‘I quite fancy doing what Kelsey did, just getting away, a complete change of scene, you know?’
Mari nodded. ‘She’s certainly found her place.’ Unmistakable pride and warmth accompanied the words. ‘I was worried she’d never spread her wings.’
‘I know. I see how happy she is. I’m tied to work, though. I can’t exactly leave the country.’
‘Hmm.’ Mari trod carefully. ‘How did your promotion go?’
‘Oh, it didn’t. They gave it to… someone else.’ The utter smugness mixed with faux modesty on Jamesey Wallace’s face as Mr Angus awarded the promotion at the team-building away day last month flashed in Mirren’s memory. She’d been sure that this time she had it in the bag. Losing to Jamesey made being passed over yet again smart all the more.
‘Next time, eh?’ Mari said, handing Mirren the larger of two slices of cake.
‘Yeah, next time. They are letting me write a feature though on Christmas theatre excursions.’
‘They are? And we’re sitting here drinking tea?’ Mari was already on the move, reaching for the fridge door and the prosecco inside. ‘We’re celebrating that!’
Soon they were sipping bubbly and Mirren was asking how things were going without Kelsey around.
‘Aye, great,’ Mari answered. ‘We’re busy. Dad’s nurse visits every few days. Calum spends most of his time with his friends in other galaxies, and I’m working a lot. People will always need their hair cut, right?’
Mirren leaned in a little, cocking her head at Mari’s expression, wondering if she didn’t look a little sad. ‘But?’ Mirren coaxed.
Mari swiped a hand and smiled, dismissing the little niggle she’d betrayed.
‘You can’t kid a kidder,’ Mirren added.
‘Well… oh, God, don’t tell Kelsey, she’ll only worry.’ Mari huffed out a sharp breath, meeting Mirren’s eyes. ‘It’s just one of my clients, a friend actually,umm…’
‘Go on.’
‘She set me up with a friend of hers, a guy, and I can’t say it went well. We met in the Bonnie Prince Charlie for a drink last week but it was all a bit stilted. I haven’t been out on a Friday night since Lewis passed, let alone going out on a date, and even though it felt like it might be the right time, it definitely wasn’t the right person. I haven’t slept very well since, thinking about it all, you know? I feel a bit unsettled, a bit… lonely.’
Mirren had to tell herself not to let her excitement show too much. This was exactly what Kelsey had hoped would happen and she’d often told Mirren her dream that one day her mum would feel ready to meet someone new.
It had been fourteen long years since Kelsey’s dad passed away in a tragic, horrible motorway accident that had stolen a devoted dad from baby Calum and teenage Kelsey, and left Mari mourning the love of her life and her childhood sweetheart.
This was the first time Mari had ever shown any signs of being ready to take the first tentative steps into dating and Mirren knew if she let the excitement fizzing within her show she could easily spook Mari and put her off dating for the rest of her life.
After a measured breath, Mirren reached for her phone. ‘You could try one of my dating apps. I use them sometimes.’All the time, she thought. ‘And I’ve met some really nice men on them.’ She tried to remember exactly which of the men she’d have classed asreallynice. Fair enough, some of them were friendly but some were plain dull, and then there were the guys with their wedding rings hidden in their wallets, the no-shows, the liars and fantasists, and the one whose profile picture featured a muscled underwear model from Italy when in reality he was a paunchy chip shop owner from Kilmarnock.
Mirren thought it best not to mention these small misgivings to Mari who was peering with some interest at Mirren’s phone as she scrolled through the apps.
It took half an hour and only a little cajoling to convince a blushing, flustered Mari to set up her profile picture. She had a fortnight’s free trial on a site for women over forty seeking dates with single professionals.
Mirren snapped a picture of her by the window in the soft autumn light and attached it to her profile. It was a good picture. Even Mari liked it. Mari had always been proud of her long hair, once dark, now beautifully sparkling with a few silvery strands. Kelsey got her light brown Celtic waves from Lewis’s side of the family, who were firmly in the freckled, sandy-haired-leaning-towards-ginger part of the genome, but Mari was dark, tall and curvy, more like Mirren than her daughter Kelsey.
They clicked the ‘Go Live’ button on Mari’s dating profile, and refilled their glasses, clinking them in celebration before reopening the app and scrolling through the profiles, placing a love-heart ‘bookmark’ on some of the sweeter-looking men.
Mari’s reactions showed she definitely still had a type; quiet-looking strawberry blonds with glasses and soft smiles, men like Lewis. They’d married straight out of school and Kelsey had come along after a few years of domestic bliss. Though no one could ever come close to replicating his kindness and gentle nature, Mari Anderson, for the very first time, and at the age of fifty-six, was ready to meet someone new, and Mirren grinned at the sight of Mari blushing and trying not to get too swept up in the excitement as she pored over the profiles.
Mirren couldn’t help thinking of how Mari was intent on changing her life, just like her daughter had recently with her move to England. If they could do it, she thought, could her own mum, who she loved so much in spite of everything, turn things around in her sixties and begin a happier, healthier life again? Would she ever be able to talk unguardedly with Jeanie the way she did with Kelsey’s mum? Her heart sank in answer to the questions so she drained her glass and fixed her eyes on Mari’s scrolling profiles once more.
Chapter Nine
‘I count myself in nothing else so happy
As in a soul remembering my good friends’
(Richard II)
