‘One just over there.’ Quin nodded his head across the street.
‘Then can I take you guys for coffee to thank you?’
Quin shot a look in my direction and whatever he saw made him say, ‘That’s sweet of you, Kallie, but we have plans.’
‘Sure!’ She flushed slightly. ‘Of course! Thank you for your help.’
After a hesitation that I found charming, she launched herself at me in a hug. ‘Rachel, it was so good to meet you.’
I wrapped my arms around her narrow back, smelling the eucalyptus-scent of her shampoo, and I felt a bittersweet type of happiness. The weight of what I’d lost and the warmth of healing were both present. In those first weeks and months after Luke had left me, I had thought I’d never get over him, but look at this, I marvelled. Look at me hugging the woman that he loved now.
As soon as we were in the car, Quin said, ‘So. That was weird af.’
‘Quin, trust me, no. I see it differently now. You’re not a woman, you don’t know what it’s like to be judged.’
‘But after all that she had to go to a chemist anyway. Rach, she was checking you out. And marking her territory. Letting you know she’s having wild, condom-tearing sex with your ex-husband.’
‘I … I’m not sure it’s that. I think she was genuinely panicking.’
‘Hoh-ho, no! You watch. Next she’ll suggest double-dating.’
God, what a thought. Progress had been made but no way would I be able for that. All the same … ‘Isn’t it better to be on good terms? Why did you say no to coffee with her?’
‘Because you’ve had a very tough week.’
As soon as he said it, a wave of weariness hit. ‘I wanted to get my seedlings in the ground today but …’
‘And you don’t want them to become “root-bound”，’ he said, making me smile.
In our early days, I’d turned down a date with him for that very reason.
‘We’ll do them tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I’ll help.’
But my little bits of gardening, I liked to do alone. My hands in the soil, gently transferring sprouted seedlings into my flower beds, helping living things to grow from almost nothing, did something good for me.
Quin had no real interest in my amateur efforts, so it was touching that he’d offered to help. But I’d see if I could leave work early on Monday and get it done while it was still light.
‘You think you’re able for BanDearg tonight?’ Quin asked.
God, I’d completely forgotten. It had taken Quin months of logging into BanDearg’s system at 7 a.m. every Friday morning to finally score a reservation. He was out of his mind with excitement. And we were going with Claire and Adam – there were too many people to let down here. ‘It’s hours away. I’ll be fine by then.’
‘Breathable Bread?’ Adam read from the menu. ‘What do you think that is?’
‘I’d say we’re about to find out.’ Quin nodded at the waiter, who was making his way through the black-walled gloom of the restaurant bearing four tiny plates. Something about the manner in which he had materialized from the shadows reminded me of the reveal in Stars in Their Eyes.
‘Indeed.’ The young man smiled proudly at his plates, each topped with a mini glass dome containing white smoke. ‘Instead of traditional dinner rolls, we have …’ At this point my connection dropped out. I can only ever hear the first seven words in a lengthy food description. ‘… activated yeast, blah de blah of wheat and other codswallop. Enjoy!’
‘Can’t wait!’ Claire said, then she placed an anxious hand on his arm. ‘And, ah, the wine list …？’
‘Coming.’
It would be too, now that Claire had requested it. At the best of times she inspired respect and tonight she was looking particularly glossy, in a black flying suit with exaggerated space-age shoulders. Okay, the shoulders were ludicrous, but she pulled them off – and I’d have loved her hair. However, I simply couldn’t master that chic, loose, falling-down thing no matter how often I tried.
‘One, two, three … go!’ Quin said. We lifted our domes and inhaled the tendrils of white smoke.
‘Just like freshly baked bread,’ Adam said. ‘This place is gas.’
‘I know, right!’ Quin was in great form. Getting a table here had been a personal crusade because he insisted he was the only person in Ireland who hadn’t yet been.