After a few moments she came to the door and Tina’s eyes widened when she saw who it was.
‘Quinn, hi.’
‘Can I come in?’
‘Umm… I…’
‘I won’t be long.’
‘Er… sure, come in.’
She moved back to let him in and he stepped inside.
‘Please take a seat,’ she gestured to her black leather sofa. He sat down and she took the armchair opposite him. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘You know why I’m here.’
Tina had the good grace to look awkward – which was something, he supposed. If she was defiant about her opinion this would be a lot harder, but as was the case with most keyboard warriors, they were never brave enough to say these things to people’s faces.
‘Alex was really upset this morning about your post on the neighbourhood forum and quite honestly I was shocked by it. I could understand that kind of hatred towards her if she’d been seen kicking puppies or stealing a kid’s toy or mugging an old lady but having a boyfriend hardly feels like the crime of the century.’
‘It feels like a betrayal of Liam.’
‘Does it? Does it really? He’s been dead over four years. He loved her, do you really think he would want her to be alone and miserable for the rest of his life? Or do you think he’d want her to find someone else and be happy again?’
Tina clearly faltered with what to say to that before she folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with a look. ‘It’s not right that she moves on with Liam’s brother. How do you think he would react to that?’
‘Actually, I think he would be happy for us. As you probably know we weren’t on speaking terms for a few years before his death and I never met Alex until his funeral but Liam and Alex had a conversation about it, one of those silly, what would you do if I die, conversations. He told Alex that he wanted her to find someone else – he said that if we ever met we’d hit it off and that if he could choose anyone for her to marry and be a dad to Zara it would be me.’
Tina stared at him. ‘How do I know you’re telling the truth?’
‘You don’t, but I know my conscience is clear. And this thing between me and Alex, it isn’t just a silly meaningless fling, we love each other. And I will do everything I can to make her happy. Surely the people of Lovegrove Bay would want that for her after everything she’s been through?’
‘Well… yes, I suppose.’
‘And Zara, I love her like she’s my own. She has missed out on so much without Liam in her life, it’s time she had someone who is there for her, always.’
‘Yes, having a loving father figure in her life is important,’ Tina agreed. ‘But I still don’t think—’
‘Can I show you something?’ Quinn asked, fishing his phone out of his pocket. He found the video and stood up to show it to Tina. ‘This is Zara’s visit to see Santa this morning.’
Tina watched as Zara talked about how she wanted a new dad for Christmas and how much he meant to her and Quinn could see he might have actually thawedTina’s cold heart. He heard Zara mention how Liam made Alex cry and he cursed under his breath. In making his plan to win Tina round he had forgotten about that bit. The video came to an end.
‘Alex was so worried about starting a new relationship and it would be awful if she walked away from happiness for her and her daughter because the whole town is attacking her for it.’
‘No, that would be wrong, very wrong,’ Tina said, quietly.
‘So can I have your assurance that this won’t happen again?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘And some kind of apology to her wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘Yes, I’m sorry, I’ll do that,’ Tina said, looking suitably chastised.
He nodded. ‘Thank you.’
He turned to leave.
