‘It would be somewhere else for you and Jack to holiday, too.’ He paused. ‘Or for me to holiday with Jack, if it suited.’
‘You’re so kind, Leo. I do appreciate everything you’ve done for us two, you know. You didn’t have to believe me. You could have walked away.’
Leo kissed her on the cheek. ‘But I didn’t. You’re a lovely woman, Noms, and even more awkwardly, I wanted to tell you how fond I am of your sister. She makes my heart happy. I feel so at ease with her.’
‘Grace is amazing. She’s been through so much. She needs some kindness, too. As for romance, I don’t want her to get hurt again. She’s been seeing this Ed guy, who’s up on a rape charge.’
‘What?’
‘I know. I know. He seems nice enough, but I do worry.’
‘Gee. And then there’s Lewis and the new pregnancy saga with the woman he slept with. I’m surprised sometimes she doesn’t just lock herself in her room and never come out.’
‘Bless Grace. She doesn’t deserve any of this.’ Noms drained her plastic glass.
‘I’m hoping she’ll come and see me again. I really want to say goodbye before I go off to Vegas,’ Leo added.
Jack came belting back on the scooter.
‘Wait here a second,’ Noms said. ‘Let me put some sunscreen on your face.’ Jack screwed up his eyes and wriggled as his mum applied the lotion. ‘We need to go soon.’
‘I don’t want to go,’ the lad whined.
‘Go on, then, up the hill and back one more time.’
Noms started packing up the rubbish.
‘It’s been such a lovely afternoon, Leo. Thanks again.’
‘It’s a pleasure and thankyoufor letting me in. This is perfect, just getting to know him, without any big drama. I work on enough of those.’
Jack was knackered by the time he was back in the car.
‘Mummy, is Lee your new boyfriend?’
‘No, he’s just a friend. Do you like him?’
‘I think he’s cool.’
‘Good.’
‘Can we see him again soon?’
‘He works away a lot, but soonish I’m sure.’
Noms turned the radio up and smiled.
Sometimes the fear of things was a lot worse than the reality.
SIXTY
Gracie was amazingly upbeat as she opened up the hut for the children’s birthday party. She was thankful it was such a beautiful day – perfect for excitable five-year-olds to run around outside and not make so much mess. She threw the doors open wide and began to put pink plastic cloths on the tables. It was great that most Wimbledon mums had enough money to pay for personal caterers; it meant she didn’t have to worry about making sandwiches and cakes. The whole project had turned into a much bigger money-spinner than she had ever imagined. She liked the flexible hours, too. In that respect at least she felt she had got her life back.
She was just hooking up the last of the balloons when Ed appeared with a bunch of yellow roses. He handed them to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. ‘For you,ma chérie.’
‘Blimey, what have you done wrong?’
‘The other night was amazing, Gracie. I tried to get daffodils but I thought these were a good compromise.’
