‘I’ve got to post thisnow,’ says Jasmine, taking photos immediately.
‘Come on. You’ve got all day to take photos. Elias has prepared a gorgeous lunch for you both. Come and eat up.’
Jasmine breaks off a baguette, dropping crumbs everywhere around the pool.
‘Where’s your manners?’
‘Sorry, Mam.’
I roll my eyes. They might be messy, but it’s good to have them here, and I feel so content. It doesn’t matter how old your children are, it’s lovely to be under the same roof.
Elias tells the girls about what they can see around here. He talks about hiring a boat as he waits for his insurance payout. He wants to take them out to see the dolphins, but I manage to talk them out of that for now. After our mishap, I am still not ready to get on a boat with Elias, even though he wasn’t to blame. Perhaps an organised tour would be better. As Elias chats to Jasmine and Poppy as though they have known each other forever, I enjoy watching them all get along.
‘It’s nice to see Mam looking so happy,’ says Jasmine.
‘Well, that’s good to hear. I’m glad she looks happy,’ says Elias. He looks at me and smiles.
‘She’s a very special woman, your mam is.’
‘I know. She can be annoying, but she’s alright, really,’ says Poppy.
They all laugh as I pretend to scowl at them.
‘So, Mam told us you bought the villa. It’s so beautiful. You have good taste,’ says Jasmine.
‘Yes, you do. Fair play to you. I wish Dad had taste like this. He can be a bit chavvy at times, can’t he?’ says Poppy.
I stifle a laugh as I think of Michael back home getting up to goodness knows what.
Then I hear Poppy ask Elias something. ‘Are your sons coming out soon?’ she says.
‘Oh, I’m not so sure. We haven’t planned anything.’
Elias looks at me, and I see the hesitation in his eyes. Poppy and Jasmine have no idea that Danny still won’t accept me. Meanwhile, James doesn’t say anything negative or positive about me. He seems quite ambivalent.
‘It would be great to meet them, wouldn’t it?’ says Poppy to Jasmine.
‘Yeah, that’d be cool.’
Elias nods his head, and I look away. The last thing I want is a showdown with Danny in front of the girls. Once Jasmine and Poppy get an idea into their heads, though, they never let it drop.
‘Why don’t you invite them out? It’s not like there aren’t enough bedrooms. It’d be fun to hang around with people our age,’ says Poppy.
‘Yeah, I’ll have to ask them,’ says Elias.
‘Call them now. Go on. See what they say.’
I begin to regret not having told them the truth about the situation. I want to make signals to tell them to stop, but instead, I sit there quietly, staring at them as they plead for Elias to pick up the phone right away.
‘Umm, what do you think, Lucy? Shall I give them a ring?’
I can hardly say no, so I nod my head and think about how we will have to resolve this situation somehow if we are going to be together in the longer term. I suppose inviting the boys out is the best way to do it. Perhaps if they could see how fond we are of each other and they get along with the girls, Danny might come around. Or he might not.
Chapter Thirty-Six
I am surprised when Danny agrees to fly out with James two days later, especially since he is running the business. But as James has agreed, Danny has hopped straight on a flight too. I only hope that it’s not because he’s worried that I am getting too close to his dad, and I pray he will at least be civil to me in front of Jasmine and Poppy.
I can’t help but feel nervous as Elias goes to the airport to pick up his sons, although the little kitten, Marmalade, consoles me. It was a collective decision to call him this because of his ginger colouring and the marmalade Renee from next door brings around. The name seems to suit him. He happily meows when he sees me, which I have a feeling might be a nicer greeting than I am going to get from Danny.
