‘There are a few places, yes,’ Zoe said carefully. She wanted to maintain a good relationship with her dad and to an extent Chantal too but, yet again, wondered what her mum would have to say about it if she heard they’d gone for lunch as a foursome. Her mum could hardly demand Zoe cut all ties, but she still probably wished she could.
‘Could you send me the details for some of them? I’ll ask Nigel and then we’ll book. Would that be all right?’
Zoe was beginning to see she didn’t have a choice. ‘I can do that. I’ll have to check with Alex what plans he has.’
‘That’s fine. Let us know. It’ll be lovely to see you, and I’m looking forward to meeting him.’
Zoe tried to smile, totally forgetting that Chantal couldn’t see it and so there was no need. What had she got herself into now?
12
Zoe hovered at the door of Alex’s office, waiting for him to notice her. But he was engrossed in a spreadsheet open on his laptop, and so she cleared her throat loudly to get his attention. After a second, he looked up, his face transforming into a broad smile.
‘I didn’t hear you come in,’ he said.
‘I’m not surprised.’ Zoe went to stand at his shoulder and looked at the screen. ‘I’d like to pretend I know what this is all about, but there’d be no point. It looks complicated.’
‘Oh, I think it’s just the way I input things that makes it look complicated to everyone else…How was your day?’
‘Interesting.’
‘Oh?’ Alex reached across the desk for a pack of chewing gum and folded a strip into his mouth. ‘Just in case you want to kiss me,’ he added with a grin. ‘So I’m all minty fresh.’
‘Don’t expect me to do the thing teenagers used to do when they were French kissing,’ she said with a grin to match his. He frowned. ‘You’ve never heard of it?’
‘What?’
‘It’s probably best that way – I’ll tell you another time. I’m sorry, but I have a favour to ask you.’
‘Ask – you know I can’t say no to you.’
‘You might wish you could…my dad and Chantal are coming to Thimblebury to talk to the vicar at St Cuthbert’s. They’ve asked to meet us for lunch while they’re here.’
‘OK…’ he began slowly. ‘I mean, that’s fine with me, but I get the sense it’s not so fine with you.’
Zoe grimaced. ‘Of course it’s about time you met my dad, but I’m worried you might feel awkward…that I might have told you too much and not all of it good. And then there’s the whole business of him and my mum.’
‘Zo, it doesn’t worry me. I think it will be more of an ordeal for you than it will for me.’
‘I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an ordeal. I think it will be fine. Maybe even nice as long as my poor mum doesn’t get to hear about it.’
‘Well, I certainly won’t tell her.’
‘No, I know. I don’t know why I’m worrying. Nobody is going to tell her, so why do I still feel guilty?’
‘I suppose it’s how she feels about him and Chantal being together and you knowing how much of a problem that is for her.’
‘The worst thing is, I don’t even dislike Chantal that much. Granted, she got with Dad very quickly after he left Mum, and I can see why Mumthinksthey were having an affair, but Chantal and Dad both deny it no matter how many times it comes up, and at this point I don’t see why they’d feel the need to unless it wasn’t true.’
‘Perhaps they feel guilty about it. I mean, if they were.’
Zoe shook her head. ‘Dad wouldn’t – he doesn’t operate like that. I mean, he would for a while, but he’d move on. The past is the past – that’s his philosophy. That was always the biggest difference between him and my mum. She clings to the past, and she doesn’t let go of grudges, but Dad is totally the opposite.He’s all about what’s happening tomorrow, and he barely gives a thought to things that happened yesterday. I suppose that’s part of the reason they couldn’t get along. He could never understand why things bothered her so much when, to him, it was water under the bridge.’
‘I can understand where you’re coming from, but surely your mum isn’t expecting you to have no contact with them. Especially given they’re getting married here in the village.’
‘I’m sure. I don’t know whether that makes it worse or better. Like if she finds out we met Dad and Chantal, it will just be a sad but inevitable disappointment to her. I suppose I had to say yes, but I just wanted to check you’re happy to come.’
He held out his arms and gestured for her to sit on his lap, where he folded his arms around her and pulled her close. ‘As if I would say no. If you want me there, of course I will be there. Like you said, I need to meet your dad sooner or later, and at least this way we won’t be strangers at the wedding. And I know you’d always do the same for me.’
