Pros. He wouldn’t have to act natural or pretend that this was just another ordinary Friday night.
‘Ok, babe, try to get there as soon as you can.’
‘Will do.’ She rung off a bit abruptly – but then, so would he if he was still at work at 7.30 p.m. on a Friday night. She really needed to take her foot off the gas a little with that job. She was working herself into the ground, doing all sorts of crazy hours and sacrificing her personal time for overnight stays at exhibitions and conferences. It wasn’t fair on her. Although, he did find her dedication to her job and her work ethic pretty sexy. Mel had been the same.
Argh, fricking Mel again. This had to stop before it made him crazy.
He took a quick five-minute shower, shaved, then ran some styling wax through his hair, dressed in his sharp new suit, and was ready to go twenty minutes later.
He was almost at the door, when he realised he hadn’t picked up the most important item of the night. He retrieved it from the jacket he’d had on earlier, opened the box and watched as the one tiny diamond inset in the band caught the light. It was simple. Elegant. Beautiful. Even if she wanted to go pick something much more blinged out, she could always keep this one too. She deserved it.
Outside, he decided to walk to the restaurant. It would clear his head and give him a chance to think through what he wanted to say.
Lila, you’ve made me the happiest guy…Nope, too corny.
Lila, from the first moment I saw you I knew…Nope, not strictly factual. The only thing he knew in that first moment he saw her was that he was deeply in lust.
Lila, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.Bland. Uninspired. Fuck it, he’d just have to wing it.
As soon as the restaurant came into view in the distance, he forced himself to think positively. It was all going to work out. He was going to propose. She was going to say yes. They would live happily ever after, while avoiding Josie at all social gatherings. It would be perfect.
Enough had gone wrong today. From here on in, it was all going to go exactly to plan. As Val would say, he could feel it in his water.
He’d barely finished the thought when a passing car veered right through a puddle and soaked him.
23
Bernadette
The ring of her phone made her jump out of her skin, and it took a few moments after she saw the name ‘Nina’ flash up for her to compose herself enough to answer.
‘Hello, love, is everything okay?’ she asked, hoping she didn’t sound like the stressed out wreck that she was.
‘Mum, I’m calling to ask you exactly the same thing. How is it going? Honestly, I’m on tenterhooks. Can I help you? Is Dad home yet? Do you want me to come over? Gerry is back from work and he can look after the boys and it’s really no problem at all.’
That was Nina, Bernadette thought fondly – always one to pitch in, but prone to going a hundred miles an hour in a crisis.
‘Oh, love, I really appreciate it, I do. But I don’t want you involved and I think this is something I have to do myself.’
‘That’s what I told Stuart,’ she admitted. ‘He says you went to speak to him and he told you everything.’
‘You knew?’
‘Of course, I’m his sister!’ Nina exclaimed.
And I’m his mother, Bernadette thought regretfully. I should have known. He should have felt it was easy to tell me. Once again she beat herself up about the fact that over the last couple of years she’d been so wrapped up in taking care of her parents and dealing with Ken, that she hadn’t spent as muchtime with her children and grandchildren as she should have. It was the thing she was most looking forward to changing.
‘I’m so sorry that he felt he couldn’t tell us, Nina,’ she confessed.
‘Mum, it wasn’t you. He wanted to tell you a long time ago, but he just didn’t want to put you in a position where you were keeping something from Dad, and he wasn’t ready to tell him. He had to make sure he was happy with his choices, both of them, before he announced them.’
Bernadette understood that. She really did. It was scary taking that step into the unknown.
‘That makes me feel a bit better, love, thank you. And I appreciate you and Stuart wanting to come over, but I’d be so worried about you both that I’d crumble, so I really think I need to do this on my own. And besides, Auntie Sarah is with me.’
‘Stuart says you two are considering hooking up now,’ Nina said, laughing for the first time.
‘If I was up for a same-sex affair, she’d be just my type,’ Bernadette joked. ‘But I’m off romantic relationships for life. It’s just me and my family from now on. That’s all I need.’
