They got back and decided to go for a coffee at the local farm shop. The dogs settled in their beds when asked to ‘dry their paws’ Pier was most impressed. They went a little way up the road and then down a track. Talking as they went about the connection between Sue, Deb and Pier; one of Debs failed blind dates apparently from way back.
Helen was intrigued by a side of her sister she knew very little about, she thought she knew all her sister’s close friends and the fact that she had close family friends that she wasn’t involved with, made her feel withdrawn from her sisters life and oddly grown up.
She then focused on finding out how much he had remembered about her; in that glorious summer when he had been gardening and she went spying on him. He avoided the subject though, much to her annoyance and his indulgent pleasure. He poked fun at her like her brother and brother-in-law always did, making her feel childish in her quest, so reluctantly, for now she dropped it hoping stealth would prevail.
They entered the elegant country Tea room that was humming with activity and Helen was a little worried they would not find a table. Everyone looked up and did a double take at Piers eye and then they lowered their heads and low inquisitive voices added to the humming around them with a new vigour. The couple knew that a feeding frenzy of innuendo and miss conception was flowing through the room with their arrival. When they sat in the middle of the large room, Pier threatened to stand up and proclaim the truth, only to be pulled back down to his seat by Helen. All this fun and frolics that always ended in laughter, Helen felt sure did not help his eye recover and suggested that all the extra blood flow, went straight to the now beacon style bruise, causing a flash light effect akin to a light house! And then added;
‘You’re doing it on purpose, to make me look bad!’
‘Oh you off loader, this is your fault and now you’re trying to off load your guilt and say it’s my fault.’ He had by now got indignation off to a fine art thought Helen.
With an earnest face he turned to acknowledge the young girl who was ready to take their order.
‘She should stop trying to make me laugh, don’t you think? It is most unfair to make the inflicted’ he pointed to his eye. ‘Laugh causing more afflictions?’ He now pulled a face of which could only be likened to Quasimodo’s brother. Helen rolled her eyes as the young girl and a few others around, chuckled their appreciation of his insinuation.
Each one of these chringable offences he had caused her, she had noted and was beginning to wonder why she had put up with it and whether it was all worth it. He was funny but for a competitive person to always be on the loosing side was a little hard to cope with. He then turned all attentive and she was flummoxed in to submission of enjoyment.
As they left the cafe Helen guided him to the farm shop and started to joyfully load up the basket with the fresh produce that was on offer.
‘Err I think you should go easy on the perishables’ Pier’s bad eye was on her side and he had to swing round to see her; just missing the top of the head, of a runaway boy with the wire basket.
‘Why?’ She knew he was going to tell something she wasn’t going to like. He fidgeted.
‘Err it’s’ he grabbed her arms. This earnest action of protection (Helen couldn’t make up her mind against another black eye or support for her), added to the foreboding that was building into an atmosphere between them.
‘I said we would go for dinner tonight so you could meet the family’
‘I could meet the family? Or the family get to meet me?’ Helen looked intently as the difference was subtle and saw the thought of a lie not being an option float across his face and then he admitted.
‘So they could…….. grill you!’
‘Grill me? Why grill me? What sort of family are they?’ she didn’t fancy having third degree burns and then go into the ring with her family the next day. She knew nearly nothing about him, how could she convince complete strangers that she loved their son enough to move in with him. All this deceit, just so they didn’t have to go on a few blind dates. There again that’s exactly what they were going to do to her family. How old were they to come up with such a slapstick comedy of an idea like this. On the other hand if his sisters were like Deb, after a while you do get a little bit desperate, well mega desperate. She looked up to him which was not much help as his eye made it impossible to read his face.
They paid for the things in the basket and walked home in relative silence, each carrying their thoughts and wondering how they were going to pull it all off.
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