‘You’ve not had my bill yet.’ She squeezed his hand.
‘You’re funny.’ He studied her face. Her dark brown eyes, the delicate blush of her lips. ‘I’ve missed you, Lottie.’
‘I’ve missed you too, Joe.’
Tentatively he leaned forward. He watched her breathing speed up. At last their lips touched ever so gently at first. They shared their first kiss in nine years and it felt like coming home.
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘Anyone coming to the hospital?’ shouted Uncle Daniel into the hall.
Lottie pulled away from Joe. For a second their eyes met, and everything was all right with the world. The last time she’d kissed Joe, she kissed the boy, but here was the man. There were many reasons why she shouldn’t have kissed him, but right now she couldn’t think of a single one. The connection between them was still there.
A smile spread across Joe’s face and something lit up in Lottie’s heart. It was like the years of hurt had been dissolved by his kiss. But life wasn’t that simple – she knew there were a million things to sort out. In this moment, though, she felt the tiniest spark of hope that they might actually be fixable.
Uncle Daniel shouted something inaudible and Lottie got quickly to her feet. ‘I need to go.’ She pointed at the door and then touched her lips. She held in the childish giggles of joy that were bubbling to the surface. Pure happiness was coursing through her.
‘Of course, go,’ said Joe. ‘And I need to take Dave for a walk. But let’s get together some time tomorrow after everyone’s gone home?’
‘Yes.’ She couldn’t control the grin on her face, and she could barely wait for tomorrow.
‘Bloody hell. I’m not a sodding Uber!’ hollered Uncle Daniel.
‘Coming!’ yelled back Lottie, and she grabbed up the foil parcel from the table and almost skipped from the room.
Jessie met her in the hallway. ‘Lottie, my robot has stopped working,’ she said, her face glum.
‘Let’s take a look.’ Lottie slid off the battery cover to reveal an empty compartment. ‘I think I know what the problem is. Wait there,’ she said.
Lottie bounded upstairs and rapped on her mother’s bedroom door. She heard a scuffle inside and her partially clad mother appeared at the door. ‘Is it lunchtime?’
‘No, it’s visiting time, and you need to get dressed. But before you do, can you return the robot’s batteries?’ Lottie held up the toy. Angie burst out laughing, and so did Scott in the background.
‘Seriously. Do you want me to tell Zach what you’ve stolen them for?’ Lottie gave her mother a hard stare.
‘You’re such a killjoy.’ Angie shut the door and Lottie waited. She heard something buzzing followed by spluttered giggles. She nearly put her fingers in her ears. Eventually Angie opened the door and stepped out, fully clothed.
‘Here,’ she handed over the batteries. Lottie put them in the robot and headed back downstairs, Angie following after her.
‘Do you think I could have them back when Jessie goes to bed?’
‘No!’ Lottie handed Jessie her robot at the bottom of the stairs and she skipped off happily.
As they got in Uncle Daniel’s car, Lottie passed her mother a foil-wrapped ham sandwich. Angie didn’t query what was in the sandwich; she just ate it. Lottie managed to bagsy the front seat, on the grounds of getting a wee bit carsick if she sat in the back, and surprisingly Angie and Nicola both let it go unchallenged. Being in the front meant it wasn’t as easy for her mother to question her either, which was good because she had a lot to think about. She snuggled into the large leather seat. Uncle Daniel flicked a switch and the seat gently heated up under her bum. It matched the growing warm sensation inside her.
Lottie rolled her lips together. Joe’s kiss had taken her by surprise. Her heart felt lighter for it, like something had been unlocked and set free. She took a deep breath and tried to steady her racing thoughts. This didn’t change the past, but it certainly provided a whole new lens through which to view the future. Joe was back and he’d kissed her. There was the nine-year gap they needed to sort through – and the big messy bit before that too – but that was all history. She wanted to focus on how she was feeling right now. A small thread of happiness was uncurling inside her and it felt like she was coming to life after a lengthy hibernation.
Nicola brought a frostiness to the car. She tutted when Uncle Daniel crunched the gears and he glared at her via the rear-view mirror in return. Thankfully the journey was uneventful and fairly quiet, apart from Angie telling Nicola how amazing Scott was and what a bonus it was that he was a porn star. Nicola said nothing. Zilch. Not a thing. And all the while, Lottie and Uncle Daniel exchanged glances and a variety of raised eyebrow combinations.
When they got to the hospital, visiting hours had already started, and as expected, Dayea was at Bernard’s bedside holding his hand. Bernard was a bulky man, but lying in the hospital bed with tubes and monitors attached to him, he seemed quite frail. His skin was ashen – he looked poorly to Lottie. They said their hellos to Dayea and pulled up chairs.
‘How’s he doing?’ asked Lottie.
‘He is sleeping,’ said Dayea, with a tired smile.
‘Yes, but how bad is he?’ asked Angie. Even Nicola tutted at her lack of tact.
‘Oh. The nurse says he’s doing fine. But they may do an autopsy,’ said Dayea, struggling with the medical terminology.
