Gladys was delighted with her new journal. She had spent much of the morning leafing through its pages, reading entries - mostly from people she didn't know - trying to piece together the context from what was said and what comments were made. She had, of course, listened to Gemma's match on the wireless while she did so, startling Dennis with her cheering when her granddaughter won.
As she walked up the stairs to her bedroom to place the journal by her bed, Gladys reflected that her house - while lovely - was possibly a little too big for herself. She liked having guest rooms for her various grandchildren to come visit, but she could certainly afford to fill one of them up with someone a little more permanent. Dennis was excellent company, but he wasn't quite like having another person about. Still, today Terence was coming to visit, and they would eat too much ice cream and walk along the beach and it would be marvellous.
"Visitors, Dennis," Dennis himself announced when they heard a knock on the door and Gladys hurried down to pull the door open for her grandson. "Terence! You look just as handsome as ever." She hugged him back, patting his cheek before he could get away. "It's wonderful to see you. Let me just grab a scarf." The weather seemed warm, looking out at the blue sky, but you could never be too careful. "Did you enjoy Gemma's game?"