‘Not a pound,’ he says cheerfully. ‘Why do you think he and I spend so much time at the golf club? Lunch in the clubhouse is all that keeps the poor chap going. He says he sees Mary’s pie and chips floating above his head as he falls asleep each night. He’s also taken to reading recipe books for fun.’
‘But doesn’t the golf work off most of the calories?’
‘We haven’t actually been playing!’ he says, shocked. ‘It’s far too cold to be wandering around the greens at this time of year. We’re much better off in the clubhouse. There’s usually someone there to talk to, and I’ve picked up lots of tips for when we start again in the spring.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ I say. ‘If I didn’t have a job and bills to pay, I’d be hibernating at this time of year.’
‘It’s one of the benefits of retirement,’ he says. ‘And what your mother and Elaine don’t know can’t harm them. Robert got his tailor to let out his suit trousers and move his jacket buttons. Elaine was delighted when he tried it on last week. She and your mother are so impressed that they’re planning to try this bootcamp diet thing for themselves in the new year.’
‘You’re a disgrace,’ I tell him affectionately. ‘But you still haven’t told me about tonight. They can’t have invited me to the rehearsal dinner. That’s for members of the wedding party.’
‘It isn’t exactly a dinner,’ he says. ‘They thought about having one, but most of their friends are busy this week. And everyone’s already giving up their Christmas Eve for the vow renewal. So, they decided on a drinks party instead. It starts about seven. I do hope you’re coming. I’ll never hear the last of it from your mother if you don’t.’
‘So, that’s why Mum is fussing about outfits. She wants to lend me something to wear. But I refuse to appear in public wearing a darling little rayon two-piece. I’m afraid I won’t be there, anyway. I’m meeting a friend tonight.’
‘Are you?’ he says. ‘I didn’t think you knew many people around here these days. Who is it? Not Alex?’
‘Of course, not Alex! I barely know him. Anyway, he’s bound to be at this drinks thing, isn’t he? I’m meeting Brandon.’
He wrinkles his brow. ‘Do I know him?’
‘Of course, you know him! He and I were at school together. He moved down here when I was fifteen. He was over here all the time when we were in the sixth form.’
‘Oh, that Brandon!’ he says with an air of having finally placed him, although I’m reasonably sure he’s only ever met one Brandon.
‘Nice boy,’ he says after a moment’s thought. ‘Your mother always thought there was something going on between the pair of you, but I thought she was barking up the wrong tree. In fact –’ He breaks off, looking embarrassed.
I laugh. ‘And you were quite right. Brandon’s never made any secret of the fact he’s gay. Mum would have known that if she’d ever let him get a word in edgeways.’
‘So, you’ve kept in touch?’ he asks.
‘Pretty much. I see him occasionally when he comes up to London, and we chat between times.’
‘Do you keep in touch with anyone else?’ he asks. ‘Suzy, for instance.’
‘Not as much as I should have. We didn’t have much contact after she went to Northampton. You know how it is. You get busy, and the gaps grow longer and longer until you suddenly realise it’s been a couple of years.’
‘So, the pair of you didn’t fall out?’ His tone is light, but his eyes are keen.
‘Not at all. We just drifted apart.’
I don’t add that we’ve barely spoken since she started dating Alex. She sent me regular updates while I was in Paris, but they broke up just before I came home. Apparently, he cheated on her with someone in Edinburgh and she didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t blame her.
‘And how about Alex?’ he asks. ‘Do you and he stay in touch?’
‘There’s nothing to stay in touch about. I barely knew him. In fact, I hadn’t given him a thought until I came home this year. Since then, he seems to be everyone’s sole topic of conversation. That, and the wedding. But Alex and I have absolutely nothing in common, so there’s no reason we should have stayed in contact.’
‘Fair enough,’ he says placidly. ‘Your mother will be very disappointed about tonight. She’s counting on you being there.’
‘In our matching outfits? Maybe another year. Give me your bowl, and I’ll take it through to the kitchen. I’d better go and break the sad news to Mum without delay before she chooses me a twinset and pearls.’
Chapter Fifteen
Ipick up Brandon at seven o’clock.
‘You haven’t changed a bit!’ he says when he sees me. ‘You barely look a year older.’
‘I last saw you six months ago,’ I say.