‘That’s just perfect, I eat everything but aubergine and my words.’
‘You’re cute, Grace. Real cute.’
There was a different wine with each course and by the third one Gracie was feeling really quite drunk.
‘I must drink more water.’ She guzzled down a glass of sparkling in one go. ‘And I should slow down. I’ll be talking nonsense – well, less sense than usual anyway.’
‘You should really stop doing that.’ Leo was serious.
‘What?’ Gracie hiccupped.
‘Putting yourself down.’ Leo took her hand. ‘I’d rather spend a whole evening with you than ten minutes with some of the shallow fame-hungry women who throw themselves at my feet. You’re great, Grace. Never forget that.’
She could feel herself blushing. ‘That’s so sweet.’
‘I mean it. And please don’t think I wanted to see you just to chew your ear about seeing Jack. I wanted your company. Naomi said you’d had some more bad news. Do you want to talk about it?’
Gracie shook her head. ‘I don’t want to ruin the night.’
‘There she blows again. I want you to talk to me. It’s not all about champagne and roses, Grace. Real life quite often stinks. I’m a big boy; I can take it.’
Leo reached for this phone and Aretha Franklin’s beautiful tones began piping out of the speakers as a complement to Gracie’s tale of woe.
Gracie bit her lip. ‘I’m going to say it quickly for fear of crying.’
‘Cry me a river if you like, honey child.’ Leo squeezed her hand and Gracie laughed.
‘There you go again, Mr Original.’ She sipped the dessert wine that Kingston the butler had just put in front of her. ‘I told you about the twins and the hysterectomy. And my boyfriend Lewis cheating on me after saying that he didn’t find me attractive anymore.’
Leo exhaled and nodded. ‘Harsh, but yes.’
‘This week, I thought maybe I would meet Lewis again, because part of me does miss him.’
Leo raised his eyebrows and turned his head to the side, not quite understanding why she would want to see her ex. He nodded again.
‘While I was with him in a coffee shop the girl he had sex with that night walked in. And she was pregnant. About four months pregnant. Which would be perfect timing to make it Lewis’s baby.’
‘Whoa, that’s big shit, man.’
‘I know. Even if it’s not Lewis’s, I still feel bitter and twisted. What gives her the right to have children and not me? It’s just not fair.’
‘You can’t be mad at everyone in the world who gets pregnant, Grace. You’d be mad forever.’
‘I know that. I love it if people I care about are pregnant – it means more lovely babies to squeeze and smell. It’s because it’sher.’
‘What does Lewis say?’
‘We’ve only texted. I can’t speak to him. I always run when I have to face confrontation. He assures me he hasn’t seen or heard from her since. I’m going to meet him tomorrow.’
‘Do you want to know if it is his or not?’
‘I have to know or I would wonder forever.’ Gracie sighed.
Leo looked thoughtful. ‘Like Jack would about his dad.’
‘Oh, Leo, when you put it like that… I will talk to Noms tomorrow, I promise.’
Aretha Franklin’s beautiful voice sang out ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’. Leo guided Gracie out of her chair, held her close and began to dance with her, cheek to cheek.
