‘I’m hardly going to run in with the soundtrack toSaturday Night Feverand start dancing on her table! I’d only pop my head in to see the baby.’
‘I know, but…well, I haven’t given her any warning, and she’d want to be ready.’
Cherie wore that sceptical look again but said nothing more about it. Instead, she gave a wary sweep of the room. ‘Where’s that dog gone?’
‘I sent him to his basket,’ Billie said.
‘I’m actually amazed he went,’ Alex added from the fridge where he’d just put a jug of water to cool.
‘Prince never did as he was told,’ Cherie said.
‘I remember him being quite good,’ Zoe said.
‘For your dad. Not for me. I think he did it on purpose.’
‘How old were you when you had Prince, Zoe?’ Alex came back to the table with a bowl of salad.
‘God, I was…I think I was about eleven when he died, wasn’t I, Mum?’
Cherie rolled her eyes. ‘What a day that was! Came down in the morning to get ready for school and there he was, dead as a doornail on the kitchen floor. For a while, I thought I might have to take you to counselling – you took weeks to get over it.’
‘To be fair,’ Zoe said, ‘it was quite traumatic.’
‘He was just a dog.’
Billie’s eyes were wide. ‘You found him dead on the floor in the morning?’
Zoe nodded. ‘Unfortunately. And I suppose I did react quite badly.’
‘No wonder! I don’t even know what I’d do if I found…’ Billie’s expression darkened as she turned it to Zoe’s mum. ‘I think anyone who loved their dog would act the same. Who would see that and be OK? It’s not weird.’
‘That’s not what…’ Zoe began, sensing a defence being mounted by Billie that she didn’t want or need. ‘It just took a long time for me to stop feeling sad, that’s all. I was very fond of him.’
‘It’s because you’re a nice person,’ Billie said, sending a black look Cherie’s way again that Zoe hoped desperately her mum wouldn’t recognise.
There was one character trait Billie possessed in spades that Zoe was beginning to get used to: she was loyal to the end. Once she accepted you as her kin, she looked out for you, and she didn’t care who she offended to do it. It was lovely that Zoe had finally fallen into that category, but if Billie could hold off offending her mum, at least just for today, it would be very helpful.
‘Bill…’ Alex sent a meaningful look his daughter’s way, as if he could read Zoe’s mind. ‘I think the lasagne is nearly ready. Smells like it. You maybe should check?’
Without a word, she got up and went to the oven. Whether he’d mind-read or not, Zoe was grateful for Alex’s intervention.
‘So how long are you planning to stay?’ he asked Cherie.
Zoe had already told him the plan and so presumed this was another conversational segue. She didn’t think she’d ever loved him more than in that moment. He wasn’t always gifted with the tact of an international diplomat, but he was handling this visit like a pro.
‘I’m going to stay over with Zoe tonight,’ Cherie said. ‘I was going to go back after supper, but I was worried about the last train being cancelled and getting stuck.’
‘Sounds like a good idea.’
‘I thought it would be nice to have a bit more time to show Mum around too,’ Zoe said, despite wishing right now she could send her mum home on the last train, as she’d hoped to all along. It was telling that Cherie had packed an overnight bag just in case, even though they hadn’t really discussed her staying over.
‘Oh?’ Alex snapped a breadstick in half and munched on it. ‘Where are you thinking of going? You might visit another National Trust place? Do some walking or something?’
‘Well,’ Zoe replied, ‘you haven’t seen much of the village yet, have you, Mum?’
Cherie shook her head. ‘Not much, and it looked so pretty when we drove through to come here. Not very big, mind…’
‘It’s tiny,’ Alex agreed. ‘Lovely, but it won’t take you long to see it. Maybe go over to Bowness or Keswick or somewhere in the afternoon…that is, if you’re staying that long.’
