Page 24 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

The waitress consulted her book. ‘Yes, right this way.’

She escorted them over to a table laid for three people near the front window and Meadow’s heart sank. The waitress placed three menus on the table and left them alone. Meadow watched as Josh pulled out a chair for his mum and then sat down himself. She glanced across at Bear who was watching her with undisguised shock and amusement. Surprisingly, his date was watching them avidly too.

Meadow sat down. ‘So this is nice, the three of us together.’

‘I always go on Joshua’s dates,’ Barbara said, sniffily. ‘I don’t want my boy going out with any old tramp.’

‘Mother, I’m sure Meadow isn’t a tramp.’

‘You have terrible taste in women. I haven’t forgotten the last one you brought home who turned out to be a prostitute,’ Barbara snapped.

‘I didn’t know that.’ Josh squirmed uncomfortably in a way that suggested that he absolutely did know. ‘And I thought you’d be in bed.’

‘She stole my best tea cosy too, I dread to think what she did with it,’ Barbara shuddered.

‘Well, I can understand that you want the best for your son,’ Meadow said, glancing at her watch to try to gauge how quickly she could get out of there without being rude.

‘So you’re divorced?’ Barbara said, getting a notepad and pen from her handbag.

‘Yes, but it was all very amicable. We’re still good friends.’

Barbara couldn’t look any more disapproving if she tried. ‘In my day, you made a marriage work, you didn’t give up on it at the first hurdle.’

‘It wasn’t really like that with me and Heath. We got married because I was pregnant but we didn’t really love each other. We were friends but it seemed silly to stay together just for the sake of our daughter. Heath is still a huge part of mine and my daughter’s life but now we are free to find someone we love.’

Barbara’s eyes bulged. ‘You have a child, I didn’t know that.’ She glared at Josh. ‘I wouldn’t have let you come if I knew she had a child.’

‘I… I didn’t know,’ Josh said.

‘Umm. You absolutely did know,’ Meadow said as Josh made frantic gestures with his hand to get her to stop talking. ‘It was one of the first things I told you and you said that you loved children and you couldn’t wait to meet her.’

‘How old is the child?’ Barbara said.

‘Seven, nearly eight.’

Her eyes widened to comic proportions. ‘You must have been a child yourself when you got yourself pregnant.’

‘Seventeen.’

‘Slut!’ Barbara muttered underneath her breath.

Christ, this night couldn’t get any worse. Should she get up and walk out now? She couldn’t endure another hour or two of this.

‘Let’s have a look at the menu, shall we?’ Josh said.

Barbara leaned forward. ‘Just so you know, my son will not be paying for your meal, so don’t go choosing something expensive expecting him to foot the bill because it isn’t going to happen.’

‘That’s fine,’ Meadow said.

‘And we are both vegetarians, we don’t want any disgusting meat at our table.’

‘Right,’ Meadow said with disappointment. She’d just spotted the spit-roast half chicken which she’d quite fancied. ‘Is fish OK?’

‘Nope. No food with a face.’

‘Potato smileys have a face, am I allowed them?’ Meadow said, obtrusively.

‘Don’t be so stupid,’ Barbara snapped.

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