inside – leaving the men and Will to head for home in Jon’s car. When we’d left her she was sitting waiting for the next episode of Coronation Street to begin with her laptop in front of her, a chapter of her next blockbuster up on the screen.
‘Absolutely beats me how she can concentrate on the goings-on in soap land and write a novel at the same time,’ I said, full of admiration for the older lady’s creative talent.
‘Don’t you have music on while you work on your cakes?’ Tina asked, and knowing full well that I did, she added, ‘Well, there you are then – and you haven’t answered my question.’
‘Making cakes, cakes and more cakes,’ I grinned. ‘Oh, yes, and going to a wedding that I created a four tier cake for. A wedding for which I haven’t a thing to wear and the reason for that – as you know - is because I totally freaked when I went out into town to buy myself an outfit, after convincing myself I’d seen the ghost of weddings past – or one wedding in particular - and immediately headed home from the shops.’
‘When’s the wedding?’
‘Next weekend,’ I shrugged, ‘I can probably find something suitable in my wardrobe. It’s not as if I don’t have any clothes.’
‘Why don’t you spend this weekend with us in London?’ Tina offered, ‘all three of you, I mean. You could go to a show with Jon while you’re in town and leave us to babysit Will.’
‘We couldn’t,’ I insisted, though I was undeniably tempted by the whole idea. A weekend away, shopping and a show, not to mention time spent with my best friend.
‘You could.’
‘We could,’ Jon echoed Tina’s words, and then he hesitated and said dubiously, ‘As long as we won’t be getting in the way, because we do appreciate how busy you both are.’
‘Never too busy to spend time with friends,’ Calum said, his tone firm, before adding with a distinct chuckle and his attention on Tina and me, ‘as long as you don’t make too much of a habit of it and you don’t expect us boys to come shopping with you.’
‘Shopping,’ Will chimed in, ‘yuk.’
‘So, you don’t want to go to the biggest toyshop in London, then?’ Jon winked at Calum, who immediately added, ‘Oh, no, because that would be shopping , wouldn’t it? And we don’t like shopping , do we, Will?’
‘Noooooo,’ William danced around the two men, ‘I meant I didn’t like clothes shopping.’
‘Oh, clothes shopping.’ Jon and Calum spoke in unison and nodded. ‘It’s clothes shopping we don’t like. Not toy shopping.’
‘Stop teasing the child,’ Tina scolded and swept Will up in her arms and hugged him close. ‘If your Daddy and Uncle Calum don’t take you to Hamley’s then your Mummy and I will.’
‘You might not have time.’ Will looked into her eyes anxiously, looking and finding reassurance there.
‘We will,’ she assured him, and Will’s face became one big beam.
*
‘We should do this more often,’ Jon said, just after we hit the M27 on Friday afternoon.
‘Oh, no,’ I shook my head, ignoring the exited, ‘Yesssss,’ that came from Will safely strapped into his booster seat in the back of the car, ‘we couldn’t make a habit of landing on Tina and Calum – they’re far too busy.’
‘I meant,’ Jon explained, ‘taking off for the weekend like this. We never do anything spontaneous anymore.’
‘Well, with you at work and Will at school...,’ I began.
‘Nothing stopping me leaving work early on a Friday like I did today,’ Jon sounded almost as excited as William and over-rode my protests before I could voice them, ‘and leave as soon as we’ve collected Will from school. We could do much more now that he’s a bit older.’
‘It would be nice...’
‘And we should be thinking about going on a proper holiday, too, somewhere abroad.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘What about the expense? We’d have to pay a lot more in the school holidays?’
‘Accepted,’ Jon said
‘Absolutely beats me how she can concentrate on the goings-on in soap land and write a novel at the same time,’ I said, full of admiration for the older lady’s creative talent.
‘Don’t you have music on while you work on your cakes?’ Tina asked, and knowing full well that I did, she added, ‘Well, there you are then – and you haven’t answered my question.’
‘Making cakes, cakes and more cakes,’ I grinned. ‘Oh, yes, and going to a wedding that I created a four tier cake for. A wedding for which I haven’t a thing to wear and the reason for that – as you know - is because I totally freaked when I went out into town to buy myself an outfit, after convincing myself I’d seen the ghost of weddings past – or one wedding in particular - and immediately headed home from the shops.’
‘When’s the wedding?’
‘Next weekend,’ I shrugged, ‘I can probably find something suitable in my wardrobe. It’s not as if I don’t have any clothes.’
‘Why don’t you spend this weekend with us in London?’ Tina offered, ‘all three of you, I mean. You could go to a show with Jon while you’re in town and leave us to babysit Will.’
‘We couldn’t,’ I insisted, though I was undeniably tempted by the whole idea. A weekend away, shopping and a show, not to mention time spent with my best friend.
‘You could.’
‘We could,’ Jon echoed Tina’s words, and then he hesitated and said dubiously, ‘As long as we won’t be getting in the way, because we do appreciate how busy you both are.’
‘Never too busy to spend time with friends,’ Calum said, his tone firm, before adding with a distinct chuckle and his attention on Tina and me, ‘as long as you don’t make too much of a habit of it and you don’t expect us boys to come shopping with you.’
‘Shopping,’ Will chimed in, ‘yuk.’
‘So, you don’t want to go to the biggest toyshop in London, then?’ Jon winked at Calum, who immediately added, ‘Oh, no, because that would be shopping , wouldn’t it? And we don’t like shopping , do we, Will?’
‘Noooooo,’ William danced around the two men, ‘I meant I didn’t like clothes shopping.’
‘Oh, clothes shopping.’ Jon and Calum spoke in unison and nodded. ‘It’s clothes shopping we don’t like. Not toy shopping.’
‘Stop teasing the child,’ Tina scolded and swept Will up in her arms and hugged him close. ‘If your Daddy and Uncle Calum don’t take you to Hamley’s then your Mummy and I will.’
‘You might not have time.’ Will looked into her eyes anxiously, looking and finding reassurance there.
‘We will,’ she assured him, and Will’s face became one big beam.
*
‘We should do this more often,’ Jon said, just after we hit the M27 on Friday afternoon.
‘Oh, no,’ I shook my head, ignoring the exited, ‘Yesssss,’ that came from Will safely strapped into his booster seat in the back of the car, ‘we couldn’t make a habit of landing on Tina and Calum – they’re far too busy.’
‘I meant,’ Jon explained, ‘taking off for the weekend like this. We never do anything spontaneous anymore.’
‘Well, with you at work and Will at school...,’ I began.
‘Nothing stopping me leaving work early on a Friday like I did today,’ Jon sounded almost as excited as William and over-rode my protests before I could voice them, ‘and leave as soon as we’ve collected Will from school. We could do much more now that he’s a bit older.’
‘It would be nice...’
‘And we should be thinking about going on a proper holiday, too, somewhere abroad.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘What about the expense? We’d have to pay a lot more in the school holidays?’
‘Accepted,’ Jon said
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