She hated to think of Jessica being all by herself. Even lone wolves needed company sometimes.
‘No, thank you.’
Jessica’s voice wobbled and Edie wished she could give her a big hug.
‘I need to hide away tonight and lick my wounds. I’ll be better tomorrow, honestly. I bounce back pretty quickly; luckily, I’m fairly resilient. I really appreciate your concern, though.’
‘OK, if you’re sure,’ Edie replied doubtfully. ‘How about lunch here tomorrow – or Sunday if you prefer? Ralph said he’d be interested to meet you. He’s thinking about signing up for a half-marathon. He’d appreciate some tips.’
The offer proved irresistible. Jessica loved dispensing advice. Many of the school staff found this habit of hers infuriating, especially as she usually knew more than anyone else and was almost always right.
Edie, though, couldn’t see the problem. She liked being able to tap Jessica’s brains and was constantly impressed by her knowledge of almost any subject you cared to mention. It was like being friends with an encyclopaedia.
‘Sunday would be great, thanks,’ Jessica said, after a short pause. ‘I look forward to it.’
Edie’s spirits lifted. ‘Fab, see you around midday.’
Her mind immediately flitted to what to cook and whether to invite anyone else to join them. Mac and Hannah, perhaps? They hadn’t been over for a while and it would be fun to discuss the holiday.
She hurried downstairs to run the idea past Ralph, who was surprisingly receptive.
‘Let’s have a big joint of beef. I’ll get it tomorrow from the village butcher. His meat’s always better than the supermarket stuff.’
Happily, Hannah and Mac weren’t busy and as soon as Edie came off the phone, she returned to the kitchen and pulled out her favourite cookery books.
There was a recipe for roasted vegetables with olive oil, garlic and crushed coriander, which always went down well, and she’d do sticky toffee pudding for afters. Pure comfort food for wintry days.
After lunch, they could do a circular walk round the common and through the woods – the snowdrops were still out – then home for cups of tea and cake. She’d make a lemon drizzle. Hannah was particularly partial to it.
A damp cloud appeared from nowhere and seemed to settle just above her head. What if Jessica didn’t like Hannah or Mac and vice versa? The couple weren’t exactly academic; in fact Mac sometimes joked the only book he ever read these days wasThe Gardeners’ Almanac.
Edie liked a bit of gardening talk, but Jessica might find it dull. And Hannah knew nothing about ancient history; she’d done Accounts and Marketing at university and probably hadn’t even heard of Socrates or Plato.
There again, Jessica had only just lost her beloved pet and would no doubt be feeling fragile. It might be a relief not to have to deep-dive into some intellectual discussion or other. She could just sit back, relax and let the chit-chat wash over her.
Whatever the outcome, why was Edie even fussing? She was only trying to be nice. Jessica wasn’t exactly a close mate and Hannah and Mac were such dear old friends, Edie could throw anyone into the mix and they’d do their best to get on with him or her.
4
When the snowdrops faded at last and yellow, cream and orange daffodils started to pop up in gardens and along roadsides, Edie began to sense that the holiday wasn’t so far away now at all.
As it turned out, she needn’t have worried about the lunch with Jessica. It had been a big success, so much so, in fact, that Jessica had been invited on the Crete holiday, too.
She and Hannah had got on extremely well, and when Jessica had left, it was Hannah who’d suggested asking her along.
‘I mean, she obviously loves Crete and wants to go again,’ Hannah had said. ‘She’s good company and we’d get lots of history lessons. She said she’s free that week and I read somewhere the villa can sleep up to five. I guess if she comes it would cost us all a bit less. What do you think?’
She’d scanned the others’ faces for clues.
There had been a pause while everyone pondered the question. Edie had been taken aback, because it was so unexpected, and she’d initially felt slightly offended. Wasn’t her and Ralph’s company enough? And maybe an extra person would ruin the vibe.
But she’d quickly berated herself for being childish and mean. Jessica was on her own, had told them she’d nothing arranged for May half-term and had just lost her beloved pet. She’d said she badly wanted to go to Crete again and it would help Hannah and Mac if they didn’t have to pay quite as much for the villa. It would help them all, in fact.
It wasn’t as if Edie didn’t like Jessica, either. She thoroughly enjoyed her company. And Jessica was so independent, she’d probably push off on her own quite a bit. What’s more, if Edie and Ralph wanted time alone, they could say so. They didn’t have to do things together all the time.
Ralph didn’t have a problem with the idea, but Mac hadn’t seemed all that keen.
‘She’d change the atmosphere,’ he’d said, slightly sullenly.
