The Old Ducks' Hen Do by Maddie Please

Author:Maddie Please [Please, Maddie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Boldwood Books

As the afternoon rolled on, we had an enjoyable swim, drank some more wine, and then set the table outside on the patio and enjoyed the delicious Souvlaki Sophia had made for us. There was another huge bowl of salad, some fresh and fluffy pita breads and a bowl of hot sauce which apparently Theo liked to have with them.

‘You open up the pita bread, and stuff it with some lamb, some of that tomato and onion salad and some tzatziki,’ Sophia said, ‘and then just get stuck in.’

‘This is delicious,’ I said after one mouthful. ‘When I get back, I’m going to try cooking some more interesting things. I haven’t really bothered for ages.’

‘So you and Theo,’ Juliette said after a while. ‘Are you going to marry him?’

‘I might. I’m just happy the way things are. I don’t need to change anything.’

‘I’d like to get married again,’ Kim said, ‘despite the things I said the other day. I used to like being married. I just didn’t like who I was married to.’

‘Perhaps you will,’ I said.

Kim shot me a warning look.

‘Anyway, what about this games evening we are invited to next door?’ I said, changing the subject.

‘I thought you didn’t want to go? You were going on and on about the Monopoly we played when we were kids. How much you hated it,’ Juliette said, fishing about in the salad bowl for some leftover cherry tomatoes.

‘Perhaps they are all hiding next door, with the curtains closed and the lights off?’ Kim said.

Juliette flapped a hand. ‘Oh, please. We are all a bit old for that, aren’t we? Although I did that a lot in the early days after Gary and I separated. There was always someone banging on my door. Once it was the debt collectors who came to repossess my car because Gary had stopped the payments.’

Kim’s eyes widened. ‘What did you do?’

‘I sweet talked them into giving me more time and then I sold Gary’s collection of vintage Dinky toys and old boyhood comics. He was quite a hoarder, actually, although he was always very keen for me to get rid of my stuff. When he found out, he was furious. Most of them were in boxes in the attic, and he thought I didn’t know about them. But there was nothing he could do because he hadn’t declared them during our divorce, on the financial statements, as an asset. They were worth hundreds. I loved that car.

‘Well, I think we are finished here, don’t you? Let’s clear up and someone can go and knock on their door to see if they still want us round there,’ Juliette said, ‘perhaps Kim this time. Seeing how Vince has such a crush on her.’

‘He hasn’t!’ Kim said, rather flushed.

The others laughed. ‘Of course he has!’ I said. ‘He’s been trailing around after you since we got here.’

‘Well, I can’t help that,’ Kim said, ‘but I’ll go. I’m not bothered.’

Kim went through the gate between the gardens and knocked on the patio doors while the rest of us cleared up.

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