Part 31 (1/2)

'Maybe I could get something in Brides magazine,' she mused. 'Or even Harpers and Queen. By the way, what's the name of that chap you mentioned, at the Independent on Sunday?'

'Tim...hang on.' I groped for his card in my desk drawer. 'Tim Charlton. He's working on the diary but he'll point you in the right direction for feature coverage.' I heard her scribble it down.

'And the other thing I thought of, on the wedding front, is that Daisy might want to borrow Carlos for the big day. He'd make the most perfect usher. Tell her he'll stand outside the church before the service and after, with a garland of flowers round his neck, looking very sweet and nuptial. What do you think of that?'

'Well, it could look lovely, especially as he's white, but-' I felt a sudden breeze on the back of my legs as the door was pushed open, '-Daisy's probably getting married in December, Mum.' I turned and saw Marcus standing there with Twiglet, and waved at them. 'Yes, that's right. So if it's wet, Carlos might end up looking less than pristine. But I'll tell her you suggested it, okay? Anyway, I can't chat now, my puppy party's starting... Yes, all right...hmm... I'll speak to you soon.'

'Sorry about that,' I said to Marcus. He was looking at me in a slightly odd way. 'Are you okay?' I said to him.

'Er, yes. I'm...fine. I'm er...sorry... I didn't mean to eavesdrop just now, but it was difficult not to overhear. Did I...did I hear you say that, erm... Daisy's getting married?'

'Yes. She's just got engaged.'

He nodded slowly, as though he found the news disconcerting, somehow. 'Oh. She didn't tell me that.'

'Well, she didn't know last Thursday,' I explained. 'It only happened on Sat.u.r.day so she wouldn't have had a chance to mention it yet.'

'On Sat.u.r.day?' he repeated.

'Yes.' His face expressed a mixture of puzzlement and disappointment. 'So she got engaged on Sat.u.r.day?'

'Hmm. Sat.u.r.day night.'

'To, er, Nigel?'

'That's...right. She obviously mentioned him to you.'

'Yes...she did.'

'Anyway, I'm sure she'll tell you herself at the self-defence cla.s.s. Speaking of which, I won't be coming along again tomorrow, if you don't mind. I'm sorry, but I feel it's a bit silly for me to do the last one when I haven't done the first three. Perhaps you'll do another course,' I went on as I put down the water bowl.

'Yes,' he said absently. 'Maybe. I mean, probably.'

'I'll come to the next one, then. Daisy says the cla.s.ses are wonderful.'

'Really?' he said.

'Oh yes-she's absolutely adored them.'

This seemed to cheer him momentarily. 'Well...just let me know.'

Then Lily swept in, and Sue and Lola, and by ten past seven we were pa.s.sing the puppies as usual.

'-It's not quite so easy now, is it?'

'-No, they've really grown.'

'-Bentley's doubled in size.'

'-And Roxy's quite a little porker-aren't you, darling?'

'-Don't worry-it's just puppy fat.'

'You've been a wonderful group,' I said at the end. 'I'll miss seeing you here on Wednesday evenings.'

'Well, we'll miss coming,' said Phyllis. 'I know Maisie will be very sad, but she's got to go to big school now, haven't you, Maisie?'

'Yes, they've all got to go to big school,' everyone said.

'That's right. But we'll have Puppy Olympics on Primrose Hill for them after Christmas, so we'll all catch up again then. But please do knock on the door, any time you're round here.'

'See you, Marcus,' I said as he put Twiglet's lead on. 'Well, I probably will see you, won't I?'

He looked at me non-comprehendingly. 'Will you?'

'Yes. Because of your...girlfriend. I'm sure I'll b.u.mp into you again round here.'

'Oh. Yes...' he said vaguely. 'That's right.'

Later that night I phoned Daisy and gave her my mother's message about the llama hen party.

'Marcus was a bit strange this evening,' I added.

'In what...way?'

'Well, he overheard me talking to Mum about your wedding, and he was quite...funny about it actually.'

There was an odd little silence. 'Was he?' she whispered.

'I do like him, but I thought that was odd.'

'Miranda...?'

'Yes.'

'Miranda? I know you're very distracted at the moment, but do you remember when we were talking in my garden about a month ago?'

'Yes.'

'Well, there was something you said to me then which I've been thinking about recently; I've been thinking about it quite a lot actually; I just can't get it out of my head... Oh, sorry, Nigel's just arriving. Can't talk. I'll ring you tomorrow.'

But she didn't. She didn't call me after the self-defence cla.s.s either. And then Friday came and I still hadn't heard. I left a message for her, then packed my weekend bag, my stomach churning and lurching like a tumble-dryer. David was to pick me up at six. By ten past I was beginning to feel slightly anxious. At six fifteen, he phoned.

'This is a real drag,' he said. My heart sank and I braced myself. The weekend was cancelled. 'But I can't get my car to start. I've got the horrible feeling it's something electrical. We couldn't go in yours, could we?'

I laughed. 'Of course we can.'

'Great, I'll be with you by seven.'

He turned up at ten past, grinning broadly, and enveloped me in a huge hug. 'Mir-an-da,' he said, drawing out the vowels. 'I love that name. Mir-an-da.' He kissed me, then rocked me in his arms. 'I'm so glad you're coming. We're going to have a great weekend.' Yes-except for the last bit. He peered at me. 'Hey, don't look so sad.'