‘Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your date?’ Hayden asked Janey as she poured a pint for Martin Brady. ‘I’ve got things covered here.’
‘Now then, who’s been gossiping?’ Janey said. ‘That’s supposed to be top secret, that is.’
‘Brooke. And Rhianna. And Brooke again. You didn’t bring your daughters up to be able to keep a secret, did you?’
‘Huh. I blame their father.’
‘Aren’t you going up? This was supposed to be your day off and you’ve done nothing but pull pints.’
‘Well, it’s good for the girls to spend time with the kiddies. They’ll fetch me when they want me.’ She put Martin’s beer on the bar. ‘There you go, Marty. Just the way you like it.’
‘You’re a wonderful woman, Janey Padgett,’ he said with a smile. ‘Don’t let anyone tell you different.’
She smiled back. ‘You old sweet-talker.’
‘So, um…’ He looked awkward, as if on unfamiliar ground. ‘What’s this about a date?’
‘Oh, it’s this mad idea of the girls’. They think I ought to be seeing people again now it’s nearly two years since Eddie passed. I told them I was too old for that sort of thing but they wouldn’t have it.’
‘Brooke told me it was your idea,’ Hayden said.
Janey shot him a look. ‘Yes, thank you, Hayden. You know, considering I’m the boss and you’re only a humble employee, you’ve got a right bloody lip on you.’
He grinned. ‘And I don’t even charge you extra.’
‘Nice, is he, this man you’re going out with?’ Martin asked.
Janey shrugged. ‘He’s from one of these online dating sites. He looks pleasant enough.’
‘You want to be careful with those internet things, love. I saw this documentary about a serial killer who—’
Janey groaned. ‘Oh God, please don’t. I’ve been worrying about that all day.’
‘Well, you’ll likely be OK,’ Martin reassured her. ‘If you get into any trouble, you’ve got my number. Let’s see how he fancies an ex-copper to tangle with.’
‘My knight in shining armour, eh?’
‘Always.’ He winked before taking his pint back to his table.
‘You’ve got an admirer there,’ Hayden observed. ‘He asks after you every time he comes in.’
‘Martin?’ She laughed. ‘Don’t be daft. We’ve been friends since we were swimming round the primordial soup together; me, him, Eddie and Mave – that was his missus.’
‘Just calling it how I see it,’ he said, shrugging.
Janey squinted at him. ‘You all right, love? You look shattered.’
‘Yeah, I am a bit. It gets on top of me sometimes, the two jobs and then making sure I’m spending a decent chunk of time with the girls. One bad night’s sleep can throw me for the week.’
‘Hmm.’ She regarded him with maternal concern. ‘Maybe we ought to cut your shifts. Our Rhianna could take on a bit more while she’s here.’
‘No! Please don’t do that. I can take it, honestly.’
‘Well, we won’t if you don’t want us to. Still, Hayden, you ought to watch you don’t burn out. You’re no good to your daughters in a hospital bed.’
‘It’s only for a little while. Just until I’ve got a bit put away for whatever might crop up in future.’
Janey smiled. ‘And then we lose you, I suppose.’
‘I suppose so.’ He glanced around the pub. ‘I’ll be sorry to go. I’ve got fond of this place.’
‘Well, for your sake I hope you can leave us sooner rather than later,’ Janey said. ‘You’ll be missed though, Hayden. Brooke was saying this morning how glad she was you’d proved her wrong in her original assessment of your bartending abilities. That’s high praise from her. She thinks the world revolves around this bloody pub.’
Hayden looked pleased. ‘Did she really say that?’
‘She did.’ Janey nodded to a table of thirty-something women drinking wine. ‘I’m crediting the Hayden Effect for this lot too. Jolene Hancock and her pals have been coming in a lot more often since you started. Nice to see a younger crowd in.’
He laughed. ‘Flirting with me right before a date? Janey Padgett, you hussy.’
‘I need the practice, love.’ She examined his face again. ‘You really should look after yourself. We all need to sleep.’
He sighed. ‘Yeah, I could do with a few more hours in the day lately. I wish everything for St Mary’s didn’t cost so damn much.’
Janey nodded sympathetically. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘Oh, right. I keep forgetting you were a St Mary’s parent too.’
‘You’ve applied to Di Kershaw, I suppose?’
He blinked. ‘To who?’
‘It’s a what, not a who – the Lady Diana Kershaw Hardship Fund. Do they still do that at St Mary’s?’
‘If they do I’ve never heard of it. What is it?’
