Chapter 31
Tilly wasn’t many steps away from the tram shelter before her phone came out.
There were moments in her life that required the input of The Properlies, and being asked to an oyster night by a gorgeous, grumpy farmer with a picnic basket in one's hand was very much one of them.
Ducking into the doorway of a shop, she popped a voice message in the group.
'Emergency session of The Properlies, please.
All members to the table. I have just, and I need you to listen very carefully to the wording, been asked by Otto Carrington to an oyster night at the pub next Saturday, to which I said yes, at which point he said, and I quote, "I'll see you then.
" He then said, "It's nothing fancy, don't go to any trouble," got on a tram and vanished into the fog like Poldark.
So, the question is a simple one. Is this a date, girls?
Because it has all the ingredients of a date, but it was delivered like a delivery slot confirmation.
Six-thirty at The Darling Arms. I mean. I could have been booked in for a boiler service. Discuss later if anyone is free.'
The replies landed before she'd even made it back to the harbour road.
Pia: It's a date. Yep, we need a video call this evening. This requires real chatting face-to-face.
Tilly: Yes, OK. What time suits???
Jasmine: Agreed. 6 pm your time? I'm on a break then. I'll have about an hour before wigs.
Pia: 6 pm. I'll bring the rosé. Tils, this is epic.
Jasmine: See you at 6. x
At six o'clock on the dot, Tilly was sitting out on the decking at the back of the Boat Shed with a cup of tea, a blanket over her knees, and her phone propped against an old lantern on the table. The tide was on its way in, slapping at the posts below, and a thin layer of fog hovered over the estuary. All signs of the storm were long gone, almost as if she’d imagined it.
Not a bad venue for a committee meeting of The Properlies, all things considered.
Pia arrived first, glowing and golden on a terrace in Provence with a glass of rosé the size of a small fishbowl, and then Jasmine, in a harshly lit dressing room with a row of wig heads lined up behind her.
Tilly smiled. ‘Hiya.’
Jasmine sipped from a can of soft drink. ‘Ooh, it looks nice where you are. The fog makes it so pretty. I can’t wait to visit.’
Tilly looked behind her. ‘Yeah, it’s very nice. You wouldn’t think fog could make everything look so lovely.’
‘One minute you had palm trees in the background, now fog. Amazing how quickly things can change.’
‘Ha, I know!’ Tilly nodded in agreement.
Pia smiled. 'So good to see you two. All looking well. Right, let’s get on with the real conversation. He asked you to an oyster night? What even is one of those?’
‘Good question.' Tilly smiled and then divulged everything that had happened at the tram shelter in the fog.
'It sounds a bit like a date, but not really. Tricky one.' Pia shook her head.
Tilly nodded. ‘I know. It’s probably not, and I’m overthinking it. He’s just being neighbourly.’
Jasmine put her can down. 'Possibly, but also, the wording is interesting. Don't go to any trouble. Why would he say that?'
'Because it's a casual pub thing.' Tilly shrugged. 'He might just be attempting to be friendly. He doesn't give a lot away.'
Pia topped up her glass. ‘The plot thickens.'
'There is something I do need to find out. The wife thing.'
'Nah, not one by the looks of it.' Jasmine noted.
Tilly glanced out at the water. 'I don't really know how to find out without asking him directly, which I am not doing.'
'No, don't do that.' Jasmine shook her head.
'What was that neighbour who asked you to go for drinks? Lucie was it? When’s that?' Pia asked.
Tilly frowned. ‘Drinks?'
'You said you're going to drinks. Someone there will know.' Pia smiled. 'Islands are ninety per cent gossip. You'll have the full picture before pudding.'
Jasmine pointed at her screen. 'She's right, actually. You could ask around casually, obviously.'
Tilly made a face. 'It might look very obvious.'
'You’ll just have to play it by ear. Come on, though, he wouldn’t have asked you if he were married. It just wouldn’t happen.'
Tilly pursed her lips. 'Or he is and is just being friendly. That is a thing here on Darling. Everyone tries to be nice and neighbourly...'
'You’re going to have to find out about the wife at the drinks. If he’s not married, we are going to need to do a deep dive on what you wear to the oyster night and the whole schemozzle.'
Jasmine nodded. 'Yeah, find out about the wife first.'
'Rightio.' Tilly smiled. 'Well, thanks. Yep, I suppose once I know that, it will be clear.'
Pia lifted her glass. 'That's what we're here for. Now, come on, I want to know more about the Australian doctor, because I feel like we glossed over him enormously.'
Tilly put her face in her hands.
'Yep, I liked the sound of the Australian doctor, too.' Jasmine sat up. 'I mean, what’s not to love?'
Tilly giggled. The Australian, however, wasn’t even in the picture. As far as she was concerned, he didn’t get a look in whatsoever.