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‘Beautiful. But do you imagine your poor mum is made of money?’
Lois shrugs. ‘She’s been saving into a plan for years.’
‘Must be some plan,’ I murmur, glancing around me at the wall-to-wall luxury. Everything gleams expensively, even the waiter’s hair.
Dinner is amazing. The ambience in the restaurant is much more relaxed than I thought it would be, and every single morsel of food is delicious– a work of art in miniature. I even manage to tackle the (gleaming) cutlery without any awkward mishaps.
Shaun presents Rory with a bottle of birthday champagne. He looks thoroughly surprised and delighted, thanking Shaun and tucking the bottle in its bag under the table. Then, feeling a little shy, I hand him my gift.
‘What’s this?’ He smiles warmly at me and my heart gives a little excited leap as he studies the small parcel wrapped in gold paper. I really hope he likes it. I found it in the antiques and vintage shop on Sunnybrook High Street. It caught my eye as soon as I walked in.
‘It’s just a little something. Happy birthday.’
‘Well, open it, then,’ urges Lois. ‘I haven’t got you a present yet, by the way.’ She’s looking a bit put out, probably because Shaun and I were first past the post in the birthday gift stakes.
Rory’s eyes widen with pleasure when he sees the little bronze of a horse rearing up on its stand. ‘I love it, Clara. Thank you.’
‘You’re very welcome.’ My heart is cantering along happily, just like that bronze horse would if it could, as we all raise our glasses to Rory in a birthday toast.
I’m endeavouring to focus all my attention on Shaun, but it’s hard not to notice how tall and devastatingly handsome Rory looks in his suit and tie, and how the candlelight enhances the twinkle in his dark eyes. I catch him smiling at me on more than one occasion, and my traitorous heart can’t help giving a leap of joy in response.
Fortunately, I don’t have to do too much talking myself because Lois is entertaining enough for the four of us. The more champagne she drinks, the more she enthuses about Rory’s sparkling career, which to be fair hasn’t really started yet. But it’s clear Lois has big plans for him, and Rory seems quite content for her to chatter on happily.
At one point, though, when she’s talking about property prices in London, he lays a hand on her arm, smiles at her and jokes, ‘Who said I was moving to London? Let me get qualified first before you decide my future.’
I glance at her anxiously but she just laughs and bats his arm.
‘Actually, I’m very lucky,’ Rory confesses. ‘Mum and Dad have told me they’re keen to invest in my future and I’ve always wanted to be my own boss, so... well, we’ll see.’
Lois’s eyes light up. ‘Ooh, you didn’t tell me that. Imagine. Your very own law practice!’
Rory grins. ‘That’s enough about me. Clara and Shaun will be falling asleep in theiramuse bouchesin a minute,’ he jokes, nudging Lois gently. ‘Shaun, how are you getting on over at Brambleberry Manor, with that barn conversion?’
Shaun talks knowledgably and entertainingly about the building trade, and I can tell Rory is genuinely interested. I slip my hand into Shaun’s, proud to be his date for the evening, and we exchange a secret smile.
When dinner is over, though, my heart starts beating a bit faster because I know exactly what Lois is planning. She told me yesterday.
‘Our eyes first met when I looked down from my bedroom window,’ she said, as she gave herself a manicure at the kitchen table. ‘Rory was in the garden beside the big flower bed with his mower, and he happened to glance up at me. So... how great would it be if I proposed to him sitting on the rail of the restaurant verandah, looking down, with you three gathered by the flowerbeds below?’ She smiled at me, then held out her hand, admiring the pale blue polish.
She pointed at a photograph of the verandah on her laptop.
I peered at it. ‘That photo was taken at the height of summer. There won’t actuallybeany flowerbeds now.’
‘Oh.’ This threw her for a moment. ‘Well, that doesn’t matter. There’ll begrass, won’t there?’ She wafted her hands about, to dry the polish. ‘It’ll still be really romantic.’
So now, here we are. Rory, Shaun and me, waiting on the grass beneath the verandah for Lois to appear. (She sent us on ahead, with a discreet wink at me, saying she needed to visit the Ladies and would join us out here.)
Unfortunately, the doors to the verandah appear to be locked. Rory and Shaun are deep in conversation about barn conversions and haven’t noticed that Lois is having problems. But I have a good view of the scene from here, and she doesn’t look pleased. Now she’s involving a waiter in her quest to get out onto the verandah, and she seems to be meeting a bit of resistance. The poor man is probably under strict instructions not to let any of the guests out there at this time of year for health and safety reasons...
I stand there, cringing, watching Lois gesticulating wildly, clearly not giving up, as tables of guests turn to stare in her direction. The waiter gives in and disappears, returning a minute later with a key and letting her out. He takes an anxious glance behind him as if he’s expecting the axe to fall on his career at any second, and I shake my head, smiling to myself. Lois in determined mood is as immovable as a tank set in concrete.
I alert Rory and Shaun to her appearance on the verandah, which stops their chat in its tracks. Lois scrabbles in her bag– she’ll be looking for her poem– and perches on the verandah rail, smiling down at a bemused Rory.
Having heard the first part of the poem, I’m wincing already. I grip Shaun’s hand, willing her on, in spite of everything.
Lois stands up. ‘Rory, I wanted this to be the most romantic night ever. So I’ve written a poem, to tell you how I feel about you.’
There’s a dramatic pause. I take a quick peek at Rory. He’s smiling expectantly, looking quite laid-back and relaxed.
