Page 33 of Daydreams & Doughnut Cake

‘You can’t call them binmen anymore,’ pointed out Jackie with a grin. ‘They’re waste management co-ordinators.’

We all chuckled and Clare said, ‘By the way, it wasn’t true at all about me fancying that binma – er,waste management co-ordinator. I just always forgot.’

‘Great excuse,’ I said with a grin and Clare nudged me in the ribs, amused. Then she grabbed my arm and snuggled her cheek into my shoulder. ‘Oh, this is so lovely, seeing you all! Why on earth did we leave it so long to get together again?’

‘Why, indeed,’ remarked Danny, his eyes briefly finding mine.

‘So you haven’t seen anyone either since Rosie left Brighton?’ asked Jackie looking at Danny.

‘No. Why?’

Jackie shrugged. ‘I suppose I thought that I’d be missing out on lots of lovely social meet-ups, having moved hundreds of miles away to Devon. But apparently none of us have been properly in touch?’

‘We’re all doing different things now,’ said Clare sadly. ‘I guess it’s only natural that uni friends should drift apart – or at least lose the closeness that comes with sharing a house together and living such a unique, cloistered sort of existence for a while.’

I nodded. ‘Cloistered. That’s a great way to describe it. For those few years, our whole world was the university campus.’

‘Yeah, being thrust out into the real world of work and bills at the end of it was a bit of a shock,’ agreed Danny. ‘And then losing Mark...’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Sorry, Rosie. I shouldn’t have mentioned...’ He trailed off.

‘No, of course you should!’ I protested. ‘Mark was my everything and I don’t want him to be forgotten. Weshouldtalk about him. He... well, he should be here, shouldn’t he?’ I could feel the tears threatening, even more so when Danny put his arm around me. I looked sadly at Jackie, the twin sister Mark adored. She must miss him just as much as I did...

Tears sprang to Jackie’s eyes. But she quickly turned away from me and picked up her drink. ‘Yes, well, I guess we all have slightlydifferentways of dealing with it, don’t we? And I for one would rather raise a glass to Mark’s memory than cry into my beer.’ She forced a cheerful smile. ‘To Mark!’

‘Mark!’ we echoed, raising our glasses.

Then Jackie headed over to the table where Brian and Daisy were sitting, and we all followed.

For the next few hours, we laughed and bantered over lunch just as we’d always done, and it really felt as if we’d slipped back in time. What was it they said about true friends? You might not see them for days, months or even years, but when you did, you could pick up right where you left off...

Later, standing at the bar with Jackie, I mentioned that I hadn’t expected to see her and Danny and it was such a lovely surprise.

She smiled. ‘Danny wasn’t on the original guest list for the wedding.’

‘He wasn’t?’ I looked at her in surprise.

‘Clare bumped into him when she was back in Brighton visiting her parents – she lives in London now – and she told him where you were living. She also told him a few of us were booking the glamping site in Sunnybrook to attend the weddingand she said she was sure Danny would be more than welcome to join us, which of course he was.’

‘Oh, right. So he’s not going to the wedding?’

‘No, he is. Clare asked Brian if she could bring Danny to the evening do, and Brian was more than happy to agree. He and Danny always got on well.’

I smiled. ‘We always thought Clare had a soft spot for Danny, didn’t we?’

I’d discussed this with Jackie many times (Clare always denied it) but today Jackie’s reply surprised me.

‘Just a shame Danny didn’t reciprocate her feelings, isn’t it?’

I caught a sharp glint in her eye. Then she smiled. ‘Still, I doubt they would have worked as a couple.’

I swallowed hard. ‘Probably not.’

‘Anyway, what are you having?’

‘Sorry?’ I gazed at her, distracted, still thinking about Clare and Danny.

‘Drink?’ Jackie laughed. ‘Or have you had too much alcohol already? You always said you were a cheap date!’

I groaned. ‘Nothing changes, I can assure you. My head feels woozy after just a glass and a half of wine. But I’m not drinking today. I’ve got to pick up Amelie later. You’ll have to come and see her while you’re here.’

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