Page 22 of Love Letters on Hazel Lane

‘I don’t think that’s one of them.’ Kate looked baffled; Jo hoped she hadn’t written GSOH on her dating profile. ‘Seriously, it’s very healthy. You should try it.’

Jo shook her head and cut herself a generous chunk of pie. She’d always promised herself she’d never go on another diet as long as she lived. Not after the final two years of her marriage when Si had watched every calorie she ate, monitoring each morsel that she put in her mouth. ‘It’s for your health,’ he’d said. ‘And you want to make the best of yourself, don’t you?’

How often had he said those words?

The best of yourself.

Why wasn’t she good enough as she was?

The pounds had come off, but when Jo looked in the mirror, she’d liked herself less and less with each passing day. Her chin was too large. Her shoulders too broad. Her hands not feminine enough. Her stomach was flatter, but her hips and thighs had remained resolutely chunky.

‘I’m only thinking of you, Joanne,’ he’d said, after he’d chosen a salad for her in their favourite restaurant, whilst opting for rump steak and chips for himself.

And that was another thing: she had hated the way he insisted on calling her ‘Joanne’ yet was happy to shorten his own name.

‘Joanne sounds much more feminine,’ he’d always said when she protested. ‘Jo sounds like a man’s name.’

‘Been on any dates recently?’ Kate said.

Jo snapped herself back to the present moment and regaled her with the story of her trip down Gaping Gill.

Kate snorted with laughter. ‘Sounds awful. Was he good-looking?’

‘Not especially.’

Although he had grown on her over the course of the day.

‘So why did you agree to the date? You’re not that desperate, surely?’

‘He sounded nice in his messages and…’ Jo paused. No, perhaps not. She wouldn’t mention her Scrabble dating plan; Kate would think it was daft.

And probably best not to reveal Gaping Gill man’s true identity; Kate might know him since he worked at the health centre with Ludek, who was, Jo felt sure, her friend Emily’s partner. There couldn’t be two Ludeks – not in their little valley.

‘How have your dates been?’ Jo said. ‘You’re out every evening.’

‘Terrible. But I have hope. Do you fancy going to a pub quiz?’

‘A pub quiz?’

‘Well, a pub quiz with a twist. You did say you’d be my wingman?’

Jo wasn’t sure why Kate would need a wingman for a pub quiz, but it might make a pleasant change. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘Why not?’

10

‘Speed-dating?’ said Jo when she saw the sign on the door of the pub. ‘You said it was a pub quiz.’

Kate laughed. ‘I said a pub quiz with a twist. The speed-dating is the twist. Come on.’

She opened the door, and Jo followed her inside, wondering what she’d let herself in for. Another sign directed them towards the room upstairs.

She’d been a bit suspicious when Kate said they were going to Huddersfield, rather than the weekly quiz at the Red Lion in Essendale. But speed-dating? She’d never have agreed to that. Twelve first dates – and potentially twelve rejections – in one evening? It was her worst nightmare.

Still, she liked a good pub quiz; maybe she could concentrate on the questions. Judging by the number of cocktails being knocked back by their fellow competitors, the height of their heels and the cleavage on display, everyone else would be focusing on the dating element of the evening and she’d be in with a good chance of winning.

‘I’ll buy the first round,’ said Kate. ‘Margarita? Sex on the beach?’

‘Shouldn’t we keep a clear head for the quiz?’