‘A fund for parents struggling with non-fee-related costs. We got a grant of a couple of hundred a year towards what Rhianna needed. We still had a lot to cover, but it was a huge help.’
‘I think they must’ve stopped it. Otherwise I’d have been told, surely.’
‘Not necessarily. Schools like St Mary’s are used to the sort of pushy parents who ask for things rather than waiting to be told. Worth an enquiry.’
‘Yeah, thanks, that’s really helpful. I’ll email Darcie’s form tutor about it when I get in.’ He nodded to the stairs. ‘Here’s Brooke for you.’
Janey grimaced. ‘Oh God. Well, lad, it’s been nice knowing you.’
Brooke smiled at Hayden across the bar – a little bashfully, Janey thought, although Lord knew Brooke had precious little of embarrassment in her nature.
‘Sorry, Hayd, I’m going to have to pinch my mum,’ she said. ‘It’s time for her pre-date beautification. Naturally, me and Rhia are expecting that to take a while.’
‘Oi.’ Janey folded her arms. ‘No cheek or I’m backing out.’
‘You can’t back out. I made us a makeover playlist.’
Janey groaned.
‘What dating site is he off, this bloke?’ Hayden asked Brooke.
‘Tinder. Still, he looks relatively normal.’
‘No giant fish?’
‘Nope, he’s entirely piscine-free.’
Janey shook her head. ‘What is the thing with the fish?’
‘I reckon some blokes think it looks macho,’ Hayden told her. ‘Sort of like “me big hunter-gatherer. Me provide sexy fishy sustenance for ladyfolk”. Or just the classic overcompensating.’
‘That’s what I told her,’ Brooke said, and they both laughed.
Their eyes met over the bar, and Janey suppressed a smile. She’d been noticing the not-so-subtle signs of an attraction between these two for a while, and she was waiting for the opportunity to give them a nudge. It was about time Brooke stopped messing around with casual flings and found someone who really got what was special about her.
When they arrived upstairs, Rhianna was waiting for them.
‘I put Moana on for the kids so they won’t bother us while we’re working,’ she said.
‘Is getting me ready work?’ Janey asked.
Rhianna looked her up and down, taking in her beer-sloshed top and frizzy hair. ‘Yes.’
‘Come on.’ Brooke grabbed her mum’s arm and pulled her into her bedroom.
‘So, where should we start?’ Rhianna asked. ‘Clothes, hair, make-up or coaching?’
Janey blinked. ‘Coaching?’
‘You don’t think we’re going to send you out without some prep, do you?’ Brooke said. ‘The seventies are over, Janey. Gone are the days when you could pop your bra off in a man’s face and call it foreplay.’
She laughed. ‘The Carry Ons aren’t a documentary about life in the 1970s. There was actually very little bra-popping in real life.’
‘I thought if you remembered the seventies you weren’t there,’ Rhianna said.
‘That was the sixties.’ Janey shook her head. ‘Why does any conversation with you two leave me feeling ancient?’
Brooke glanced at her sister. ‘I don’t think she wants us to answer that, do you?’
Rhianna nodded soberly. ‘The truth can hurt.’ She flung open the cupboard. ‘Let’s start with clothes. I’m thinking for an Italian restaurant we want classy but not too dressy, smart-casual…’
‘Wait.’ Brooke took out her phone. ‘Music first. I made a special playlist to get us in the mood.’
‘Sweet Baby Jesus,’ Janey muttered.
‘I’ve got songs from every film that features a makeover on here,’ Brooke said, turning the volume up high. ‘She’s All That, Miss Congeniality, Grease, The Breakfast Club…’
Janey raised an eyebrow as the first tune started. ‘“I’m Getting Married in the Morning”?’
‘Well, My Fair Lady’s about a makeover, isn’t it? Besides, we are ultimately husband-hunting here.’
‘You’re lucky my date can’t see us doing bridal makeovers. He’d be running for the hills.’
‘Let’s sort out your hair.’ Brooke grabbed a hairbrush. ‘There’s no time to wash it so you’ll have to have it up. You’ve got pub frizz.’
‘Here.’ Rhianna chucked Janey a blouse and a pair of bootcut jeans while Brooke ran the brush through her tangles. ‘Put these on.’
Janey was starting to feel dizzy.
‘Can’t I have my hair done first?’ she asked. ‘I can’t try clothes on while Brooke’s yanking this thing through my knots. And ow, by the way.’
‘Sweet revenge,’ Brooke muttered.
‘I suppose,’ Rhianna said. ‘All right, hair then clothes.’
