Chapter 48
‘Hi, Mum!’ Lauren greeted Myriam brightly when her mother answered her call.
It was just after four o’clock in the afternoon.
She’d shut the café an hour early because trade had dropped off and she wanted a bit of extra time to get her head straight before she headed over to Marc’s place.
But what she really needed was a bit of reassurance from the one person she’d always turned to in uncertain emotional times.
‘Hi, darling,’ Myriam’s face appeared on Lauren’s phone screen. ‘Everything all right?’
‘Yeah, mostly.’
‘Mostly?’
Briefly, Lauren filled Myriam in on her plans for the evening. When she’d finished, Myriam raised an eyebrow.
‘This is all quite quick for you, love. Are you sure it’s what you want?’
‘It does feel that way, but it also feels right, Mum. And you said I should try to broaden my horizons while you were away.’
‘I meant take an evening class or get out a bit more!’ Myriam laughed. ‘But I suppose a hot date in a gorgeous house with an even more gorgeous fella’s as good a way of doing it as any.’
‘But it’s been a while,’ Lauren countered. ‘What if I make an idiot of myself?’
‘I’ve no doubt you will, at some point,’ Myriam replied matter-of-factly. ‘We all do, when we meet someone new. Isn’t that right, Gary?’
‘Gary’s listening in?’ A hot flush of mortification flooded Lauren’s cheeks. ‘You could have mentioned that before I told you all that, Mum.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, he’s only got half an ear on us. He’s stuck into a podcast about someone’s dad writing a naughty book. I think he’s trying to pick up tips!’
Lauren suppressed a shudder. She was chuffed about the suggestion that her mum and Gary were making progress, but she drew the line at details. ‘That’s, er, great.’
‘But anyway… what are you going to wear?’
‘I don’t know. Jeans?’
Myriam gave an exasperated huff. ‘No, you’re not. Get upstairs and look in my wardrobe. I went on a bit of an online buying spree before I came away, and even I had to concede that some of the stuff was a bit impulsive. See what you can find.’
‘How did you manage that?’ Lauren laughed. ‘The postman always brings the parcels via the café.’
‘I gave explicit delivery instructions to use the tradesman’s entrance,’ Myriam replied. ‘Didn’t want you to smell a rat before I told you where I was going. You’d only have worried. Now, stop gassing and get upstairs. You’ll find the new stuff on the right-hand side of my wardrobe.’
‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re incorrigible?’ Torn between admiration and exasperation, Lauren was amused when she heard Gary calling out ‘frequently’ in the background.
‘Take what you want, but don’t wear your bloody jeans! I’ve barely seen your pins for a decade, and they’re worth showing off tonight.’
‘All right, all right.’ Lauren muttered. Even from the middle of a river, her mother was a formidable force. ‘Thanks, Mum,’ she added grudgingly.
‘Have a good time.’ Myriam’s expression grew serious again. ‘I mean it, Lauren. You’ve spent too much of your life worrying about me, and more recently, making the café a success. Enjoy it – and enjoy spending time with him – and I’ll catch up with you when you’re ready.’
‘I will.’ Lauren smiled. ‘And you enjoy the rest of the cruise.’
‘I can’t believe we’ll be back in a couple of days. It’s sailed past.’
‘Nice one, Mum.’
They said goodbye, and Lauren followed Myriam’s instructions.
Inside her mother’s wardrobe, she found a rather gorgeous dress in rose pink, her own favourite colour.
While not something she’d have chosen for herself, she had to admit, when she tried it on, it looked great on her.
And would certainly make more of an impact than her jeans.
Time was marching on, and so she put the finishing touches on her make-up and then headed back downstairs to make sure everything was switched off.
She didn’t like to leave the house with anything left on, and checking the plug sockets, flipping switches and turning off lights always made her feel more in control.
Going into the relative unknown, an actual date with Marc, alone, in his home, it would be so easy to allow herself to spiral into uncertainty.
She was determined not to do that, though. This was just dinner.
It might not just be dinner. They were two consenting adults…
it could end up being more. Oh God. There was all that careful control out of the window.
What if it was more? Was she ready for that?
It had only been a few days since they’d bumped heads on Christmas Eve!
She stopped fiddling with the kitchen switches and took a deep breath.
If they chose to get more intimate, that was fine.
In her mind’s eye, she saw Myriam’s expression and it was encouraging her to put herself out there.
And she wanted to. She fancied Marc rotten, had loved spending time with him, kissing him…
would it be so wrong to take that to the next step and find out if they were compatible in bed?
She stopped that train of thought, albeit with difficulty. Marc had made it clear that slow and steady, rather than hot and heavy, was the route they were taking. He wasn’t going to jump on her, and she owed it to him not to do the same. But if things went that way… she wasn’t going to complain.
It was coming up to ten to seven. She’d better get a move on.
Zipping up a pair of brown leather boots that looked extremely good with the dress, but were practical enough to walk the ten minutes between the café and the lake house, she popped a bottle of fizz into a bag and, after double-checking the adjoining door to the café was locked, walked back through the building to the residential door of the house.
What looked like a small jiffy bag was lying on the doormat.
I know the post’s getting later and later, but nearly seven in the evening is ridiculous, she thought.
Perhaps it was another of her mother’s sneaky buys.
Picking up the package, she saw her name on the front. She recognised the handwriting, too. Wondering if it was a late Christmas present, she gave a surprised giggle as she opened the top and pulled out a pack of three Durex condoms. There was a note inside that simply read:
I figured any you had would have gone out of date by now. Enjoy! Cathy x
Lauren considered sending her a snarky text in reply but then thought better of it.
She decided to take them with her – better to be safe than sorry.
All the same, as she shoved the packet in her handbag, along with her phone and house keys, she resolved to have words with Cathy when she saw her next.