Page 23 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘I’ve arranged a meeting with the planning officer for Friday morning at the estate office. Does that suit you? I mentioned that we’re looking for change of use to offices, maybe retail. We’ll just pick their brains about what’s possible.’
‘Great,’ said Archie. ‘Might we ask what they think about the lake?’
‘I think it could be too soon. We need to do some research first so we’re clear what we’re asking for when the time comes.’ Seb drank his coffee. ‘Speaking of which, have you seen any more of Nora lately?’
‘Yesterday.’ Archie took a moment to consider how to share his current predicament with Seb. ‘Do you think it would be odd if I asked her out for dinner?’
‘Not at all! Good for you!’ Seb reached over and gripped Archie’s forearm. ‘Where are you going to take her?’
Needing to take a step back, Archie said, ‘How do I know whether she’s free to come out with me?’
‘Well, you could ask her.’
Archie shook his head.
‘Come on. You must have an idea already about whether she’s with anyone. If you’ve had a handful of conversations with her and she hasn’t mentioned anyone, you’re probably safe.’
It was true. He would have remembered if she had. And surely when she talked about moving to Croftwood, it would have come up naturally in conversation, and he didn’t remember her saying ‘we’ rather than ‘I’.
‘Right. So perhaps I’ll go to the lake tomorrow and ask her.’
‘There’s no need to be nervous, Arch. Are you feeling a bit rusty?’
‘More than a little,’ Archie admitted. ‘It’s a long time since I did anything like this.’
‘So what’s prompted it? You don’t sound that keen. Is it just the nerves, or something else?’
‘My mother is trying to set me up with someone. I ended up telling her that I had arranged a date with someone myself to try and get her to back off,’ Archie said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
Seb stifled a laugh with his fist. ‘Oh god. That’s a nightmare. Sorry, I know it’s not funny. But now I see where you’re coming from. Presumably you’d like to ask her out for dinner, just not right now.’
‘I thought about suggesting you and I go out, but I’m having enough trouble lying to Mama without adding another layer of lies when she inevitably gives me the third degree about my evening out.’
‘Good point. Look at it like this. You like her. You need to go on a date to make your mother happy. This is win-win.’
Archie wished he could see it like that. He already knew that once he got the asking part out of the way, all the anxiety he had around that would be replaced by the anxiety around not only the date but what she would think of him. ‘It’s ridiculous,’ he said quietly. ‘I have nothing to offer her. It seems wrong to suggest that I’m interested in a relationship when the reality is that she won’t want a man of little means.’
‘How do you know what she wants? And why shouldn’t you have some fun? Don’t overthink it. I know that’s difficult if you like her as much as I think you do, but give yourself a chance. What if I’d thought that when I met Jess? I was basically homeless and squatting in the flat upstairs,’ he said, pointing to the ceiling. ‘You’re not quite at rock bottom, you know. And also, this isn’t the nineteenth century, so your means shouldn’t matter to anyone. But can I give you one tip?’
‘Please.’
‘You need a haircut. And not the kind your housekeeper gives you. A proper one. Go to the barber’s shop by the traffic lights and ask for Andy.’
There was no time like the present. Perhaps a new haircut would give him the confidence he needed. Maybe he’d feel like a different person. Someone Nora would be proud to be seen with. He also needed to think about what he was going to wear, but that could wait until he’d asked Nora.
In the event, when he ventured home with the coolest haircut he’d ever had, his mother pounced on him. She was in the drawing room with piles of clothes draped across the back of one of the sofas. When he walked in she had her back to him.
‘Oh, Archie,’ she said, when she heard him come into the room. She was holding a man’s jacket in each hand, ‘I asked the gentlemans’ outfitters to drop a few bits off for you to try. Good lord!’ She turned and saw the new haircut.
‘Do you like it, Mama? It was Seb’s suggestion.’ To be fair to his mother, it was rather radical. His mop of curly hair that Mrs Milton trimmed on occasion, had been cropped on the top, along with a short back and sides. The front had been left long enough so that it could be swept back, as it had been expertly by Andy the barber, who’d taken the time to show Archie how to achieve the same look himself.
His mother stood, taking it in, her shocked expression gradually softening. ‘It’s wonderful, darling. You look very dashing. I imagine this is in preparation for your… date?’
‘Well…’
‘We are thinking along the same lines.’ She thrust a jacket at him. ‘Try this one.’
‘I don’t need new clothes. I’m sure I have something in my wardrobe that will do.’
