AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The other men of the village join in the jumping and I wonder if it makes Dominic think of his home, all those miles away. From the broad grin on his face, I don’t think that he’s feeling homesick right now.
Eventually, Dominic stops jumping – having seen everyone else off – and comes to join me. The African music gives way to Abba and Wham! and the lasagne is served.
‘Are you happy?’ Dominic asks, his arm protectively around my waist.
‘Yes, I’m very happy.’ I stand on tiptoe to kiss him.
‘Good,’ he says proudly. ‘Because if you are happy, then I am happy.’
Chapter Ninety
I’m back at Cutting Edge where I belong. All my clients are very pleased to see me, now that I’m not dyeing people’s hair the wrong shade or giving short lesbian-style crops to women who just wanted trims.
Nina hands me my coffee and we sit together in the staffroom surrounded by towels and hair dye and all the stuff that makes the salon tick. Cristal is loading gowns into the washing machine. The boys, Tyrone and Clinton, are huddled together sharing a daily paper and a takeaway latte they’ve bought from Deli Delights between them. At the moment, they are the picture of happiness.
‘I saw the solicitor last night,’ Nina tells me as she peels an orange. ‘On the way home from work. Getting divorced isn’t that difficult, is it?’ There’s a sadness in her voice.
I lean my head against hers. ‘You’ll be all right,’ I assure her. ‘We’ll look after you.’
‘Long overdue,’ she concludes.
‘But that doesn’t make it any easier, does it?’
‘No,’ she agrees. ‘Gerry might be a bastard, but it’s still hard to think that I won’t ever need to see him again once we both sign a few bits of paper. They weren’t all bad times.’
‘Maybe you’ll be able to stay friends?’ I suggest.
‘With him and his fit twenty-year-old on his arm? I don’t think so.’
I risk a smile and Nina giggles too. ‘Perhaps not.’
‘It would be worse if there were kids involved. As it is, we can have a clean break.’
‘You’re getting custody of the dogs?’
‘Yes,’ she says. ‘One good thing. My girls will be coming with me.’
‘You won’t be able to stay in your house then?’
‘No,’ she says. ‘Anyway, it’s far too big for one person. There’s plenty of equity in it by some miracle. Perhaps I’ll buy myself a little place in Nashley.’
‘That’s not as silly as it sounds, Nina. There is a cottage up for sale. One of the younger couples are moving up north somewhere with his job. It’s a lovely place. Nice garden. Easy to manage. You’d have people you know around.’
Since Nina and I have become firm friends again she’s been spending a lot of time with Mike, Dominic and I. An awful lot of time with Mike, now I come to think about it. Plus Mike has upped his consumption of fruit considerably in the last few weeks. Should that tell me something? I think so. ‘You could do worse. It’s a nice place.’
Her face brightens. ‘Fancy viewing it with me?’
‘Why not? Let’s fix up an appointment quickly otherwise it will be gone. Properties in Nashley don’t hang around for long.’
‘Won’t you be a bit busy at the weekend?’
I laugh. ‘I think everything is pretty much organised. There might be a bit of last minute running round to do, but most things are in hand.’
‘I’m so excited,’ Nina trills.
‘Me too,’ I confess.
My wedding to Dominic is on Monday at noon and Kelly is closing the salon especially so that everyone can come along. It’s going to be a very low-key affair. The ceremony is at the register office and there’ll be just a few friends to help us celebrate. Nina and Mike will be our witnesses. I’m not sure that Dominic can quite understand why we’re such a small party. When there’s a Maasai wedding, everyone turns out and hundreds of people attend from surrounding villages. This will be yet another culture shock for him to deal with and I’m sure he’ll handle it all with his unique brand of charm, as he does everything.
I smile to think of my love, who is at home now already researching college courses and applying for his work permit. He is so keen to make a contribution here and it makes me proud to have met someone as community-minded as he is. Frankly, it puts me to shame.
In the meantime, he’s gone back to helping out Mr and Mrs Codling-Bentham in their garden for a few hours every morning and I know that they’re thrilled he’s returned to them. In the afternoons, he still helps the ladies of The Nashley Church Flower Committee with various chores and they’re now delighted that he’ll actually eat all the cakes that they bake for him.
