‘Who rescued a crow?’ Daisy closed the living room door behind her and sat back down.
‘Evie and Jack.’ Elsie nodded towards Evie and took a bite of her pizza.
‘Really? You rescued a crow?’
‘Well, in truth, Jack rescued the crow. I just tagged along.’
‘He’s so lovely, Jack. He’s always over at the farm sanctuary helping out.’ Daisy shifted a cushion behind her. ‘Is that where you took the crow?’
‘He’s on his way there now. He had a dinner at his parents’ house for their wedding anniversary, so he had to rush off, but he’s going to drop the crow in at the sanctuary first.’
‘Aw, that’s really sweet. Freya will fix him up, no doubt. She’s a vet.’ Elsie patted Evie’s knee. ‘I’m glad you’ve had a nice evening.’
‘Thanks.’ Leaning forward, Evie took a slice of pizza. She had. The evening had been lovely. Jack had been lovely. So why had she swerved the kiss? She frowned as she bit into the pizza. She hadn’t dated in... well... the majority of her adult life. There had been that guy, Rick, from uni, but that hadn’t lasted more than three months. When she’d found out he’d cheated the day after she’d told him she loved him, she’d finished it. He had been the proof she’d needed to know that most relationships fail. Of course, over the years she’d been on the odd date, forced upon her well-meaning colleagues, but about ten years ago they’d slowly given up, marking her down as a lost cause.
‘Shall we tell them what we did last night?’ Elsie stage-whispered to her.
Nodding, Evie wiped a stringy piece of cheese from her lips.
‘What did you do?’ Carrie patted her knees and Scout jumped up to her, trying to squeeze onto the armchair with her.
‘We wrote a list of things I have planned and still need to plan in regards to the wedding.’ Elise grinned. ‘Well, Evie wrote the list. I panicked.’
‘But it showed you’ve got more planned than you thought you had.’ Evie picked up a mug of tea Carrie had made her.
‘Yes, you’re right. It helped me see that actually there’s not as much to panic about as I’d originally thought.’
‘Ooh, go on then. Tell us what you’ve already planned.’ Daisy rubbed her baby bump.
‘So, we’ve decided and booked the church, we’ve decided to have the reception at the bakery, and...’ Elsie twisted and looked across to Evie. ‘... was there something else we’d already planned too?’
‘The food.’
‘Of course, how could I forget that. Yes, you’ve offered to be in charge of the food.’ She patted Daisy’s knee. ‘So, that’s all under control.’
‘Not quite. You and Ian still need to decide what food you want and whether you want a buffet or a classic sit-down wedding breakfast.’ Diane tugged her hair into a ponytail.
‘I don’t think we want a sit-down meal. It’ll be too cramped in the bakery for that. A buffet would be nice, I think.’ Elsie nodded.
‘We can do that.’ Diane smiled. ‘Why don’t you and Ian pop in at some point this week and we can go through the menu?’
‘That’s a good idea. Yes, we’ll do that. Anyway, that’s enough wedding talk tonight. How are the pottery lessons going, Carrie?’
‘Great, thanks. I’ve an adults’ pottery course starting at the end of the month where we’ll make ceramic Christmas wreaths. The interest in it has been amazing, so I’ve decided to run two courses.’ Carrie beamed as she fussed over Scout.
‘That’s fantastic news. Well done, love.’ Elsie smiled.
‘Do you teach pottery then?’ Evie looked across at Carrie.
‘Yes, I’ve got adult and kids’ courses. I sell bits and pieces at craft fairs too.’
‘Wow, that must be such a nice job. I’ve always fancied having a go at making something out of pottery. I used to watch my friends who had chosen art at school and wonder how on earth they made the things they did with just a lump of clay.’ Evie picked up another slice of pizza.
‘You should come along to my studio one day and have a go at making something.’
‘I’d be absolutely rubbish. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body.’ Evie sighed. Deep down, she’d always wanted to be one of those people who could create something from seemingly nothing. She’d never been able to though, however hard she’d tried.
‘Come over one day and have a go. Everyone’s got the ability to be creative. You’ve just got to know what you’re looking for.’ Carrie smiled.