‘Why not?’
‘He’s not called Steven. Remember, the whole point of this was to target Stevens.’
‘I’m gutted,’ Clare said over drinks in Minty’slater that evening. ‘I thought it was a really grand idea.’
‘You weren’t to know. Please don’t feel bad.’ I took a sip of my wine and wondered what else I could say to lift Clare’s spirits and make our night out fun rather than the sombre affair it was turning out to be.
‘Great, that’s just what I need,’ Clare muttered, staring towards the entrance.
I turned round to see what had caught her attention. ‘Elise! I thought you were going to your grandma’s.’
‘I was but she’s had a better offer. One of the men in her retirement home is taking her out to the theatre. Grandma’s really excited, bless her. It’s so sweet.’
‘Ew – old people getting it on? Disgusting.’ Clare shuddered.
‘Hi Clare, nice to see you as always. Thanks for sharing.’
‘Ladies,’ I warned, ‘play nicely.’
Elise sat down in one of the spare chairs at our table. ‘Don’t worry, Clare, I’m not going to crash your night out. Gary and I are meeting friends for a Chinese, but I spotted you in the window and thought I’d come in to say hello to Sarah and see if she’s had any messages now that she’s finally registered with a dating site.’
‘How do you know she’s registered?’
Uh-oh.
‘Sarah texted me last night to tell me, of course.’ Elise turned to me. ‘Any news?’
‘Five messages.’
‘From Stevens?’
‘Four non-Stevens plus a message from a Steven I’d picked as a favourite saying he was flattered but he’d met someone and was about to remove his profile.’
‘That’s a shame.’ She shrugged. ‘Consider it teething problems.Maybe give it until Christmas and, if it’s more of the same, change to another site or give it up as a bad job.’
I nodded and smiled.
‘In that case, I’ll leave you to it.’ Elise gave a nod towards Gary who was loitering outside the window, pointing to his watch. ‘Don’t give up,’ she whispered, giving me a hug. ‘Call me when your house-guest has gone. Clare, as always, it’s been a delight.’ And, with that, she sashayed out of Minty’s.
I looked at Clare. ‘Before you say anything nasty, remember that Elise thinks it’s a good idea.’
‘Wasn’t going to say a word. Is it your round?’
‘Yes.’
‘Grand.’
‘Did she get away okay?’ Elise asked over the phone on Monday evening.
‘Who? Auntie Kay or Clare?’
‘Ha ha. Kay, of course.’
‘Yes. She’ll be on the plane right now. Dad got back from the airport a couple of hours ago.’ We’d all had Sunday lunch together and said our goodbyes then before Ben caught the train back to Leeds. Mum, Auntie Kay and I all got upset so there were lots of hugs and promises of regular contact. Mum and I had intended to join Dad for the airport run but Auntie Kay decided it would be too emotional to say goodbye two days in a row and, on a practical note, five adults was going to be a squeeze alongside the luggage.
‘She’ll let us know when she lands,’ I said. ‘And, not that you’re interested, but Clare left this morning.’
‘Dare I ask…?’
