Page 17 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘No, of course not. Better if I ask him to give you a call?’
Thankfully, at that moment, Hilary came over and there was no need for Nora to tell Constance that in no circumstances was she interested in dating her desperate son.
‘Do you two want to come and join us? We’ve commandeered the big table by the window now that there’s a bit more space.’
‘Yes, lovely,’ Nora said, standing up straight away, hoping that she wasn’t coming across as desperate to get away from Constance as she was.
‘I’m going to sit with Linda. We’ve got some catching up to do about knitting,’ Constance said. ‘Lovely to meet you…’
‘Nora. Lovely to meet you too.’
Nora gave her biggest smile, one of relief, and followed Hilary over to the window. There was no opportunity to milk Hilary for information on Constance or her son because they were drawn into the group conversation as soon as they sat down. Nora happily listened to Hilary introduce her to Patsy, Jess and Penny and by the time they’d all heckled Hilary and interjected with thoughtful anecdotes about each other, she’d forgotten all about Constance’s son.
‘So what’s the best thing about Croftwood so far?’ Patsy asked her, shifting along the bench to make room for Lois who had just arrived.
‘This. The book club, obviously,’ said Lois, accepting a kiss from Oliver as he whizzed past delivering wine to another table.
‘It’s definitely a contender,’ Nora said.
‘The cinema’s the best thing,’ Patsy said. ‘Hey, are you all coming to the fortieth anniversary showing of the Breakfast Club?’
‘I never understood the appeal of that film,’ said Penny, who was in her fifties.
‘Penny! It’s a classic!’ Patsy protested. ‘The Brat Pack films are the best.’
‘Overrated.’ Penny said, emphatically.
‘I loved Andrew McCarthy,’ said Hilary with a sigh. Along with Penny she was the only one of the women around the table who would have been alive forty years ago.
‘If it was Pretty in Pink, I’d be there like a shot,’ said Lois.
‘That’s not forty until next year,’ Patsy said. ‘You’ll have to wait. Anyway, Molly Ringwald is in the Breakfast club, too. What more do you want?’
‘Do we get to dress up like the 1980s?’ Jess asked.
‘Yes! And we’re having classic 1980s food and drinks.’
‘The only food I remember from the 1980s are Alphabites and Findus Crispy Pancakes,’ said Penny.
‘We used to have Mini Mac sausages every night when I was a child,’ said Hilary, making everyone laugh.
‘Well, it won’t be that kind of food,’ Patsy said. ‘But it’ll be amazing. And most importantly, Long Island Iced Tea was all the rage.’
‘I’ll come,’ said Jess. ‘And not just because of the cocktails. I’ve always wanted to dress up as Madonna in her Like a Virgin era.’
‘Madonna wasn’t in the Breakfast Club,’ said Penny.
‘It’s general 1980s, not just Breakfast Club-specific dressing up,’ said Patsy.
‘Count me in,’ said Nora, thinking that this was the most fun she’d had in a long time. In fact aside from her group of swimming friends from Clevedon, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a group of friends like this.
‘Yes, Nora!’ Patsy said, smacking her palm on the table and making them all jump. ‘See? Nora’s into it.’
‘We’re all coming, Patsy,’ Lois said, grinning at her friend. ‘The theme nights at the cinema are always a good laugh and I quite fancy seeing Oliver in a long tweed trench coat.’
‘You’re not going to encourage him to go for the Emilio Estevez look and wear a vest top?’ Jess asked.
‘God no,’ Lois said, laughing. ‘Let’s leave that for someone who actually has some muscles to show off.’