‘Rhia, there’s makeover refreshment in the fridge,’ Brooke said. ‘Do you want to fetch us all a glass?’
Rhianna nodded and went to get it.
‘How was minding the kids?’ Janey asked while Rhianna was out of the room.
‘Good. Rhia came home and we all played Monopoly. Without falling out, which is a mini miracle in itself.’ Brooke stopped brushing for a moment. ‘They’re good kids really.’
‘Course they are. They’re ours.’
‘Max seems happier now. I’m glad he managed to make some friends.’
Janey smiled. ‘He thinks you’re God’s gift, that boy. He always asks where you are first thing when he comes home from school.’
‘I know, it’s weird. Why? Usually kids pick up on how nervous I feel around them and they can’t get away from me fast enough.’
‘I think he remembers how you were kind to him when they first arrived. The day you made them fish finger sandwiches.’
‘That? But that was nothing. They were hungry so I made them tea – and got bollocked for it by Rhianna because fish fingers aren’t on the approved meal list.’
Janey shrugged. ‘Little things can mean a lot to a shy, frightened child in a strange place.’
Rhianna came back in carrying three glasses of prosecco.
‘Here you go, ladies.’ She handed them one each. ‘Cheers, eh?’
‘Cheers.’ Janey tried to take a sip while Brooke did strange things to her hair, sticking pins in it here, there and everywhere. ‘I was half worried you and the littlies wouldn’t be here when I came up from the bar, Rhianna.’
Rhianna flushed. ‘To be honest, there was a brief period this afternoon when I was thinking the same thing.’
‘She did us proud though,’ Brooke said. ‘She told James to shove his reconciliation, demanded a divorce, insulted his willy and stormed out.’
‘I insulted more than that,’ Rhianna said, smiling. ‘No one bad-mouths my family but me.’
‘That’s my girl,’ Janey said. ‘I doubt he’ll give up though. Just remember—’
‘Stay strong, I know. Oh!’ Rhianna flashed a delighted look at her sister as ‘Kiss Me’ by Sixpence None the Richer started playing. ‘Brooke! It’s our favourite.’
Brooke smiled. ‘God, that was some awful karaoke we insulted everyone’s eardrums with at that family wedding, wasn’t it?’
‘They just didn’t appreciate musical genius when they heard it.’ Rhianna leaned over her and sang a snatch into Brooke’s hairbrush, and Brooke, laughing, joined in.
Watching them in the mirror, Janey smiled to herself. All right, she was potentially about to be murdered by a complete stranger – or at the very least, bored to death by him – but seeing Brooke and Rhianna laughing together, she still felt that recruiting her daughters to help her get out dating was the best idea she’d ever had.
An hour later, Janey had been brushed, dressed and painted and was admiring her reflection in the mirror.
‘Mum, I don’t say this very often but you are a stone-cold stunner,’ Brooke said. ‘You’re going to knock this Mike guy off his feet.’
Rhianna nodded. ‘You look lovely, Mum. Class on legs.’
‘Well, Janey, shall I drive you over?’ Brooke asked. ‘It’s half-seven.’
‘Yes.’ Janey’s gaze was still fixed on her reflection. ‘In a minute, love. Just give me a moment to calm my nerves.’
They nodded and left her alone.
When they’d gone, Janey reached out to touch the image in the mirror.
An hour ago, when she’d come up from the bar, it had shown her a tired, harassed old woman. Now… well, she was still old, there was no getting around that. Everyone has to get old. But with her hair pinned up in a stylish chignon by Brooke, and clad in the smart blue top and black wrap Rhianna had picked out for her, she looked… genteel. That was the word people used to describe ladies ‘of a certain age’ who still managed to give an impression of beauty and sophistication. And yes, Janey felt that she did look beautiful. That wasn’t a very modest thing to think about yourself, she supposed, but modesty could sod off this once. It wasn’t often she felt beautiful, and for a little while she was going to bask in it.
God, but she was nervous, though. The girls’ quick course in modern dating hadn’t helped: her head was spinning with the various suggested conversation topics and ‘red flags’ to be on the lookout for. And yet, she was excited, too. Janey felt all of a twitter, the tummy butterflies she hadn’t experienced for so long awake and in flight once more. She remembered that same feeling the night she’d prepared for her first date with Eddie; every part of her anatomy feeling like it was fluttering.
‘Wish me luck, old man,’ she said to her husband’s photograph, holding up crossed fingers, and Eddie smiled back. Then, screwing up her courage, she strode out to go and meet her date.