up to the fact that it’s making me miserable.
I can tolerate Patrina engineering things so that Bertha and I do most of the work around here. But what I can’t take is the thought of her out with Matt, the two of them running together in their skimpy lycra, swapping intimate confessions and jokes as they go.
I creep away to the Ladies and lock myself in a cubicle, sitting on the lid with my head in my hands. What’s the point of lying to myself? I’ve fallen for Matt. I’ve fallen hard. There. I’ve admitted it. And now I just have to nip these inconvenient feelings in the bud before they become too overwhelming.
Starting now.
But my stern resolution is tested only minutes later.
I step out of the door, ready for a slow walk to the bus - which isn’t due for another ten minutes - and who should run past me but Patrina and Matt. He leans around her to smile at me and wave, and my heart gives its funny little skip.
Then Patrina touches his arm and says something to him and he replies. I watch them run off ahead of me, going at an impressive pace. Patrina laughs, throwing her head right back, and I really wish I could hear what they’re talking about.
They turn a corner and disappear from view but I can still hear her distant tinkling laugh, and the weight of loneliness within me seems suddenly heavier than ever…
*****
Later, at home, I get a phone call from Fen.
‘Are you watching the news?’ she squeaks.
‘Er, no. I’m just…’
‘Put the TV on! They’re doing a feature about Lemon Drizzle Days. Quick! It was all very last-minute. They’re interviewing Hope outside the café.’
I scramble for the remote, but by the time I get onto the channel, the item has finished. I watch the late news but it doesn’t appear, much to my disappointment. I go to bed doubting a news item of a few minutes is likely to have much of an impact on business.
But the next day, at work, I find I couldn’t have been more wrong.
There’s a steady trickle of customers to the café all day long, most of them talking about seeing us on the news the night before. Krystle has to make extra supplies of lemon drizzle cake to satisfy demand, and by the end of the following day, Fen is having to think about extending the board.
I get the bus home with Carrie that afternoon, and somehow the talk turns to Matt.
‘I think he likes you, you know.’
‘What? No!’
Carrie smiles. ‘I’ve seen the way you look at each other when you think no-one’s watching. It’s just a shame about Patrina getting in the way.’
I’m about to deny it, but it’s clear Carrie’s an excellent observer of human relationships and would see right through my bullshit. I slump back in my seat with a sigh.
‘Yes. I do like Matt. But my life is far too complicated right now to be able to even think about a relationship.’
‘Is it? Do you want to talk about it?’
‘Maybe some time, but not now.’ I smile wearily. ‘Patrina and Matt are going to win that 10k. And then they’ll be celebrating together.’
Carrie frowns and stares out of the window for a while. Then she turns. ‘I’ve got a plan. But it has to be top secret, so I can’t even tell you what it is.’
I can’t help laughing. She sounds so melodramatic. ‘Have you joined the Secret Seven or something?’
She taps the side of her nose. ‘Patrina won’t win the race. Just you wait and see.’
*****
Next day, Krystle announces that she’s decided to run the 10k, after all. Everyone is pleased – well, everyone except Patrina, who up till now has clearly been assuming her win is in the bag.
‘Have you done any distance running before?’ she asks.
Krystle shakes her head. ‘Not since school. But I won all the races.’
Patrina nods, looking slightly sick. And I smile to myself. Carrie’s plan must have been to get Krystle to run in the race. I can’t fathom what she meant about it having to remain top secret, though, because it quite clearly isn’t.
But I reflect that if her plan can put a spoke in Patrina’s wheel, that’s absolutely fine by me…
*****
On Friday afternoon, Bertha astonishes us all with her latest pledge on the board.
‘Is this for real?’ murmurs Fen, shooting a quizzical look at Bertha, who’s standing beside me at the coffee machine.
‘Oh, the pledge? Yes. I decided that buying goods from local shops was too easy. I wanted something a bit more meaty, to get my teeth into, so to speak.’
Curious, I go over to where Fen’s standing, and I read Bertha’s card.
Then it’s my turn to look bemused. ‘I pledge to give Iris a lift over to East Sussex to visit her grand-daughter. Bertha, you can’t stand each other! Or have you forgotten? Crikey, there’ll be a murder before you even get there.’
Bertha grunts. ‘Never mind about that and save me a slice of lemon drizzle, please. Because I definitely deserve it.’
Later, I ask why she’s doing it, and she shrugs. ‘It was what you told me the other week about Iris not being able to get to see Chloe and the baby. I just think it’s sad. I still don’t like the woman, but I wouldn’t wish loneliness on my worst enemy.’
I smile at her. ‘Do you know what? That’s the most fabulous pledge of kindness so far. I’m really proud of you, Bertha.’
She grunts but I can tell she’s secretly pleased. ‘Don’t speak too soon, Molly. It was you who brought up the subject of murder.’ And she goes off to the kitchen to claim her slice of cake.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It’s the day of Eva’s fourth birthday, and I wake feeling full of love for my big girl. But also full of apprehension.
I really want to enjoy the day, but in order to do that, I need to know that Eva’s happy, and having fun.
Argh! The pressure!
‘I’m four, Mummy!’ She bounces in with Edward Bear and I tell her to come and sit on the bed to open her presents. I watch her with misty eyes as she tears the paper off the scooter I’ve bought her and my heart does a little dance as she opens her eyes wide and shrieks with delight. It’s second-hand, of course, but it’s in really good nick, and she’s been eyeing up scooters for weeks.
Of course she wants to go out immediately to try it out, but I persuade her to have breakfast first – her favourite chocolate cereal. Then, of course, by the time we’re ready to go out, the heavens have opened and it’s absolutely lashing down with rain.