Page 56 of Secrets of Starshine
Maybe, as my mum thinks, it would all have worked out in the end – maybe they would have found their way through the maze that so many couples find themselves trapped in. They just never got the chance to find out because of his dodgy ticker.
I managed to sneak a look at Puffin, the cottage we stayed in, during changeover day and between guests, but it has recently been completely refurbished and was unrecognisable. It was still melancholy, though, wandering its rooms, sitting on the lower bed of the bunks that are still there, albeit newer versions than the ones I slept in.
Today, though, I have banished all such thoughts from my mind. Today I have been busy doing nothing other than looking forward to a night with Archie and Meg. Lilly has gone for a sleepover at her friend Shannon’s house in the next village, and we are all going to the inn for dinner while Sam heads to the cinema with his pals.
I have a new dress, one I picked up in the sales at the local retail park M&S, and have enjoyed getting ready. It might only be scampi and chips at the local, but it is still a night out, and I have time on my hands. I enjoy a nice soak in the tub using the smellies Sam got me for Christmas, I put a deep conditioning treatment on my hair, and tie it up in a turban while I shave my legs. I paint my nails – fingers and toes, fun times – and I give myself a nice curly-blow.
By the time I’ve added make-up and perfume, I am really quite pleased with myself. Sure, I think, as I look in the mirror, I could stand to lose some weight – but I don’t look bad. I give myself a little wink, then head downstairs.
As I’m about to leave, there is a knock on the cottage door, and when I answer it I see Connie waiting outside. She has her curly hair in side bunches, and is wearing a pair of dungarees over a lilac T-shirt, a shaggy pink wool cardigan topping it all off. Somehow, she makes it work.
“Oooh,” she says as I invite her in, “someone looks fancy – and it’s not me!”
“Thank you kindly,” I reply, giving her a little twirl and then putting my shoes on. “I’m off for tea at the inn, and…well, any excuse, I suppose!”
“You don’t need an excuse, my love. It’s nice to see a bit of glamour around the place. And I know you’re off to the inn; Archie told me. In fact that’s why I’m here. The others are off gallivanting, and James is with Miranda, and I asked Archie if he’d mind if I borrowed Meg for the night. Thought we could watch one of thoseLand That Time Forgotcartoons and she could tell me what all the dinosaurs are called.”
I pause with my arms halfway into my jacket, and frown in confusion.
“Oh, you mean after dinner? Or do you want to come with us? I don’t mind, whatever suits!”
“No, silly – I mean for the night. Like, for a sleepover.”
She stares at me intensely, as though I am being especially slow on the uptake, but I still have no clue what she means. She walks over, and slaps me very gently on the forehead.
“Is there anything working in there?” she says, peering into my eyes like a doctor.
“Um, apparently not…”
“Okay. So, Lilly is away for the night. And if Meg stays with me, then she is away for the night. And that means that you and Archie…could also be away for the night. Or at home for the night. Now do you get my drift?”
My mouth gapes open, and I feel a mortified blush creeping across my face. I blink rapidly for a few moments, trying to think of something to say but only managing to locate variations onummmanduggh.
She laughs, and helps me get my second arm into my jacket. I’d paused halfway, it seems.
“Did you think it was all a big secret?” she asks.
I nod, dumbly, because I genuinely did.
“Well, it probably is, really – but I have very finely attuned spider senses. I’ve seen the way you are around each other. I’ve seen the yearning looks, the heaving bosoms, the lingering touches…”
“Connie,” I say, recovering. “We don’t do any of that, and you sound like you’ve swallowed a Mills & Boon.”
“I know, it’s fun, isn’t it? I was building up to ripping bodices before I was so rudely interrupted! Look…I can just see it, all right? I know Archie, and I can see the change in him. It’s not just the way he looks; it’s the way he behaves. He’s more…open, involved. More confident, I think that’s what it is. For so long now he’s seemed on the edge of things here – physically he’s around, but mentally not so much. But since the arrival of a certain lady from Liverpool, he’s just…I don’t know…come to life a bit more?”
I gaze at her, simultaneously biting my lip and reminding myself to apply fresh lippy, and reply: “Right. Well. Yeah. Rumbled, I guess. I’m sorry we didn’t say anything, Connie…I think maybe we don’t know what’s going on ourselves, and we didn’t want to have to categorise it. And also I was a bit worried too…in case it bothered you, or George…”
I run out of words at that stage, because I don’t need to say anything more. I see a small, sad smile appear on her face, and she reaches out to give my hand a quick squeeze.
“Don’t think like that, Cally. I’ll never forget Simon, and Archie will never forget Sandy – but that doesn’t mean he has to stop living. She wouldn’t want that, and neither me nor George would, either. Whatever happens with you two in the end, it’s changed him for the better.”
“Me too,” I say quickly. “And thank you, Connie. That was really kind of you to say.”
“I know. I’m practically a saint. Now, I’ve already run this idea past Archie, and had almost exactly the same conversation with him – you handled it better, by the way. But if you feel like it, you two could have a proper night out. No kids, no relatives, no place to be except with each other. If that doesn’t sound too hideous, I’ll tell him to call round for you once I’ve collected Meg.”
No, I think as she leaves, it doesn’t sound too hideous at all. It sounds delicious.
TWENTY-THREE
