I smiled. “I wanted something different.”I wanted to impress you. To show you I wasn’t just an idiot.
“You managed that. What’s your favourite part of London?”
She seemed to have edged closer to me. I took a risk and put my arm around her, the teenaged boy trick of making it seem like I was just stretching out. I’d resorted to teenage-boy tricks – younger me wanted to slap older me: he’d hoped he’d have been a bit more suave by now.
“St Paul’s and the small streets around there that have the boutique shops coming off them. If I needed to clear my head, I’d sometimes go in the cathedral. What about you?”
She thought for a moment. “I love the buzz of Leicester Square with the screens and the lights, but I like Clapham too. I lived there for a bit one summer when I was at university. I think Borough’s my favourite though, although it might just be because that’s where I’m based now.”
“Does Rose like Borough?”
“She loves the market and the flower stalls – they’re her favourite. I’m coming to terms that she’s going to grow up a Londoner.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She shrugged. “She’ll be a city girl. I had dreams of her growing up in a big country house like Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. Please tell me you’ve read that.”
“No, but I was made to watch the whole TV thing of it.”
“As you should. Who by? Cassie?”
I wondered if she’d thought much about Cassie. Knowing my sisters, Georgia would’ve been told enough about her. “No. Payton. My sister has a thing for romances and that was her favourite. She lived with someone before Owen and when they split up she made me watch all of that – twice.”
“I hope you didn’t moan too much.”
“No. I know when to keep quiet. I have sisters.”
“True. If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?”
I laughed. “What’s this? Twenty questions?”
“Getting to know each other.”
“I get to ask the next question.”
“I’m just glad you’re joining in. Now answer mine.”
“Bossy much. Too many places, but if I was picking just one, Nepal maybe. Or the Maldives. I’d pick the Maldives after spending an afternoon with Max and Jackson for sure. About three weeks there.”
She laughed loudly this time. “They’re not that bad.”
“You’ve not spent thirty-two years with them. Mr and Mr Workaholic.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. If I didn’t have Rose, I’d probably be the same.”
I wasn’t sure. Max and Jackson had barely done anything besides work until they met their wives. “You’d be nicer with it though.”
“You haven’t seen me just before a big court case though.”
“I’ll just keep bringing you coffee and cake. Where in the world would you go?” I wanted to keep the conversation away from work.
“I’d love to take Rose to Italy when she’s a little older, to see Juliet’s balcony in Verona and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I’d really like to take her on one of those trips to visit Santa in Iceland too, now she’s really older enough to understand it all.”
“Where would you like to go for you?”
She looked blankly at me. “I have no idea. Seriously!” She shook her head. “Once you have a kid everything’s about them, especially when you don’t have anyone to share that load with you.”
“So think now. Where would you go?”
