‘Being lovely as always.’
‘I’ll always be here for you, for whatever you need.’ Quinn dipped his head and looked at her meaningfully.
Her eyes widened. ‘I, umm… should go.’
He nodded. ‘Are you OK for me to tell my mum about Liam?’
‘Yes of course, if you think it’s appropriate. I wouldn’t want to upset her with this. I wanted to tell you this before but I didn’t see the point in upsetting you all further.’
‘I feel like she should know.’
She nodded. ‘OK.’
‘Excuse me!’ Elizabeth shouted outside.
Alex slapped on a big smile and stepped out of the storeroom. He followed her out and watched Elizabeth’s eyes light up.
‘Thanks for helping me with that shelf, Quinn, it’s been wobbly for ages.’
‘My pleasure.’
‘I’m sure it was,’ Elizabeth muttered. ‘Wobbly shelf, my arse.’
Quinn smirked and left them to it. He had thoughts of his own he needed to process.
CHAPTER 4
Alex was on her way towards Sweet Escapes where she was going to have her date. Tiny flakes of snow were dancing through the air and fairy lights twinkled in the windows of houses and shops. Everything just looked so much happier and magical at this time of year.
She was glad she’d finally been able to talk to Quinn about what had happened between her and Liam in the months before his death. She should have told him and Violet before but she hadn’t wanted to hurt them with tales of Liam’s bad behaviour. But at least Quinn now knew that her dating was more than just moving on, it was a need to heal after all that hurt.
She couldn’t tell him about the night Liam died though, that was something else altogether. It didn’t matter that Quinn and Liam had been estranged at the time, she knew he still loved and missed him. Quinn was her best friend and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him or Violet. If they knew what had happenedthe night he died, they wouldn’t want anything to do with her.
But what if something happened between her and Quinn, as unlikely as that seemed? If they were together she would have to tell him the truth then.
There had been a moment when they’d been standing in the cupboard and she’d felt sure he wanted to kiss her. God, she wanted that so much. If Elizabeth hadn’t turned up when she had, would they actually have kissed in her cupboard or was she seeing what she wanted to see?
Suddenly, someone called out to her from across the street. She looked over to see Violet hurrying towards her, her cane clicking across the cobbles as she crossed the road.
‘Oh Alex dear, I’m glad I caught you.’ Violet joined her, slightly out of breath. ‘I wanted to say how sorry I am for making you feel bad earlier when you told me you were dating. I had no right to do that.’
‘Liam was your son. Of course I understand that you’d be upset that I’m moving on. I expect it seems disloyal to him.’
Violet frowned and shook her head. ‘My feelings about you dating have nothing to do with Liam. It’s just that… I love you and Zara so much, I don’t want to lose you.’
‘And we love you too, nothing is going to happen to take me away from you.’
‘You don’t know that. If you get married again, how will your new husband react to you hanging aroundwith your dead husband’s mum and his brother? Quinn especially would lose out, you two are so close and I can’t see any man putting up with that.’
Alex hadn’t even thought of that. ‘Well, he would have to put up with it. Quinn is Zara’s uncle, you’re her nan. No matter what happens you will always be a part of our lives.’
‘I hope so. But I want you to be happy again. After everything Liam put you through, you deserve to find love and happiness again.’
‘Quinn told you.’
‘Yes, and I can’t help feeling responsible. If we had got him the help he needed instead of cutting him off then it would never have happened.’
‘He had to want to change though and he didn’t. I tried to get him help too and he didn’t want to know. There is only so much we can do.’
