There’s someone else besides Carla to deal with and that is of course Mary. In her own inimitable style she informs ‘Fair Hayley’ that there are ‘competing jams’ one by her and one by Emily.
‘Emily claims to be a very experienced and much praised jam-maker.’ Marycontinues, ‘I too have links to the upper echelons of preserve production.’ Emily claims that it’s not a competition, but Mary felt the competitive spirit and says, ‘And yet you’ve elbowed me in my ribcage approximately 4 times.’
Hayley tastes both – she enjoys Emily’s and then jumps a little as she tastes Mary’s, to which Mary smilingly responds by saying that the jam has a bit of a kick. Certainly looks that way…
Hayley seemed very weak and tired tonight, Roy doing his best to as ever to carry out her wishes. She was not happy at the arrival of the wheel chair, no matter how liberating it could be, according to the nurse.
Curious though as to what is happening downstairs in the café, she even wonders if Roy has kept the café open late. Her curiosity forces her out of bed and she is delighted by the sight she sees – her friends devotedly making jam out of the strawberries she loves so much. Such a shame that she could only manage one strawberry earlier, remarking how filling one strawberry can be.
From one very well- loved character to another – Sean. It is so sad to see him crying over Todd’s rejection of him. He claims to Eileen, of course, that his tears are for a television programme which brings families together, but she knows better than that and rounds on her younger son to give him what for! ‘What have you done to Sean? You’ve been playing him.’ Todd defends himself and before Eileen says it, Todd says yes, he’s rotten to the core, but he doesn't mean it. Sean is worth 10 of Todd Eileen tells him and we can only agree.
From one very well- loved character to another – Sean. It is so sad to see him crying over Todd’s rejection of him. He claims to Eileen, of course, that his tears are for a television programme which brings families together, but she knows better than that and rounds on her younger son to give him what for! ‘What have you done to Sean? You’ve been playing him.’ Todd defends himself and before Eileen says it, Todd says yes, he’s rotten to the core, but he doesn't mean it. Sean is worth 10 of Todd Eileen tells him and we can only agree.
What did happen in London to Todd? We are not clear but we are clear that his London friends didn’t bother to even wish him a happy birthday on Facebook. Todd admits he’s lonely but making a play for Marcus is not the best way to cure that loneliness. Attraction is a strange beast, and there’s no understanding why anyone is attracted to anyone, but Todd is definitely attracted to Marcus. Is Marcus attracted to Todd? Possibly. Talking about the house they viewed, Todd rather cunningly tries to see where Marcus’ feelings lie. Of the house, he asks if it’s on the bend of the street or the bit where it goes straight. Marcus catches on but Maria seems oblivious – at least for now.
It’s not the best birthday for Todd – Sean tells him to be more of a glass half full person. The highlight is probably the opening of the card from Auntie Julie who seems shocked at her own daring. ‘It’s got a nudey man on the front.’ She asks, ‘What’s up poppet?’ You have to hand it to Julie for effort. She baked a cake for Todd with a rainbow on top in icing for diversity purposes. As Leanne movingly says, ‘You can’t have a rainbow without rain.’ Julie loves that and finds it deep, telling Leanne she loves deep people. As Gloria wanders off with Todd’s cake to put it in the fridge, she does something quite amusing by pretending to have dropped it, then reappearing with the cake-tin intact, though Julie still seems a little nervous. But all is well, the candles duly blown out and Todd smiling because Marcus is there. Todd takes the expensive shirt out of its wrapping, whips his shirt off, catching Marcus’ eye, as he shows his torso. This shirt seems to be a magical shirt, judging from Sean’s comment that the shirt would bring out Todd’s brown, Spanish eyes… Oh well, love is mysterious.
Eva was unnecessarily unkind to Jenna when asking Jason what she should wear for the birthday do at the Bistro. Having decided to wear her playsuit/pantsuit which she will jazz up with chunky jewellery, she then speaks of Jenna, who ‘likes to wear functional clothes’ and then carries on the damage saying that Jenna doesn’t care about looking feminine. Clearly offended, Jenna says they have no brown sauce left, which Eva says she would like. Pointing it out, Jenna sets the score a little straighter and gives their sandwiches a vigorous squirt.
The party at the bistro isn’t a resounding success. Jason’s dad is predictably late, but at least he turns up. Jason seems to be wary of his dad and in fairness, Tony does seem to want to make things work so the jury is out, for now. As Eileen remarked, Liz and Tony did look rather cosy…
And so to Owen, Gary and Phelan. The deal sounds attractive, but are they going to be dancing with the devil? Anna is highly suspicious but it seems Owen has heard from those in the building trade that Phelan is ‘kosher’ – maybe he is but the majority of the audience may be as suspicious as Anna, who does actually give her blessing, but not in a very convincing way.
Dev and Stella? A new romance possible for them both? Kal certainly thinks so. He witnesses Dev looking longingly at Stella and when Stella tells him that he is looking good and should not give up his training, Dev informs Kal that he wants to start up his training again and increase his sessions. Stella mentions that if he keeps it up he’ll look great by Valentine’s Day. Maybe she sees herself on the arm of a buff Dev by 14th February. Kal mentions his son who he describes as challenging, like himself. Looking forward to hearing more details of Kal’s life.
In the meantime, suffice to say that we have been treated to two cracking episodes.
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