‘Don’t put yourself down. You’re funny and caring, andyou’ve got a mean left hook.’
Lisa cringed. ‘Oh God, I’d forgotten about that.’
Dom flicked his head towards her. ‘Look, the thing is, I’m not a fool. Even without Gran telling me, I can see you’ve got things you’re working through and so have I.’
Things?
‘And I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d like to get to know you better.’
‘Dom, that’s—’
‘But Imean as a friend. Look, to be honest,’ Dom swallowed, ‘even if you didn’t have something going with the hot Chris Hemsworth type from Cin Cin, you’re just not my type.’ His cheeks flushed.
‘Seriously it’s fine, I hadn’t presumed—’
‘No. What I mean is… you’re lovely, it’s just… well, my interest in the filmTitanicis more Leonardo DiCaprio than Kate Winslet.’
‘Oh.’ Lisatook a moment to absorb what he was saying. ‘But Winnie said—’
‘I have terrible taste in girlfriends?’
‘Well, not exactly that, but yes.’
Dom laughed. ‘On purpose. Can you imagine how excited she’d be if I brought a keeper like you back to meet her. She’d bypass the formality of a cup of tea to march us to the church before we’d even got in the door.’
Lisa laughed.‘But why not just be honest?’
‘Because Gran’s from a different generation and I don’t want to hurt her – to let her down. There’s been enough heartache in our family.’
‘But Dom that’s… do your parents know?’
‘They’ve known for a while and they’re sworn to secrecy during Gran’s visit.’
Lisa thought for a moment. ‘Look, Dom, I know Winnie’s from a different generationbut I think you should give her more credit. No wonder she hasn’t liked your girlfriends if they don’t make you happy. Winnie wants you to be happy. And I think she’s more open minded than you might think.’ Lisa considered mentioning Winnie’s days of going alfresco with Stan and reminded herself it probably wasn’t something a grandson needed to hear about his grandparents, no matter how openminded it made them seem.
Dom fell quiet.
‘Really, she might surprise you.’
‘But—’
‘Wouldn’t you be happier if she just knew.’
Dom sighed. ‘Well, yes… but… I mean, I don’t know. Look, I’ll consider it—’
‘I really think you should—’
‘I’ll consider it only if you’ll agree to let me get to know you better. God knows, if I tell Gran, I mightneed a friend!’
‘I’d like that, but, Dom, please don’t feel—’
‘Hey, it’s got nothing to do with what Gran said about you. It’s just you spread a certain amount of chaos in your wake. I like that.’
‘Chaos?’ Lisa didn’t particularly consider herself the type of person who spread chaos.
‘OK, not chaos – mayhem, is that the word? Anyway you make me laugh, in a goodway, and I could do with a friend who makes me laugh.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes.’
‘In that case, I’d like to get to know you better too. I haven’t amassed many friends over recent years.’
‘OK, so now I’m gonna sound like Gran, but hey, you know I watchTitanicand soppy Holly Willoughby stuff, so here goes: it’s not about the number of friends you can count, but the numberyou can count on!’
Lisa laughed. ‘You do sound like Winnie.’
‘I know, and now I am going to have to swear at some motorists and drive like a bit of an arse to recover some masculinity!’
