‘I know but the weather is supposed to be good today. It’ll be a last hurrah before the winter comes.’
He groaned. ‘I don’t think I’ll have much in common with him. He seems very…alpha.’
‘Look, I know he’s probably not our type of person but she’s so sweet. She’s lovely and they’re going through a hard time right now. I think she’ll really enjoy it. She seemed so happy when I invited them.’
‘All right then.’ He sighed. ‘Let’s hope it’s not a total disaster.’
‘Of course it won’t be. They’re going to bring Elliot too so it’ll be good for the boys to play together and get to know each other a little more.’
‘Is Elliot coming to our house?’ Finn piped up.
‘Yes, sweetie, isn’t that exciting?’ I asked.
He shook his head. ‘I don’t like him.’
‘Now, Finn,’ I cautioned. ‘That’s not nice. He’s a lovely boy; you just need to get to know one another a little bit more.’
‘He doesn’t share his toys and he’s really mean.’
‘I don’t think his father is any better,’ Jay quipped.
‘Jay!’ I chastised, then I turned to Finn. ‘Finn, Elliot will be fine, he was just a little territorial in his house that day but I promise you, he won’t be like that in your house, wait and see,’ I said confidently.
Jay and Finn exchanged a look that told me they weren’t buying it.
‘Look, it’s going to be fun,’ I said, trying to convince the two of them. ‘Maya’s really easy company, I promise.’
‘You two seem to be getting along well,’ Jay remarked.
‘I know I’ve only known her for a few weeks but she feels like the kind of friend I’ve wanted my whole life. She’s really cool. I never would have thought that I could be such good friends with someone like her but it just shows how we make decisions about people in life without knowing them. I know she’s so glamorousand rich and from the outside looking in, you would think she’d be really high maintenance but she’s the total opposite. I completely misjudged her. She’s amazing,’ I gushed. In the normal world, I knew that someone like me and her wouldn’t be friends, but we had been brought together in the most unusual of circumstances and for some reason, we hit it off. ‘I really want you to get to know her, Jay.’
‘Well, I’m looking forward to getting to know the woman that you haven’t shut up about since you met,’ he teased. ‘Will we get a takeout? It will take the pressure off us cooking…’
‘I kind of said you’d do steaks with all the sides…’ I admitted before pulling the duvet over my head to hide from his reaction.
‘Liv!’ He shook his head despairingly, pulling the duvet down off my face, nuzzling my neck and kissing me while Finn giggled. ‘I’m going to kill you!’
27
MAYA
I was strangely anxious as we drove towards Liv’s house that evening. I prayed the night would go well. I dearly hoped Hugo and Elliot would behave themselves. My friendship with Liv mattered to me so I just wanted us all to get along together without any drama. I had made a boozy tiramisu in a trifle dish; there was a sinful amount of mascarpone and alcohol in it but I knew it was a crowd-pleaser.
‘Maya,’ Liv said, kissing my cheek before moving onto do the same to Hugo. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘Thanks for inviting us. Elliot has something he wants to give you.’ I nudged my son, who was holding an extravagant bouquet of peonies that I had chosen in our local florist’s earlier.
Elliot handed her the flowers. ‘These are for you,’ he said shyly.
‘Thank you, Elliot, they’re stunning,’ Liv said, taking them from him. ‘You shouldn’t have, Maya.’
‘I wanted to. I also made a tiramisu; it is laced with rum and an eye-watering amount of calories but let’s not think about that.’
She laughed. ‘It looks delicious. Calories don’t count when you’re eating with friends. Let’s go find Jay and Finn,’ she said, linking my arm and walking me inside the house, leaving Hugo and Elliot trailing after us.
My first impression of their home was that it was tiny. Liv had warned me that it was small, but I hadn’t been prepared for just how minute it actually was. It wasn’t helped by the fact that three bikes and a plastic Spiderman scooter clogged up the hallway. A tub full of shoes stood beside the stairs and coats hung over the newel post. We went through to a narrow kitchen where a short run of cupboards ran along one wall and a circular table covered with a geometric-printed vinyl tablecloth and four chairs took up the majority of the floorspace. A timberLive, Laugh, Lovesign hung over the extractor fan and a pink fridge was covered in magnets and Finn’s artwork.
‘Don’t worry, we’re going to eat outside,’ Liv said, obviously noticing my reaction to the size of her kitchen.
