‘Hey, how are you?’
Well, that was about as exciting as the Angelus.
He turned around slowly and fixed her with an intense gaze.
‘Ally, listen .?.?. I’m sorry. I meant to thank you for the other night. I was waiting for the chance—’
‘OK, well, here I am .?.?.’
‘I owe you an apology.’
She was feigning composure, but his voice was generating a shiver that ran right down through her body.
‘I should’ve got in touch yesterday.’
‘Yeah, just so I’d know that you were OK – you just disappeared .?.?.’
She wanted to shout that she’d felt like an abandoned idiot, left talking to two fish after he bolted off to be with the family he was supposed to have separated from.
But of course, she couldn’t let her pissy inner child interferein a sensible adult conversation – that wouldn’t do at all.
‘Ally, I need to explain .?.?.’
The tone of this didn’t sound like something she wanted to hear.
‘Like I said, my ex-partner has two boys. And one of them suffers from cystic fibrosis.’
‘Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry to hear that.’
‘So, when we .?.?. When things didn’t work out, it was clear that, given the situation, I’d have to be the one to leave the home.’
‘Your .?.?. own house, that you’d paid for?’
He shifted awkwardly. ‘I bought it, yes, but then I put it in her name. It made sense at the time – obviously, the circumstances were different. And .?.?. they were like my own sons.’
‘Sure, I understand.’
Why was some little whisper telling her it might not have been totally his idea?
‘And yesterday morning he had an episode and had to be rushed into hospital.’
‘Gosh, I wish I’d known. I wish you’d told me.’
‘I mean, he’s fine now.’
‘I’m glad.’
And she was, genuinely, very glad for the poor little boy. However, Pete seemed to be in a complicated situation, and even though, heaven knew, she had no expertise in family dynamics, something told her this lady had managed to create a scenario that felt nothing short of exploitative. What could she do but nod and let the silence settle between them?
‘You look .?.?. beautiful, by the way.’
Oh, don’t say that, she thought. Neither of them was a fool – they weren’t kids and they could both see the emotional web that surrounded him.
‘Seriously, Pete, you can’t keep living in that van, it’s crazy.It was freezing last night. I was worried sick about you. Surely there’s somewhere else can you go? You must have some other friends?’
‘I used to.’ He spoke ruefully. ‘You’d be surprised how people vanish into the woodwork when you hit the skids. My mam up in Monaghan is the only other option. She’s been a widow since I was ten so .?.?. she’d be thrilled to see me back.’
Ally smiled. ‘I bet she would.’
