Chapter 35
The next morning, there was a loud knock on the front door as Mimi was heading downstairs with her laptop tucked under one arm and her phone and empty tea mug clutched in her spare hand.
‘Hiya, this is for you and Marcus.’ Cora was standing on the doorstep in her school uniform. ‘Sorry, I got carried away and made them too big to fit through everyone’s letter boxes. I’m such a durr-brain!’
Mimi took the bright yellow envelope. ‘How exciting!’ she exclaimed. ‘Is this our invitation to your party?’
Cora’s blue eyes danced. ‘Dad said he told you about it yesterday afternoon, but you were already on the list anyway. Go on, have a look!’
Mimi opened the envelope and took out the hand-made invite with Cora’s Party! emblazoned across it in silver and iridescent purple, with green glitter liberally decorating the royal-blue card. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said admiringly.
‘I like making them, it’s my favourite thing. Will you both be there?’
‘Definitely. Can’t wait. Thanks so much for asking us.’
‘You’ll love it. I have the best parties. Uh oh, better go,’ yelped Cora as the school bus trundled into view. ‘See you!’
Mimi watched as she raced off down the high street with her blonde plait bouncing off her backpack. Then she opened the card and read the details inside, in Cora’s swirly silver handwriting. At the bottom she’d added: PS Dress code is . . . guess what? ABBA!
Oh dear, poor Marcus. He wasn’t going to be very happy about that.
The day of the party dawned clear and bright. Mimi, sitting cross-legged on her bed working her way through the to-do list on her laptop, glanced up every so often to observe the signs of activity happening around the village hall over to the left of the green. Cars and people were coming and going as preparations were made. It was a major event; the evening celebrations were due to start at seven and over two hundred guests were expected.
Mimi carried on working throughout the afternoon; for the last fortnight, almost every waking moment had been spent setting up the new company, building herself a fabulous website and getting her name out there to potential clients. It was, frankly, a bit of a miracle that her MacBook hadn’t exploded, she’d sent out and replied to so many emails.
At four o’clock, she saw Paddy heading into the hall carrying crates of drinks, followed by Eamonn from the shop unloading boxes from the back of his van. There was a huge amount of work involved in putting on a party of this size. A twinge of guilt prompted Mimi to reach for her phone and call Cal’s number.
When he answered, she said, ‘Hi there. Look, I feel terrible for not offering before to help out. I’ve been busy, but I could come over now if there’s anything I can do. Just say the word.’
‘No, no need,’ said Cal. ‘Absolutely no need. Everything’s under control here, we’re bang on schedule.’
‘But—’
‘Thanks for offering,’ he went, ‘but we’re fine. We have all the help we need. See you later, OK? Bye.’
And that was it, about as firm a refusal as anyone could receive. Mimi put her phone down on the bed and wondered what was going on. Oh well, it was none of her business, and at least if he was so keen not to have her there, it meant she’d be able to get another couple of hours of work in. At that moment a new email landed with a ding in her inbox, forcing her to stop thinking about Cal. It was an enquiry from a mystery writer colleague of CJ’s, keen to raise his online profile and create more interest in his books . . .
At six, it was time to close the laptop and jump into the shower. When she emerged, Mimi could hear Marcus, home from his shopping trip to Cirencester, moving around downstairs. As predicted, he’d flatly refused to contemplate dressing up for the party. ‘I’ll wear my grey suit,’ he’d declared. ‘If anyone asks, I’m there as ABBA’s accountant.’
By ten to seven, she was ready, even if it wasn’t possible to view her full-length reflection in the little mirror on her dresser. Hopefully, though, the overall effect was OK. The outfit comprised a violet satin shirt she’d found in a charity shop, tightly belted at the waist and worn with narrow white trousers tucked into stiletto-heeled over-the-knee red boots. She’d left her hair loose to fall over her shoulders, and basically piled on a lot more make-up than usual, especially sapphire-blue eyeshadow.
Across the landing, Marcus’s bedroom door opened and she heard him call out, ‘Are you ready?’
Mimi squirted her neck and wrists with scent and called back, ‘Yes.’
But she wasn’t.
‘Oh my God.’ Her hands flew to her face when she saw him. ‘OH MY GOD!’
‘How do I look?’ Marcus said mildly.
And Mimi started to laugh, because he looked exactly like Colin Firth at the very end of the film Mamma Mia!, in a turquoise satin jumpsuit with flared trousers, high pointed collar and a shirt section that was slashed to the waist. Taking in the fact that he was looking taller than usual, she belatedly spotted the silver platforms beneath the extravagant flares.
Mimi threw her arms around Marcus. ‘I love you so much. Where did you find this?’
‘Online. I ordered it last week. You signed for the package when it arrived on Tuesday.’
She gasped. ‘You told me it was a new cover for your golf bag!’
‘I lied.’
‘You said you were going to wear your grey suit!’
‘That was the original plan.’
Together they made their way downstairs. In the kitchen, Marcus filled a glass with cold water from the dispenser on the fridge.
‘So what made you change your mind?’ said Mimi.
He took a drink. ‘I was walking through the graveyard and found Cora sitting by her mum’s grave with Otto. I stopped to say hello, and we ended up having a little chat. She asked me if I still missed your dad as much as before or if things were a bit easier now, and we both agreed that it was a bit easier but that sometimes it made us feel guilty.’ Marcus shrugged. ‘It’s normal, of course. We all know that. It still feels weird, though, when it happens.’
Mimi nodded in silent agreement. Been there, done that. When you woke up and realised that the loved one you’d lost wasn’t the first thing you’d thought of, your conscience kicked in and delivered a whole new kind of shame, slyly hinting that maybe you hadn’t loved them that much after all.
