– by any definition – in about twenty years, and it’s certainly changed somewhat, now that I’m seventy-nine, but it’s still bloody wonderful. It did take me a little while to get back in the swing, and I’m rather achy in some peculiar places, but lord, it’s worth it.
Tod is clearly a very experienced gentleman. I don’t mind if the lines he spun about my beautiful body and my glowing skin were just that, lines – they did the trick. I haven’t felt this good in years.
I’m meeting Bee this morning for a cup of coffee. She wants to hear all the gossip on Tod, she says. I think she’s rather missing Jaime, who’s with her father’s family for Easter, but still, I was rather touched to receive her message.
The coffee shop where we’re meeting is called Watson’s Coffee, and it’s very trendy. Two of the walls are painted green and the other two are painted pink. There are fake stag horns above the coffee bar and a collection of neon candles half melted at the centre of each steel-grey table. The overall effect is vaguely ridiculous, and it’s horribly busy – it’s Easter Monday, so of course nobody is at work, and around here if you’re not in an office it seems you’ve got to be in a coffee shop.
Bee has managed to get us a table. She smiles up at me as I approach, that warm, open smile I glimpsed when she showed me the pictures of her daughter. It has an astonishing effect, that smile, like a warm spotlight pointing your way. Her hair is pinned back behind her ears, showing off a striking silver necklace sitting at her collarbone; she’s dressed in a beautiful turquoise dress that’s somehow more provocative for covering almost everything up.
‘Good morning!’ she says. ‘Let me get you a coffee – what do you fancy?’
‘A flat white, please,’ I say, feeling very pleased with myself.
Bee raises her eyebrows and grins. ‘Very good!’ she says. ‘Back in a tick.’
I pull my phone out of my handbag as she gets up to give our order. It’s taken me a while – and several lessons from Fitz – to get used to Leena’s phone, but now I’m starting to get the hang of it. I know enough to tell I’ve got a new message from Tod, for instance. And there are those butterflies again …
Dear Eileen, What a splendid evening. Let’s repeat soon, shall we? Yours sincerely, Tod x
‘OK, I know it’s wrong to snoop, so I’m just going to come out and say right away that I totally read that message,’ Bee says, sitting down again and placing a tray on the table. She’s got us both muffins, too. ‘Lemon or chocolate?’ she says.
Bee isn’t at all as I expected. She’s very thoughtful, actually. I’m not sure why I assumed she wouldn’t be – perhaps because she’s so beautiful, which is a little uncharitable of me.
‘Chocolate,’ I hazard, guessing she wants the lemon. She looks pleased and pulls the plate her way. ‘And I forgive you for snooping. I’m always doing it to other people on the underground. That’s the one advantage of being squashed so close together.’
Bee giggles. ‘So? Is Tod the one?’
‘Oh, no,’ I say firmly. ‘We’re just casual. Non-exclusive.’
Bee gawps at me. ‘Seriously?’
‘Is that such a surprise?’
‘Well, I …’ She pauses to think, chewing a mouthful of muffin. ‘I guess I just assumed you’d be looking for something serious. A life partner.’
I attempt a nonchalant shrug, then wince as the movement pulls on a newly stiff muscle in my back. ‘Maybe. Really, I’m just in it for the adventure.’
Bee sighs. ‘I wish I was. Looking for a future father to your child really takes the fun out of a first date.’
‘Still no luck?’
Bee makes a face. ‘I knew the over-seventies’ market would be better. Maybe I should be going for an older man.’
‘Don’t you be straying into my dating pool, young lady,’ I say. ‘Leave the old men for the old ladies or we’ll never stand a chance.’
Bee laughs. ‘No, no, they’re all yours. But I do wonder if I might be a bit too picky.’
I busy myself with my muffin. I ought not to interfere, really – Bee knows herself, she knows what’s good for her.
But I have been around a lot longer than Bee has. And she’s been so open with me. Perhaps there’s no harm in speaking my mind.