Everyone stopped eating and stared at her. If it wasn’t for the compassion in their eyes, the looks she was getting would have been offensive.
Kirsty’s mother leaned over the table and patted her hand. “Caroline, we all know that you didn’t have a lot of money to spend on clothes over the years, and you’ve done brilliantly. But now it’s time to splash out and get some new clothes. The magazines are being mean about you, but they do have a point. A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be wearing grey all the time. You need a new look.”
“But I don’t want to be different.” Caroline felt slightly panicked.
“Not different.” Kirsty hugged her. “Still you, only with some pretty dresses and a splash of colour. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get things that suit you. It isn’t a makeover; you don’t need to panic. It’s just shopping.”
“And lunch,” Jean reminded everyone.
“I am beginning to hate the grey suits,” Caroline confessed as the women grinned at her. “The domino boys tried to convince the wedding planner that the colour scheme for my wedding should be naval grey.”
The women laughed so hard they had to hold on to the table to stop from flopping over. Caroline grinned at them. “Fine, we’ll burn my suits.”
A cheer went up.
Caroline got into the spirit of things. “We’ll burn all of it. I have money. I’ve only had myself to look after these past few years. I can afford a new look.” She surged to her feet. “Let’s start a bonfire.”
Kirsty tugged her sleeve. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Caroline stared at her blankly.
“The clothes, honey?” Kirsty said.
“Oh yeah.” She brightened. “I’ll get Josh to bring them over. Who’s got a cell phone with Josh’s number in it?”
Helen dug hers out of her bag and dialled the number. Then she handed it over.
“Hey, Mom.” Josh answered the phone in the middle of rustling up some sandwiches for him and his dad.
“I am not your mother,” Caroline said in his ear, making him smile.
“Caroline, baby, what’s up?”
“I need you to bring all of my clothes to the castle.”
Josh’s heart skipped a beat, maybe two. “Are we moving in?” He almost did the Snoopy dance at the thought of a room with a door.
“No. We’re having a bonfire.”
He looked at his phone as a cheer went up in the background. “What’s going on?”
“Give me that,” someone said. “Josh, this is Kirsty. I invited my mum and her knitting group to the castle—we’re eating and drinking cocktails, and as soon as you get here we’re going to set fire to Caroline’s clothes. Got it?”
“Yeah,” Josh said, because he wasn’t sure what else to say.
“And tomorrow we’re all going to Glasgow to go shopping.”
“Girl trip,” someone shouted.
Now it was beginning to make more sense. “Has Caroline been drinking cocktails?”
“No,” Kirsty said.
Josh’s eyes narrowed. “Has Caroline been drinking at all?”
“What does he want to know?” Caroline said.
“He wants to know if you’re drinking,” Kirsty whispered loudly.