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than her.
    I sighed. “I have been careful, Mum. That’s why I’ve been on my own since Beth was three!” I forced my voice to lower to normal again. “I need more.”
    â€œI know you do,” Mum said. “But Internet dating? Can’t you just wait to meet someone the normal way?”
    â€œThe Internet was Beth’s idea,” I reminded her. “I would never have bothered on my own, and I’ve been waiting nine years to meet someone the ‘normal’ way. There is no normal way.”
    Mum tucked one chin into another and looked at me over the rim of her mug. “God knows you deserve a bit of happiness,” she said, which was the nearest I’d ever get to her approval.
    â€œI’ve been OK, mostly,” I said, smiling at her.
    â€œWell,” Mum said. “I’m just saying, what if this bloke you’re meeting tonight is a decent one and you turn up looking like Coco the Clown because you don’t want to upset your twelve-year-old daughter?”
    An image of Brendan flashed before my eyes and I felt the knots in my belly tighten. “You’re right,” I said. “Pass me a baby wipe.”
    By the time Beth had come back from her bedroom I had wiped my face clean and put on my usual make-up but with lipstick this time instead of just clear gloss.
    â€œMu-um!” she said. “What are you doing?”
    â€œWell, it was lovely,” I said. “But your nan and I thought it was too special for tonight. I mean, it’s only a drink down the pub. I thought I’d just put on a bit of lippy, you know, and some mascara. Like I usually do.” Beth sat down heavily at the table and looked at me.
    â€œYou mean you hated it,” she said after a moment.
    â€œI didn’t hate it, no . . .” I said, sounding uncertain.
    â€œIt’s all right,” Beth said. “It wasn’t going how I planned. I need to practice. I’ll have a go on Keisha tonight, and then if you have a second date, like a posh dinner or something, I’ll do it then and you can wear a dress.”
    â€œThanks, love,” I said, feeling let off the hook.
    â€œThat’s OK,” Beth said. “But you’re not wearing jeans tonight, OK? You have to wear a skirt. That black one you got in the sales. With the split in it. And your boots, OK?”
    â€œGood idea,” I said, nodding.
    â€œAre you going to tell her what to drink, too?” Mum said with an edge of sarcasm.
    â€œWell, not too much for starters,” Beth said seriously. “You’ve got work in the morning.”
    Mum and I smiled at each other. Maybe Beth was a bit bossy but she had this kind of solid certainty about everything in life that made her reassuring to be around. Nothing ever scared her.
    â€œI wonder what he’ll be like,” Mum said. She opened her packet of Benson & Hedges and took out a ciggie. She wouldn’t light it up in here, because of Beth and my asthma, but she liked to hold one when she was having a cup of tea. Later on, when I’d gone and Beth was in her room with Keisha, she’d go and stand on the balcony and smoke it. She’d have another one after EastEnders and another just after I got in, while I told her how the evening went. All on the balcony, no matter what the weather.
    â€œWell, at least we know he won’t be married,” Mum said, pressing her lips into a thin line of disapproval.
    â€œOr old,” Beth said. “Joy wouldn’t set you up with an old bloke. Well, not older than you, I mean.”
    â€œWho does Joy know who’s a nice catch?” Mum asked, leaning back in her chair and holding her fag between her thumb and finger as if she were about to take a deep drag.
    We all thought for a long moment. I don’t know who they were thinking about, but I was thinking about Brendan.
    The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had to be him.