‘Yes, I know we’ll always be friends,’ said Miriam with a sigh, ‘but things are bound to change and I just don’t want to spend every evening stuck at home, with only Craig and a pair of leaky boobs for company.’
I held up a hand. ‘Too much detail,’ I shuddered. ‘Way too much.’
‘I’m serious, about this, Alice,’ she insisted, patting her barely perceptible bump. ‘When he or she is born, I won’t be popping into wine bars on a whim anymore, will I? So I’d just like a regular thing on the calendar to look forward to. I’m not even thirty,’ she sighed. ‘I’m not ready for my brain to turn to mush.’
‘I think a book group is a lovely idea,’ said Lydia, handing us each a mug of peppermint tea, as she returned to join us at her kitchen table. Miriam had just started to suffer from morning sickness and the smell of coffee and black tea were triggers which, she told us, had led to her spending half an hour in the loo at Costa the day before. ‘I don’t read nearly enough.’
‘Of course I’ll join in,’ I said, ‘if it’s what you really want to do. But does it have to be a book group? Discussing literature is going to give me distressing flashbacks to university tutorials.’
‘Well, maybe if you and Craig had read a few more of the set texts, the tutorials wouldn’t have been quite so distressing for you both,’ said Miriam scathingly.
‘What about something similar… but different,’ I suggested, ignoring the dig. ‘A pudding club, maybe? That’d be just as comfortingly geriatric as a book group. But with cake.’
Miriam fixed me with a stare. ‘Firstly, you can’t bake. And secondly, you know full well that I am not aiming for geriatric.’
‘A puzzle club then?’ I offered. ‘Dad has an amazing jigsaw of The Flying Scotsman.’
‘If you’re not even going to take this seriously…’ Miriam began, but Lydia held up a hand.
‘How about we just read short books?’ she said. ‘To start with at least.’ She looked at Miriam. ‘You’re going to be rushed off your feet, and,’ she turned to me, ‘you’d be OK with a novella or two, wouldn’t you, Alice? Two hundred pages or so?’
I looked at her and smiled. ‘That’s a great idea.’
‘Wonderful!’ Miriam beamed, putting down her mug. ‘Now,’ she fidgeted excitedly, ‘I thought that to start with we could each just invite one person. It doesn’t have to be someone we all know.’
Lydia nodded. ‘It’d be nice to introduce new people to each other.’
‘I was thinking of asking a friend of Romy’s who’s just moved to Bristol. I’m pretty sure she’d be keen,’ said Miriam.
Lydia looked thoughtful. ‘I might bring along someone from work,’ she said. ‘Although, I’ve got a lovely American neighbour, who’s due about the same time as you, Miriam.’
Miriam’s face lit up. ‘That would be great! Ooh but,’ she laid a hand on Lydia’s arm, ‘it’s got to be your choice, not mine.’ She looked at me. ‘How about you? Any ideas?’
I shrugged. ‘Not off the top of my head. But I’ll think about it.’
‘You do that,’ she said, still smiling broadly. ‘And in the meantime,’ she picked up and raised her cup of peppermint tea, ‘here’s to The Short Book Group.’