49
‘ I didn’t know you turned down the job interview,’ says Janey. They are walking, the two of them, the heads of spiral curls similar in the beautiful June light. The evenings are endless, and they have decided to walk along the beachfront, shoes off, jeans turned up. Essie shrugs.
‘What changed your mind? Apart from me, obviously.’
They both laugh.
‘I’m not even going to tell you,’ replies Essie.
Janey laughs and shakes her head. ‘Wee Dwight McFlynn?’ she asks.
‘Don’t say I told you so.’
‘I never ever did! I didn’t see that coming in a million achy-breaky years.’
Janey is still slightly nervous, and so happy to see Essie smile.
‘I think there’s a lot of opportunity here,’ says Essie. ‘You know, Lowell’s firm is doing really great work.’
It’s true: Lowell took Essie on – not remotely as a favour – and she is thriving in the busy architectural practice.
‘They’re talking about sending me on an overseas conference,’ she says proudly. ‘I mean, mostly taking minutes and stuff, but even so.’
‘That’s wonderful!’ says Janey, beaming with pride. ‘Whereabouts?’
Essie shakes her head. ‘Zurich.’
And Janey bursts out laughing.
They spy Al on the horizon. He is standing with someone very thin and blonde and aristocratic-looking.
Essie squints. ‘Is that the same one as the last one?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ says Janey. ‘She won’t talk to us anyway.’
And they both laugh, and link arms.
‘I’m seeing Dad on Sunday,’ says Essie. ‘I said I’d take Logan to the beach. I thought I’d build some sandcastles and let him kick them over.’
Janey smiles. ‘That’s wonderful,’ she says, and means it. ‘I’m so glad.’
Bute wiggles her arse happily, and arfs. As they get closer to the village park she has caught the scent on the wind: it is midsummer and time for the annual village dog show.
‘Ringers!’ moans Janey in despair as she sees people getting off the bus with expensive-looking dog bags filled with pristine pugs wearing diamanté collars.
‘Come on,’ says Essie. ‘They’ve got no chance. Shelby’s bringing Peggy-Sue.’
But as they approach, they realise they have no chance.
The entire town’s dogs are there – Dusty, who is monstrous, now up to Johnson’s waist, with a sticky-out tongue and a fringe that makes him look completely insane (or else the most beautiful dog that ever lived, according to Lish); Dwight with Smokey, who is trying to kick off with the other dogs and is well on the way to getting disqualified before they even start walking round the makeshift outdoor ring; Peggy-Sue wearing four white dog cowboy boots with her pristine hair styled and bows perched behind her ears, and it can’t be, surely .
. . is that mascara? Al and Caithness, who, it turns out, is completely terrified of deer, despite rapidly approaching foal size.
And Lowell is there with wee Argyll – Janey grins at him like a love-struck teen and he looks back equally soppily but they don’t hold hands because Verity is there, beaming.
Both she and Felicity are in matching knitted tank tops with ‘CARSO’ in yellow, and pink and yellow socks, courtesy of the knitting circle.
‘Well, that’s not fair,’ signs Janey, walking towards the girl, who gives them both a cuddle as the dogs sniff their welcomes.
Verity grins widely.
‘Hang on, are you wearing hearing aids?’
‘In case,’ signs Verity with her trademark glorious fluidity, ‘the judges don’t realise I’m deaf.’
‘Oh, my God, you are naughty.’
And Verity’s grin splits her face as Janey waves politely to Thalia, who is standing some distance back, nodding reluctantly.
She is signing the lease on the last of the cottages today, next to Lish, next to Janey, next to Essie, who appears to be temporarily staying with Dwight while he looks for his next sensible, slow-growth project.
Essie had been quite looking forward to moving near her mother, except her mother appears to be spending all her time at Lowell’s.
They parade their dogs around the ring, and Smokey is disqualified first for trying to bite an Afghan hound and then, when removed, a horse that was passing by on the beach.
Dusty is out next but Johnson is phlegmatic about it – and walking, Janey cannot believe it – with only a stick.
He has lost so much weight, looks so well.
Lish on the other hand jumps up and is about to start a steward’s enquiry but is persuaded to back down.
Argyll and Bute both fail to progress, sparking much protest, and it becomes clear Ahmed is beginning to deeply regret taking on this straightforward adorable-pet-judging task he thought would be fun.
Finally only three are left standing: Verity, beaming broadly – she is short a front tooth, which can’t possibly hurt her chances – Shelby, who is batting her eyelashes at Ahmed in a way that would be totally lost on both him and his husband, and an out-of-towner holding a box, who looks oddly familiar.
‘Wasn’t that guy on the winning team at the quiz night?’ whispers Lowell.
‘I don’t know,’ says Janey happily. ‘All I noticed that night was you.’
‘And how I got all the cathedral building terms right?’
‘Architrave is a very sexy word.’
‘Buttresses,’ says Lowell instantly.
‘STOP IT!’
The beach is golden; the sea freezing as usual but a glorious turquoise blue; the little plane is circling in to land; the town is full of happy people; and an ice cream van has shown up. What could be better?
Ahmed looks up from his clipboard. ‘And the winner is . . . number thirty-two!’
Verity has stepped forward with Felicity, grinning, only for the smile to drop off her face. Shelby looks furious. The man with the box steps forward proudly.
‘That’s the most beautiful lizard I’ve ever seen in my life,’ says Ahmed, handing over the trophy. The lizard clambers up the side of the box and peers out, flickering its tongue.
Everyone in Carso looks at each other, and then starts to laugh.
‘Ach, Verity,’ says Janey.
‘It’s alright,’ says Shelby. ‘I have a cake for Peggy-Sue. We can go and eat that.’
‘Is it a cake for dogs or a cake for humans?’ Lowell wants to know.
And they are a happy band, spread out on the dunes, passing around the cake (in fact there are two, both of which say Congratulations, Peggy-Sue, the best dog , one iced and one made from peanut butter and cheese, which Verity prefers and sticks her fingers in when nobody is looking), and the knitters take out their knitting and Dwight and Essie sidle off early, and Lowell and Janey interweave their fingers from time to time under the sand when they think there is nobody watching, as the summer sweeps the top of the world, and it feels to everyone that they are, very much, in the right place.