Page 24 of Love from Pretty Beach
Darby felt her stomach do a strange thing. What the heck? He was married! ‘What does that mean then? So, is that a yes? Are you married?’
‘No, no, no! It’s definitely not a yes. I have been in a few relationships. None of them, err, worked out. Truth be told, I think I’m better with buildings and walls than weddings.’
‘Same for me, actually,’ Darby chuckled as she drained her drink and popped in another chip, and found herself telling him way too much information. ‘Three different fathers for my three children, all of whom I had when I was too young to even know what I was doing. I spent, oh, about twenty years trying to work out what was what and now, well, now it’s pretty much all over anyway.’
‘Right, wow, sounds, umm, busy.’ Archie nodded. ‘Sorry, what do they live with their dads?’
‘No, no, they’ve all left home now. Well, technically, but they’re back and forth. Yes, I had them when I was a ten-year-old,’ Darby joked.
‘Wow, that’s some doing. Three children in four years, is that right?’
‘Yes. How about you? Do you have children?’
‘Two, though they’re not quite as old. They are teenagers and they do have the same mother, so that’s a bonus,’ he chuckled, and Darby laughed.
‘Yes, I suppose it is. They’re in Pretty Beach?’
‘No. They’re in Newport Reef, so yes, I have a lot to do with them. Thank goodness.’
‘And your ex?’
Archie smiled. ‘Yeah, all good there. Amicable and friendly. It was just never meant to be with us, really.’
‘I know how that is.’
’Tell me about it.’ Archie gestured toward their empty glasses. ‘Another round?’
Darby had to stop herself from jumping down his throat. She pretended to look at the time on her phone as if she might have had something to get back for. The only thing on her calendar was watching other people’s lives online. ‘Go on then. You twisted my arm.’
Surprised that she was genuinely enjoying herself, Darby couldn’t quite wipe the smile off her face. She was very much up for another drink and wanted to stay longer despite her paint-splattered appearance and the fact that she’d already shared more personal information than she’d intended. ‘I should probably warn you that I’m not used to drinking on a school night.’
‘I’ll take my chances.’
As Archie ordered, Darby tried to process the fact that she was having a rather lovely time with a man she barely knew, whilst dressed like someone who’d been dragged through a building site backwards. It was all very out of the blue and all very lovely.
They talked for another hour, the conversation flowed and Darby relaxed. The alcohol may have helped as she heard herself chatting away and talking about all sorts. As they debated whether to order another portion of chips, Darby caught sight of herself in the mirror behind the bar and felt a moment of pure astonishment. There she was, sitting in a pub in paint-stained dungarees and a stripy T-shirt, having a lovely time with a man who made her stomach do acrobatics. Not that long before, she’d been seriously considering whether she was destined to spend the rest of her life alone, wondering if she should brave the horrors of online dating just to have someone to talk to besides Lola.
Now here she was, completely unprepared and looking absolutely dreadful, having exactly the sort of conversation she’d thought was no longer possible at her age with hercircumstances. Oh, the blooming irony. She’d been asked to the pub whilst covered in kitchen dust and loitering in a woodstore. The thing she knew: she loved it and would happily loiter with Archie any day of the week.
19
The next morning, Darby felt as if the previous day had been a dream. The end of the dream had been very nice. Right in front of her eyes was proof that it hadn’t been a dream at all. She had no cupboards on her kitchen walls and the evidence that she had been out for a drink with a man was sitting right there on her phone by way of a message from him, which told her that he’d enjoyed the drink. The text from Archie had come in just as Darby had been waiting for her tea to brew and as she stared at it over and over again, she wasn’t sure what to think. She’d tried to remain calm.
Her first reaction had been to gush something back, but she’d resisted, because, honestly, she’d had her fingers burnt before. Unsure what to do as she sat and flicked from looking at the bare wall to her phone, a message came in from Penny.
Penny:Just woken up here in sunny Morocco. I’m sitting by the pool. It’s heavenly. What are you up to?
Darby:Alright for some. I am in my dressing gown. Is everything okay with you?
Penny:Yes, all good. Do you want to do a WhatsApp video call so that I can show you the pool?
Darby:What, just so you can make me jealous?
Penny:I did ask if you wanted to come and I would pay for it.
Darby:You know that wasn’t going to happen.
A few minutes later, Darby’s phone buzzed with an incoming WhatsApp video call. She propped it against a bottle of olive oil and accepted the call, immediately squinting at the screen as Moroccan sunshine beamed through the phone. ‘Oh my God, you look disgustingly tanned already,’ Darby took in Penny’s sun-kissed face and a glimpse of azure pool water behind her. ‘That looks amazing!’
