Page 109 of When We Are Old

I rolled my eyes and groaned in a way Hannah would have given me a high five for. “I don’t want to buy because I don’t know where we will be going long term.”

Ma’s eyebrows rose into her ash and silver hairline. “So Scotland is a possibility?”

I shrugged, unwilling to speculate either way.

What I really wanted was for Matthew to bloody be here so I could decide if I needed an extra bedroom. How could I make any decision until I knew either way?

Maybe I should just go upstairs and do it.

No. It felt wrong.

I should probably just pick up the phone and tell him.

There was literally no point looking at two-bedroom houses.

“Anyway, Ma.” I pushed the laptop away and sagged down in my chair. My stomach rolled. I’d barely managed to eat anything the entire day. Part excitement at Matthew coming, part nerves of what we would need to discuss. “This house hasn’t even sold yet.”

Ma lifted her glasses and assessed me with a shrewd glance that made me shift down even lower in my seat.

“You are hiding.”

“Am not.” I pulled a face.

“Hm.”

“Stop analysing me.” I almost slipped off my chair and hid under the table. Anything to get away from the hard stare and the wagging finger of doom. Instead, I took a sip of my mug of tea.

“Anyway,” she said straightening her back. “I wondered if you and Matthew would like to have dinner with a friend of mine over the weekend?”

My mouthful of tea got stuck. Something about the way she said it. The innocence within which the comment passed set off a red alert of Hannah telling fibs of epic proportions.

“A friend?”

“Yes.”

For the first time in my life my mother’s cheeks tinged with pink.

“Oh! You mean a boyfriend.”

“I do not. Don’t be crass, Veronica.”

“Why are you blushing then?”

“So, would you like to?”

This opportunity was too good to pass up. “Do you need me to dress up in my Sunday best and sit quietly while the grownups talk?”

“Veronica. Really. Is it necessary?”

“Very.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

“Come on, what’s his name?”

“Ted.” Her cheeks turned from pink to a hot puce.

“Ted? Ooooh.”