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shoulders.
     Her daughter is several inches taller than she is.
    ‘Hey, baby.’ The woman’s voice is low and smoky; a Southern accent. ‘I told you to stay close to me, didn’t I?’ She nods towards
     Sue, who is closest to her. ‘I hope she wasn’t disturbing you.’
    ‘Not at all,’ Sue says.
    ‘She gets over-excited, you know?’
    ‘It’s fine.’
    ‘We don’t get out of Georgia a whole lot, is the truth.’ She smiles and rubs the tops of the girl’s arms as though she might
     be cold. ‘Anyway, thanks for being so nice about it, and have a great evening … and now we’ll let you get back to your dinner,
     won’t we, honey?’
    ‘They’re from England,’ the girl says. ‘Like in the show we like.’
    ‘OK, then.’ The woman grins, and reddens, then turns and leads the girl away from the table and down the steps.
    Before anyone can say anything, Traci reappears to take orders for the main course. Ed recommends the fish tacos, which Dave
     is happy to go along with. Angie and Barry order burgers and sweet potato fries, while first Sue and then Marina declare that
     they want to skip the main course and leave room for pudding. Angie asks if anyone else is moving on to wine, so Ed chooses
     one and they order a couple of bottles. Barry wants another beer.
    ‘I’ll be right back,’ Traci says.
    ‘So.’ Ed leans forward and lowers his voice a little. ‘Anyone else think that girl was a bit …’
    Dave grunts and nods.
    ‘I don’t know what the word is,’ Angie says. ‘What you’re supposed to call it these days.’
    ‘Retarded,’ Barry says.
    ‘I don’t think you can say that,’ Angie says.
    ‘Don’t look at me,’ Ed says, shrugging. ‘We called them a lot worse than that when I was at school.’
    ‘I think that’s what Americans
do
call it,’ Barry says. ‘I saw something on TV, somebody talking about “mental retardation”.’
    ‘It’s another one of those stupid made-up words,’ Ed says. ‘Like relevancy or burglarisation.’
    ‘Right,’ Dave says. ‘I hate that.’
    ‘You’ve got to feel sorry for the mother though,’ Angie says. ‘Doesn’t look like there’s a husband around.’
    ‘Looked like she was doing fine to me,’ Sue says.
    Nobody says much else until the drinks arrive. Ed tastes the wine, tells Traci it’s fine and starts to fill the glasses. ‘Say
     “when”,’ he tells Marina, then, when she does, he laughs and proceeds to ignore her.
    ‘We’re on holiday,’ he says.
    Angie slides her glass across and says, ‘I’m not arguing.’
    ‘So, who fancies going on somewhere afterwards?’ Ed asks. ‘There’s a fantastic little bar a bit further up towards the beach.’
    Dave looks at Marina and says, ‘I’m up for it if you are.’
    ‘I’m not sure,’ Barry says.
    ‘Why don’t we just play it by ear?’ Sue says.
    ‘Suit yourself.’ Ed nods towards the corner, where the guitarist is taking his seat again and tuning up his guitar. ‘There’s
     a proper band on. Dancing if you fancy it.’ He bites down on his lower lip as he shows off a few moves in his seat. While
     Angie and Dave are laughing, Ed looks across at Sue and his eyes narrow. He says, ‘Some people just don’t know how to enjoy
     themselves.’
    From: Marina Green [mailto: [email protected] ]
    Sent: 18 May 20:36:42 BST
    To: Angela Finnegan
    Cc: Susan Dunning, Ed Dunning
    Subject: Re: Dinner!!!
    On May 16, at 17:31, Angela Finnegan < [email protected] > wrote:
    <<
So, me and Barry would love it if the four of you could come to dinner on Saturday, June 4th
>>
    Angie,
    What a brilliant idea, and thanks so much for getting this organised. Dave and I will be there with bells on. Not sure the
     bikinis are a very good idea though (nice try, Ed!) Still trying to shift a few pounds after all those fries and crab cakes.
     Might have to make an exception for your bread and butter pud though. Sounds delicious.
    Can’t wait to see everyone.
    See you soon and