“I just needed a minute.”
“She went into the bathroom straight after you. Did you see her in there?”
“No, but I heard her. There's nothing to tell, though.” Because there wasn't. Only that I knew I could definitely trust Seph. “I've got an idea.”
Olivia looked wary. “Does it involve me doing something?”
“Not really. Why don't Rose and I come to Spain with you for two weeks? We can spend some time with you and Mum, and we haven't had a holiday so far this year.”
Liv looked puzzled. “Wouldn't it be about the same time as you were meant to be going to France with Seph? For that wedding?”
“Probably. But I haven't said for sure that we'll go yet. It's a family thing.” I’d been asked, by both Ava and Eli. Seph had an invite for plus one, and had mentioned me going and taking Rose, but we hadn't booked anything yet. As much as I liked Ava, and the rest of the Callaghan's, I wasn't sure I felt ready.
Or maybe I was just running scared.
Olivia eyed me curiously.
“Okay, whatever you want.”
I nodded, and changed the topic to what one of her friends was up to, which was a quickie wedding in Vegas, giving us the opportunity for some harmless speculation.
“Seph! Seph! Watch me climb!”This had been all we'd heard for the last half an hour. Rose had clearly managed to sneak some extra sugar into her lunch box because she was absolutely buzzing with far too much energy, even after a day at school and a swimming lesson.
Seph had joined us for swimming, encouraging her from the side. Rose wasn't particularly well coordinated, and she’d found swimming hard when she started, plus she'd been a little bit scared of the water. But now she enjoyed it at least, even if she was never going to be a competition winner.
We walked home through the park so she could run around a little bit more, and of course she’d wanted to go on the climbing frame.
“Ava was checking for numbers for her wedding,” Seph said.
I knew this was going to come up. Eli’s stag do was at the weekend, and the wedding only three weeks away. They were getting married in the South of France, in a castle that was being hired with its own pools and accommodation just for wedding guests. It sounded both decadent and amazing, and I must’ve been a fool to not be going.
I just had to tell Seph that.
“How excited is she?”
“I'm not sure. No one’s speaking to her at the moment. She's turned into bridezilla and everything’s a drama.” He shrugged, not looking particularly bothered. When it came to his family, Seph was fairly laid back. He'd accept Ava's moods and not judge her for them. “What I do need to know is whether you want Rose to have a bed in our room, or her own room. There's a suite we could have, that's got a lounge and two bedrooms, but if you'd rather just have her in with us, then Claire will have that room instead.”
I took a deep breath in, watched my daughter as she tried to hang from the climbing frame onto the monkey bars. In about two minutes, she'd be shouting for Seph to help her.
“We're not going to go to Ava's wedding.” I could add an excuse about needing the time to go and see my mum in Spain instead, but the venue for Ava's wedding was close enough to the Spanish border that really, we could do both.
Seph didn't say anything. I'd learned this about him. Sometimes he could be reactive and respond straight away, but with me, if I said something he wasn't sure about, he'd stop and think. I'd realised that this was because he wasn't confident, that this sort of relationship was as new to him as it was to me, And he wanted to consider what words he would use instead of cocking straight up.
It felt as if I had a ball of lead sat in my stomach.
“What’s this about, Georgia?” His voice sounded deep and huskier than normal. “I know you hadn't said you would definitely come yet, but everyone's worked out enough to assume that you would be. What’s going on?”
I licked my lips, stared at the ground.
“I feel like we need to slow things down.”
“Okay.”
I looked up, surprised by his reaction. “I just feel that things have moved really quickly. Going on holiday with your family for your sister’s wedding is a big thing. We haven't been together that long, and I just think we're moving too quickly.” I'd probably over explained things now, made things more complicated than they needed to be because I had a talent for doing that.
“I don't.”
“Don't what?”
