‘Thank you by the way.’ Pippa leaned forward and placed her hand on Aiden’s shoulder. ‘It’s very much appreciated.’
He turned his head towards her and Elle noticed a look between them.
‘Anytime,’ Aiden replied warmly. He looked away as he pulled away from the kerb, but Elle observed him catch Pippa’s eye again in the mirror once they were on the move.
‘What have you two been up to today?’ Elle asked.
‘We’ve been to the zoo,’ Aiden replied as Theo let out a huge roar from behind them and everyone laughed. ‘And we’ve just had tea and I’m dropping him back at his mum’s.’
‘I think he quite liked the lions!’ Pippa said, smiling at Theo.
‘Yes, and hopefully I’ve tired him out and given Louisa a chance to recharge her batteries. Even though he’s beginning to sleep in his own bed, he keeps waking up early now he realises he can get out of it.’
Pippa’s voiced jumped an octave. ‘How grown up are you, sleeping in a big bed?’
Theo looked up and gave her a huge smile.
‘You’re wasted working in a library,’ Elle said to Pippa, admiring the warm interaction between the two of them. ‘You should’ve become a teacher.’
‘You’d make a brilliant teacher,’ Aiden agreed. ‘Usually when Theo meets anyone new, he cries – and look at him smiling away. He can’t take his eyes off you!’
A moment later Aiden was turning into their street and pulled up just outside the house.
‘Thanks for the lift,’ Elle said as she unclipped her seat belt.
Pippa pinched Theo’s cuddly toy and ruffled it against his cheek. For a second Aiden and Elle just watched as she made a fuss of him.
‘See you tomorrow, Aiden – and hopefully see you soon, little fellow,’ Pippa said, smiling, as she climbed out of the car and waved at Theo through the window.
They stood on the pavement watching the car drive up the road.
‘Mmm, never mind Theo – Aiden couldn’t take his eyes off you either.’
Pippa smiled. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘It’s obvious to anyone that you find each other attractive.’
‘Do you think it’s too soon after Nick?’
‘If you like him, ask him out for a drink. It can’t hurt. Just enjoy his company and see where it goes.’
‘I’ll think about it but in the meantime let’s get the kettle on and we can discuss your next move.’
‘My next move?’ asked Elle, watching Pippa bound up the steps towards the front door.
‘Yes! I only have two words for you.’
‘And they are?’
‘Noah Jones.’
Feeling her heart race faster at the very mention of his name, Elle put the key in the front door. Since the notification had popped up on her phone, it was all she could think about. Smiling at Pippa, she said. ‘We’d best get that kettle on then.’
ChapterThirteen
On Monday morning, the library was unusually quiet. Elle was sitting at the computer behind the reception desk. Since sending the form to the Salvation Army she’d fallen into the same routine, when she arrived at the library, of checking her emails right away. Scrolling through her inbox she could see that there was nothing out of the ordinary and no email with any news about her biological mother. She couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed, but it was still very much early days.
‘Anything interesting?’ she asked Aiden, who was perched on a desk in front of her, browsing through the latest newsletter, which was distributed to the library every week.
