Alternative love letters

Jill had been dating Ed for five months when he first invited her to tea at his mum’s.

This was a watershed moment for Jill – her own parents had long since remarried new partners and, in the case of her mother, moved to Spain. Ed had a much closer relationship with his widowed mother, Lucy, than she had her with her own mum, so she wanted to strike the right note from the off. Well, that was the intention, anyway.

But when he called round to update her on the details for her visit to his mum’s, and she showed him the outfit she was thinking of wearing, Ed did a double take.

‘Um – you sure about that?’ he asked nervously.

Despite his reassurances, she felt more flustered than ever

‘Why not?’ She’d teamed a swirly fringed skirt with a puff-sleeved blouse.OK, the pattern on the skirt was a bit busy, but every part of her was decorously