There’s a flurry of offers to help from James, Kim and Lorenzo as I start to clear away plates and the remains of the tarts, salads, colds meats and cheeses, all the different breads and olives and picky bits. Now it’s dessert, and there are murmurs of appreciation as I bring over a clementine cake, a jug of cream, a cheesecake and plate of home-made Florentines. When that’s all over I wonder if Esther is a little tipsy as she announces, loudly, ‘I’d love to get a place like this, Miles. With a beautiful garden …’
‘We will, babe,’ he says quickly. ‘We will.’
‘But you don’t like the countryside,’ she reminds him with a frown. ‘You always say you can’t see the point of it, that the people there are so dull and narrow-minded …’Charming!
‘We can do whatever you want,’ he announces, cheeks florid now.
‘D’you mean it?’ she asks.
‘Of course, my angel.’
‘I’d love a pretty little cottage in the country,’ she gushes, resting her head momentarily on his shoulder. His arm wraps around her, pulling her close.Please don’t start snogging here, I will them. It feels weird enough for themto be discussing their future plans in front of all of us. But then, she’s also been saying kind things about my home, so maybe she’s trying her best. I’m certainly trying hard to like her. Even when she sits there, seemingly oblivious to the rest of us as Miles starts to nibble her ear and at one pointdarts his tongue into it, like a chameleon catching a fly – well, I’m reminding myself that they’re young (at least, she is). And this is what young, loved-up people do.
James and I exchange another look that seems to say:What can we do?We can’t prise them apart or throw cold water on them. We just have to get through this, being all jolly and polite until it’s over. Then we’ll never have to do this first-time-meeting thing ever again.
‘We won’t be in my poky little place forever,’ Miles announces, cutting through my thoughts.
‘Miles grew up in the country,’ Esther offers.
‘Would you really want to move back to it?’ I ask.Considering that we’re all narrow-minded dullards?
‘Yeah, sure,’ he says loudly, squeezing Esther’s hand. ‘When we have a baby—’
‘Miles!’ Esther splutters.
‘A baby?’ This comes from James, who’s turned chalk pale and is staring at them, fork held in mid-air. All the chatter has stopped dead.
‘He’s just being silly, Dad,’ Esther mutters.
‘Are you?’ James asks him, still looking stunned.
‘’Course I am,’ Miles sniggers. ‘Relax, James. Christ, you looked fucking scared there …’
James seems to exhale slowly before getting up from the table. For a moment, I wonder if he’s going to march round, grab Miles by the shirt front and drag him out to the garden. Of course he’s horrified by the thought of his daughter being impregnated byanyone, and especially thisleaf-snatching, ear-tonguing ‘DJ’ who’s at least double her age and is already ploughing into a second bottle of red. But James is also a thoughtful, considerate man who performs delicate operations on small animals. So of course he doesn’t attack Miles.
He just walks out of the room, with all of us staring after him. Hearing the front door open, I throw Kim and Lorenzo a look of alarm and scoot out after him.
CHAPTER TWENTY
LAUREN
‘James,’ I start, ‘what’re you doing out here? Please come back in.’
‘I just need a minute,’ he mutters, pacing around and exhaling forcefully. I look at him, wondering what possessed me now to suggest this lunch. We should have just carried on in our own, wonderful little world, and never attempted to thrust our two very different families together.
A terrible thought strikes me: perhaps we’re not meant for each other after all.
No, no, I tell myself. Don’t over-react. This has happened because of Miles, who’s nothing todowith James. It’s not even Esther’s fault really.
‘It’s going to seem weird, us standing out here in the cold,’ I remark.
James grimaces. ‘Sorry. I just had to get out of there for a minute before I said something I regretted.’
I rub at my goose-bumpy upper arms. It’s a chilly late October afternoon, and there’s a scattering of golden leaves on the lawn. ‘I can see why you’re upset,’ I offer,touching his arm. But they’re not actually having a baby, are they? He’s just trying to wind you up. Can’t you see that?’
He nods, throwing a quick glance towards my house. ‘I guess so. But she’s only twenty, and if they’re eventhinkingof—’
‘He’s just an idiot,’ I cut in. ‘Can’t you talk to her about this later?’