‘Anyway, then Cora said because her mum and your dad had died at the exact same time, did I ever wonder if they were in heaven together, like maybe because they’d arrived at the same moment and knew each other they’d stayed together and become really good friends? And then she asked me if I thought they were watching us from up there to see what we’re doing and how we’re getting on.’ Another pause, then Marcus continued, ‘And I said it sounded brilliant, just because I knew it was what she wanted to hear. But ever since then, I’ve kind of found myself thinking about it and realising that it really would be great if they were up there together. And no, I can’t quite believe I’m saying that.’ He gave Mimi a rueful smile. ‘It’s so much the opposite of everything I’ve ever thought before.’
Sensing he needed the reassurance, Mimi said, ‘I like the idea too.’
Marcus nodded. ‘So last week I bumped into Cora again outside the shop, and she asked if I’d be dressing up for the party. And it was when I looked into her eyes that I realised I couldn’t tell her I’d be wearing my suit. It just felt as if Stacey and Dan were watching us, waiting to hear what I’d say. So I told her I’d definitely be dressing up, and you should have seen the look on her face . . . well, you know what Cora’s like when she smiles. She just lit up and said, “Oh hooray, they’re going to be so pleased!”’ He shrugged good-naturedly. ‘So that was it, I knew I had to get online and find myself something ABBA-esque that would meet with her approval.’
Mimi gave him another hug and took the opportunity to let the tear in her eye be absorbed into the shiny turquoise satin of his jumpsuit. Then she held him at arm’s length and broke into a grin, because the touching explanation had been so wildly at odds with his appearance.
‘I love you, and you look fantastic.’
As he adjusted his steel-rimmed spectacles and ran a hand over his short light-brown hair, Marcus looked more than ever like Colin Firth at his most wary and diffident. The next moment, he smiled, as if determined to push the reservations away. ‘Come on then, let’s go. We’ll just have to hope an incriminating photo of me in this outfit doesn’t end up on the front cover of Accountancy Today.’
Together they made their way across the village green, along with other partygoers converging from different directions and wearing a variety of seventies outfits. A barbecue was up and running outside the hall, and dogs were racing around, tantalised by the smell of sizzling burgers and sausages.
Inside, ABBA music was blaring out, disco lights were swirling and the dancing had already begun. The interior of the hall had been decorated with dozens of multicoloured balloons, streamers and what seemed like miles of shimmering silver bunting. Metallic spirals hung from the ceiling, interspersed with strings of curled ribbons and stars. The DJ behind his decks was singing along to ‘Mamma Mia’ and encouraging everyone else to join in.
There were also more foil wigs on display than you could shake a stick at.
Cora was dancing with her friends in front of the DJ. Having spotted Marcus and Mimi, she beamed and waved at them across the crowded hall. Mimi’s heart melted at the sight of her evidently having the time of her life. She and the other girls were wearing neon-bright outfits and coloured trainers, all the better to dance in. There were bangles jangling on their skinny arms and—
‘You’re here, hooray! And Marcus, oh my word, look at you! Amazing.’ Lois greeted him with delight, then threw her arms around Mimi. ‘And look at you too . . . oh, it feels as if I’ve hardly seen you lately.’
This was because she hadn’t, partly because Mimi had been working her socks off to get the new company up and running, but also because she’d found herself less enthusiastic about the idea now that she knew what Lois was getting up to behind her back. Then again, the one time she’d texted her suggesting they meet up for a quick drink in the Swan, Lois had apologised and explained that she was too busy. Yet just twenty minutes later, Mimi had watched from her bedroom window as Lois left her new home on foot and headed off up the hill in a Cal-wards direction.
Mimi felt a clutch of sadness. It didn’t feel great when a friendship began to fade, but sometimes these things just happened and there was nothing you could do about it. The mental images of Lois and Cal together were something she hadn’t been able to get out of her brain.
But Lois hadn’t done anything truly terrible. At least they could maintain an amicable relationship. Mimi said, ‘You’re looking brilliant.’ Which was true: Lois was wearing a long swirly dress in ice-cream shades of pink and green, and necklaces to match. But even as she was paying the compliment, she was aware of Lois glancing past her with an expectant smile on her face. Before turning round herself, Mimi already knew she was looking at Cal.
‘Isn’t it a great party? Ooh, I must take a photo of you . . . smile!’ Having whipped out her phone, Lois began snapping away, and Mimi wondered if she was deliberately angling the lens to capture Cal behind them. The next moment, Eamonn from the shop thrust a glass of wine into Mimi’s hand and offered one to Lois, who shook her head. ‘No thanks, I’m too hyped up, better not have another one.’
Hyped up? What was that supposed to mean?
Then other people joined them, exclaiming with delight over Marcus’s outfit, and Lois said, ‘I’ll see you again in a bit,’ before disappearing into the crowd.
Minutes later, over by the trestle tables containing the buffet, Mimi saw Cal talking to Maria from the Swan, but despite listening for all she was worth, she was only able to make out the words ‘Oh don’t worry, it’s just a bit of a surprise, you’ll find out soon enough.’ But when she looked over again, she saw that whilst he was addressing Maria, his attention was actually on Lois, who in turn was gazing at him, unable to hide her little ooh-aren’t-we-naughty smile.
With a sudden thud of alarm in her chest, Mimi wondered if Cal had got it into his head that this evening would be an excellent time to announce to everyone that he and Lois were now a couple.
Oh God no, surely not, not in the middle of Cora’s birthday party.