‘Yes, exactly. Do let me know when you’re over, though, won’t you?’
‘I will, definitely.’
We’re heading towards Eddie and Lyla now. Waiting there in the warm afternoon sunshine, they look – well,together, is the only way I can interpret it. But who knows? God forbid I make any assumptions.
I glance at Oliver, realising I don’t really want to go home yet. I’d like to talk for longer. But now Eddie is striding towards us with an undecipherable look on his face. ‘Hey, love,’ I start. ‘Everything all right? We should probably head off soon—’
‘Yeah, okay.’ Eddie tilts his head, indicating that he wants a private word, and we step away from Lyla and Oliver.
‘Everything okay?’ I ask again.
‘Yeah, fine. Sort of.’ He glances around the park.
‘What is it?’
‘It’s, uh …’ He pulls a face, and my heart seems to freeze. Please, no. Not,I have something to tell you, Mumagain. ‘It’s Lyla,’ he starts.
‘Is she all right?’ I ask, alarmed.
‘Yeah. Yeah, she’s fine. But not really,’ he adds quickly. ‘This stuff with her mum and the boyfriend, all the drama and the flooding and …’ His cheeks redden. ‘It’s all been a bit much for her, to be honest.’
I touch his arm, tanned golden brown below the T-shirt sleeve. ‘I bet it has. It’s not exactly what she needs right now, is it?’
‘Nope.’ He looks down and shakes his head. ‘And now Suki wants to move in with her!’
‘Yes, she told me. Isn’t … that okay?’ I ask hesitantly.
‘No! The thing is, it’s Suki’s place Lyla’s living in. I mean, Suki owns the flat. So what can she do?’
‘But it’s actually Lyla’s home,’ I remind him.
‘That doesn’t seem to matter.’ He grimaces, meeting my gaze directly now. ‘She just needs a bit of space, Mum.’ He glances over to where Lyla and her uncle are watching, bemused, as a group of children roll sideways down the nearby grassy slope. ‘Can she come home with us?’
‘What, Lyla?’ I exclaim, then quickly assemble the correct reaction. ‘I mean, yes, if she’d like to. Of course she can.’
‘But … do we have space, Mum? Honestly?’ He blinks in the sunshine.
I smile. ‘Yes, we have space, Eddie. Of course we do. But isn’t she a bit close to her due date to be away from home? It’s only—’
‘Mum, it’ll be fine,’ Eddie says firmly, seeming to relax now.
‘Well, shouldn’t she okay it with her mum?’
He splutters. ‘She’s an adult! She can do whatever she likes.’
‘Yes, of course,’ I say quickly, trying to suppress a laugh.
Eddie grins. ‘Can I tell her it’s okay then? And yes, she’ll call her mum to tell her. And then we’ll nip over to her place and get her stuff … Is that all right?’
I glance at Oliver, who’s clearly gathered from Lyla what’s going on. He smiles, raising a brow, and I smile back. ‘That’s fine, Eddie,’ I say as we make our way towards the bustling throngs on Princes Street. ‘Of course Lyla can come home with us.’
Chapter Forty-two
Frank
It’s the photos that do it. The sunny, happy pictures of his family, apparently taken yesterday when they were picnicking in Princes Street Gardens without him.
Carly and Eddie, with Lyla and her mother and some good-looking man who he doesn’t know.
