from the hallway before entering with a small tray. ‘It’s like having the boys all over again with him.’
Nina smiled. ‘I thought he might actually belong to one of yours.’
‘Good gracious, no!’ Olivia gasped as she pushed the magazines off the table and put the tray down. ‘My lot haven’t even got as far as the altar yet.’
‘Oh, really?’ For some reason, Nina found this a comfort. It was hard to imagine any of the boys grown-up and married off, especially Alex and Dominic, whom Nina had always thought of as hers in a maternal sort of way. They had always been her special boys and, as an only child, they’d filled the gap that Sindy dolls couldn’t possibly have filled. It didn’t seem possible that they were handsome young men, ripe for marriage.
‘Between you and me, I can’t wait for the right women to take them off my hands,’ Olivia confessed, pouring the tea and offering Nina the milk and sugar. ‘The trouble is, they don’t seem in any rush at all. I mean, Billy’s had his fair share of girlfriends, but he seems more concerned about his career at the moment, and Alex – well – he’s certainly had his share, too, but he never spends long enough with any particular girl for me to think about booking the church.’ Olivia sighed and stared wistfully into the sugar bowl.
‘And what about Dominic?’ Nina asked, wondering what the youngest son was up to, but finding the image of Dommie as she remembered him – aged nine, in his football kit – hard to shake from her mind.
‘Dominic?’ Olivia half laughed, ‘Dominic’s no nearer than his brothers. There’s Faye of course. She’d marry him tomorrow, I’m quite sure of that.’
‘Faye?’ Was little Dominic Milton really old enough to have a girlfriend, Nina wondered, and then remembered the young man who’d stared so darkly at her from his car.
‘Dominic’s old flame from high school. She’s such a sweetheart. They kind of broke up a few years ago,’ Olivia paused and then whispered, ‘but she’s still a great friend of the family and I think she’s definitely still holding a candle for him. She’s helping me out with the garden here and is working wonders on it. Honestly, she’s such a lovely girl and Dommie really doesn’t deserve her, but he won’t listen to the reasoning of his old mother, will he?’
Nina sipped her tea and smiled sympathetically.
‘And what about you, Nina? Anyone on your horizon?’
Nina gulped a mouthful of tea a little too quickly and coughed. ‘Er – no. Not at the moment,’ she said.
‘But there has been, hasn’t there? A pretty girl like you!’
Nina blushed, thinking it strange that she should still be thought of as a girl at the ripe age of twenty-eight. ‘There has been,’ she confirmed, not wishing to open up that particular wound, ‘but not anymore.’
‘Well, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more,’ Olivia said in the comforting way that other people’s mothers had.
‘I’m so glad you came,’ Olivia said, her smile filling her face. She really was a beautiful woman, Nina thought, and absolutely impossible to pin an age on. Nina looked at her shiny red hair in a gloriously thick bob, and the vivid green eyes smiling out of a face that was round in the prettiest sense of the word.
‘So, you’re not working at the moment?’ Olivia probed gently.
‘N— no,’ Nina replied, suddenly remembering her position in the world; unemployed. She’d almost forgotten. In her delight in being a free, if rather poor, spirit, she’d forgotten that it was actually a weekday and that she should be working. But then, she mused philosophically, it was rather hard to keep track of exactly which day it was when you didn’t have a job to decide it for you.
‘Not babysitting?’ Olivia prompted.
‘Oh, I haven’t done that for years,’ she said.
‘You know, you were the only one the boys would have? Gosh! The trouble we had with them before you arrived on the scene!’
Nina smiled. ‘I thought he might actually belong to one of yours.’
‘Good gracious, no!’ Olivia gasped as she pushed the magazines off the table and put the tray down. ‘My lot haven’t even got as far as the altar yet.’
‘Oh, really?’ For some reason, Nina found this a comfort. It was hard to imagine any of the boys grown-up and married off, especially Alex and Dominic, whom Nina had always thought of as hers in a maternal sort of way. They had always been her special boys and, as an only child, they’d filled the gap that Sindy dolls couldn’t possibly have filled. It didn’t seem possible that they were handsome young men, ripe for marriage.
‘Between you and me, I can’t wait for the right women to take them off my hands,’ Olivia confessed, pouring the tea and offering Nina the milk and sugar. ‘The trouble is, they don’t seem in any rush at all. I mean, Billy’s had his fair share of girlfriends, but he seems more concerned about his career at the moment, and Alex – well – he’s certainly had his share, too, but he never spends long enough with any particular girl for me to think about booking the church.’ Olivia sighed and stared wistfully into the sugar bowl.
‘And what about Dominic?’ Nina asked, wondering what the youngest son was up to, but finding the image of Dommie as she remembered him – aged nine, in his football kit – hard to shake from her mind.
‘Dominic?’ Olivia half laughed, ‘Dominic’s no nearer than his brothers. There’s Faye of course. She’d marry him tomorrow, I’m quite sure of that.’
‘Faye?’ Was little Dominic Milton really old enough to have a girlfriend, Nina wondered, and then remembered the young man who’d stared so darkly at her from his car.
‘Dominic’s old flame from high school. She’s such a sweetheart. They kind of broke up a few years ago,’ Olivia paused and then whispered, ‘but she’s still a great friend of the family and I think she’s definitely still holding a candle for him. She’s helping me out with the garden here and is working wonders on it. Honestly, she’s such a lovely girl and Dommie really doesn’t deserve her, but he won’t listen to the reasoning of his old mother, will he?’
Nina sipped her tea and smiled sympathetically.
‘And what about you, Nina? Anyone on your horizon?’
Nina gulped a mouthful of tea a little too quickly and coughed. ‘Er – no. Not at the moment,’ she said.
‘But there has been, hasn’t there? A pretty girl like you!’
Nina blushed, thinking it strange that she should still be thought of as a girl at the ripe age of twenty-eight. ‘There has been,’ she confirmed, not wishing to open up that particular wound, ‘but not anymore.’
‘Well, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more,’ Olivia said in the comforting way that other people’s mothers had.
‘I’m so glad you came,’ Olivia said, her smile filling her face. She really was a beautiful woman, Nina thought, and absolutely impossible to pin an age on. Nina looked at her shiny red hair in a gloriously thick bob, and the vivid green eyes smiling out of a face that was round in the prettiest sense of the word.
‘So, you’re not working at the moment?’ Olivia probed gently.
‘N— no,’ Nina replied, suddenly remembering her position in the world; unemployed. She’d almost forgotten. In her delight in being a free, if rather poor, spirit, she’d forgotten that it was actually a weekday and that she should be working. But then, she mused philosophically, it was rather hard to keep track of exactly which day it was when you didn’t have a job to decide it for you.
‘Not babysitting?’ Olivia prompted.
‘Oh, I haven’t done that for years,’ she said.
‘You know, you were the only one the boys would have? Gosh! The trouble we had with them before you arrived on the scene!’
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