‘Better to have her fiddling around in your brain than giving you a massage,’ Derek replied. He was not wrong.
‘We met when Laura came to rent my flat while I’m away in Paris,’ Callum went on, still smiling at me and ignoring everyone else, an impressive feat but one I knew he’d been working on all his life. ‘Obviously she’s gorgeous—’
A pause for Elsie to make a puking sound.
‘But I think she’s pretty amazing as well. She’s funny and she’s kind. She’s spontaneous—’
‘No, she isn’t,’ I interrupted, leaning to the side to make sure his parents saw the certainty on my face. ‘This was my first crack at spontaneity and it will be my last.’
But Callum grinned and my knees wobbled. ‘Fine. She’s funny and kind andfascinating. I haven’t been able to think straight since the moment she walked into my flat.’
‘Oh,’ I said, shyly tucking my hair behind my ear. ‘Well, that’s nice.’
The words whispered out of me, barely louder than a breath, but he was so close now, staring intently at the shapes formed by my lips, even in the din of The Clach, I knew he could hear every single one.
‘I have one question.’
Tearing my eyes away from Callum’s sapphire irises, I looked over to see Derek’s expression softening slightly.
‘Are you or are you not …’ He paused to take a deep, steadying breath, one hand on his wife’s shoulder. ‘A vegan?’
‘No,’ I replied firmly. ‘I am not.’
Derek McClay blew out an enormous sigh, his whole body deflating.
‘At least that’s something,’ he said. ‘He hasn’t lost his mind completely.’
Lizzie placed her hand on the small of his back and pushed him in the direction of the door.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We need to go home and check on the goose.’
‘I thought we were getting a drink and talking some sense into your son about this French pudding nonsense?’ Derek replied, refusing to move.
‘That’s because that’s what I wanted you to think. Cal isn’t the one who needs to be talked to.’ Snatching the car keys from Rory’s hand, she gave Derek a look that made me physically quake. ‘We’ve a lot to discuss but it won’t work itself out over one whisky in The Clach and now’s not the time, there’s no point trying to talk to a man when he’s hungry or in love.’
My stomach flipped at Lizzie’s casual invocation of the L word. It was too soon for that, far too soon. Wasn’t it? Too soon to say it out loud at least, no matter what the little voice whispered in the back of my mind.
‘I’m looking forward to getting to know you, Laura,’ she said, patting Callum’s forearm before nodding at me.
‘You too?’ I replied, feeling unexpectedly exposed by the sound of my own name.
She smiled, tender and kind, and a sweet sadnesspierced my heart. It was a long time since anyone had looked at me that way but it wasn’t the sort of feeling you forgot. Just for a moment, I missed my mum with a fierceness that threatened to swallow me whole.
‘We’ll leave you to talk,’ Lizzie said as she led Derek away, back to the car. ‘Don’t be too long, lunch is on the table at two whether you’re there or not. I won’t serve a dry bird.’
‘Surely she’s not invited?’ Elsie exclaimed, aflame with outrage.
Rory groaned loudly. ‘For fuck’s sake. Come on, Elsie, haven’t you’ve scrooged it up enough for one day?’
‘What about Shiv?’ she protested, shaking him loose. ‘I’m not leaving her.’
‘What about Shiv?’ Callum echoed. ‘She’s here?’
‘Oh God, Desi!’
I whirled around to locate my friends, fully expecting to find a knockout brawl in progress across the bar. I shouldn’t have worried. Shiv, Desi and Joel were all sat around the table, chuckling away together like the oldest of friends. It was a Christmas miracle. That or Joel’s peacekeeping skills were being sorely underutilized as an accountant. It was time for him to move on to the UN or take over a soft play centre or something.
‘Shiv’s fine, let’s go,’ Rory said, turning Elsie around by her shoulders. ‘If you’re good, I’ll take you round to the neighbour’s house later and you can steal all the kids’ sweeties out from under the tree.’
