‘Very soon.’ Sarah gave him a bright smile, whilst inwardly cursing herself for getting up so late. She’d intended to be up and organised, even though it was her Saturday off. She’d wanted Ollie to wear his new tiger hoodie and jogger set but found it wasn’t in his wardrobe when she looked for it. Finally remembering it was in the wash, she’d ended up grabbing the first things that came to hand, his Spider-Man T-shirt and monster jeans, both of which she realised, too late, had grass stains on them she hadn’t been able to shift. It was no big deal, children got dirty, but despite telling herself she was being silly, she’d wanted to make a good impression. She would hate Laura to think she wasn’t meticulous about cleanliness.
She doubted Steve would be very impressed when he spotted Joe’s car on the drive. Sure Joe would understand why, she’d been going to ask him to leave before Steve arrived, but then events had overtaken her. She hadn’t wanted to shove him out of the door and now she felt immensely guilty that he was obviously here, with no idea why she should. There was no reason she should be defensive about him staying over – Steve hadn’t wasted much time before embarking on another relationship, after all. Wasn’t it hypocritical of her, though, not to have mentioned Joe, given her reaction to Steve’s news about Laura? She really should have said something.
Tugging Ollie’s jeans on as the doorbell rang, she hoisted him up, grabbed the bag she’d packed with any essentials he might need and headed for the landing. As he seemed to be growing heavier by the day and insisted he was a big boy now, she didn’t generally carry him down the stairs, but even with her holding onto him, she doubted he would negotiate them carefully with his daddy at the front door.
Setting him down in the hall, she took hold of his hand, tugged in a breath and pulled the front door open. ‘Morning,’ she said cheerfully, though she felt far from cheerful, knowing she was going to have to say goodbye to her little boy for a whole weekend.
Clearly noting her pyjamas, Steve arched an eyebrow curiously, and then bent to sweep Ollie up as he launched himself at his legs. ‘Hiya, Batman,’ he said, hoisting him high in his arms. ‘How you doing, hey?’
‘I’m not Batman, I’m Spider-Man,’ Ollie pointed out, plucking his shirt away from his chest, showing off the grass stain as he did so, to Sarah’s dismay.
Ah well, she doubted he would stay clean for very long anyway. ‘Sorry I’m not dressed yet,’ she said, moving back to allow Steve in. ‘You caught me by surprise.’
‘I gathered,’ Steve said, stepping into the hall. ‘I take it you’ve got company?’
Hesitating, Sarah was debating how to answer when Ollie piped up, ‘It’s Joe. He’s Mummy’s friend and he’s having a shower.’
‘Is he?’ Steve glanced at Sarah, his expression somewhere between troubled and puzzled. ‘Well, that’s nice, isn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh. He’s my friend as well,’ Ollie went on excitedly. ‘He plays football with me. And Duplo. He made me a subma …’ Pausing, he knitted his brow.
‘Submarine,’ Sarah reminded him.
‘Submarine,’ Ollie repeated with a satisfied nod.
‘Did he now? Thatwasnice of him, wasn’t it?’ Steve arranged his face into a smile. The flinty look in his eyes, though, told Sarah he was less than pleased.
‘He made some superheroes too. Do you want to see?’ Ollie asked.
‘You bet,’ Steve said enthusiastically. ‘Tell you what, why don’t you go and get them, and pack your Duplo set up while you’re at it. I could have a go at making some superheroes too. See if I can make them as good as Mummy’s friend does.’
‘Okay, but you might have to practise,’ Ollie said innocently.
‘Bound to. I’m obviously not as accomplished asJoe,’ Steve replied, a definite hint of sarcasm in his tone, Sarah noted, as he lowered Ollie to the floor.
‘So, this Joe.’ Straightening up, he met Sarah’s gaze, his own quizzical. ‘Is he someone you’ve been seeing long?’
Standing in the hall in her pyjamas while Joe was upstairs in the shower, Sarah felt immediately wrong-footed. ‘No, not very long,’ she answered, hoping to God he wasn’t imagining she might have been seeing him before they’d split up.
‘Oh. Right,’ Steve said flatly. ‘About the same time I’ve been seeing Laura, perhaps? Just wondering, out of curiosity.’
Shit.Realising she’d put her foot squarely in it, having demanded to meet Laura and then telling Steve nothing about a man who was clearly spending a considerable amount of time here, Sarah groped for a way to backtrack. ‘I’ve known him a while, though. We went out together once before.’
Steve didn’t look appeased. ‘Right,’ he repeated with a short nod.
God, could she not just think before opening her mouth? ‘Years ago,’ she clarified, thinking his imagination would now be on a roll. ‘Before you and I met. I think I mentioned him. We went to—’
‘No explanations necessary, Sarah.’ Steve cut across her, a flash of palpable anger now in his eyes. ‘Who you sleep with is your business. I was wondering how it is, though, that you get to vet my girlfriend – which, incidentally, Laura found pretty bloody traumatic – but this Joe character gets full access tomyson whileIknow nothing about him.’
‘Steve …’ Sarah looked at him, astonished. He hardly ever swore. She’d never known him to use bad language with Ollie in the house. Laura evidentlyhadbrought out his protective gene. But he was right. And he had every right to be angry. ‘Look, Steve, I’m really sorry. I—’
‘Did youhaveto give her such a hard time?’ he growled over her.
‘I did no such thing.’ Sarah was flabbergasted. ‘I only wanted to meet her out of concern for Ollie. I would have told you about Joe, but we weren’t actually properly together then. And I know I should have said something once wewereseeing each other, but … Well, I didn’t, and I’m sorry.’
‘Gets better, doesn’t it?’ Steve smiled cynically. ‘You’re concerned for Ollie, yet you let a bloke you’ve been going out with for five minutes spend the night? Several nights, judging by how well Ollie appears to be getting on with him.’
‘But Iknowhim, I’ve said.’ Sarah tried to justify herself, but knew she couldn’t. ‘He’s all right, Steve, I promise. He’s a policeman. And he’s only ever stayed a couple of—’
