‘I think you’d be a good mum,’ Billie said.
‘Thanks,’ Zoe replied, reflecting privately that many childless people would make good parents, but the mere fact of it didn’t always mean they could have those children.
‘I’ll tell you who else will be a good mum,’ Alex said, and then Zoe had to laugh at the most ham-fisted segue she’d ever heard, ‘our old neighbour’s dog. She’s just had puppies…Look, Arabella sent me photos…’
As he showed Billie his phone, Zoe watched them, reflecting on a bond that was plain for anyone to see. She tried not to think about what it would be like to have her own child because right now there was no point. But sometimes those thoughts crept in to plague her anyway. How would it be to bring them into the world, to watch them grow? But then she thought about poor Jennifer, Billie’s mum, who never got the chance to see her daughter become a mother herself. Who would never see Billie grow into a capable, confident woman raising her own child. At least Zoe was here to witness that, and so she had to be thankful for every blessing that came her way.
Later, after Billie had gone up for an early night, Alex and Zoe were on the sofa watching television. She leaned against him, her eyes drooping, the intro music of the news filtering vaguely into her consciousness as she drifted towards sleep.
‘You know,’ he said, his tone carrying less weight than the words that followed, ‘youcouldmove in.’
She sat up. ‘What?’
‘Well you have the key, and we did say at Christmas…well I thought it would be on the cards.’
‘It is. But aren’t we all right as we are? I mean, for now?’
‘Of course, but…don’t you want to move in?’
‘Yes,’ she said carefully. ‘Eventually. There’s no rush, is there?’
‘Sorry, I’m not trying to be pushy; I just miss you when you’re not here.’
‘I didn’t think you were pushy. I like that you feel that way, but I worry it won’t take long for you to get fed up with me if I did move in. We should give it time to make sure it’s really what we both want. There’s no need to look so disappointed,’ she added with a kiss. ‘I’m not saying I don’t want to, but I think you’ll thank me in the end for making us wait before we commit.’
‘I suppose you’re right. I can’t help it. Losing Jennifer, and then Billie losing Luis…it makes you realise life is short and you never know how long you’ll have someone for. I want to make every moment with you count.’
‘That’s OK – I get it. We can still do that from separate houses…I’ll think about it,’ she said finally. ‘I promise.’
She snuggled into the crook of his arm again, deep in thought. She supposed she ought to be flattered and pleased he was so keen – and she was. But her opinion hadn’t changed from what it had been at Christmas when he’d presented her with a key to Hilltop and the hopes that she might move in: she would, but it was too early. As she mused on whether this was still theright way to view it, she was startled by the sound of her phone bleeping from the coffee table where she’d left it.
‘It might be about Ottilie,’ she said, leaping up to get it. But then she frowned slightly at the name of the sender. ‘Dad? What does he want?’
‘A catch-up?’ Alex asked.
‘No, he never just wants to catch up. Since he and Mum split, I can count on my hands the times he’s called just to catch up. Mum, yes, phones and messages all the time…not that it’s always positive,’ she added under her breath. ‘But Dad…’
She opened the message, her frown becoming etched into her forehead as she read. And then she put down the phone with a sigh of resignation. ‘Well,’ she announced to no one in particular. ‘That’s put the cat amongst the pigeons.’
Alex sat forward. ‘What has?’
‘Dad’s girlfriend is pregnant.’
4
Zoe knew it was only a matter of time before her mum heard the news, but she quickly decided she wasn’t going to be the one to tell her. However, even she was taken by surprise by just how fast the news spread. After a quick phone call to her dad to ask for details and to offer the congratulations he was clearly expecting, Zoe had only put the phone down a matter of minutes when her mum called.
‘I suppose he’s told you,’ she said as soon as Zoe picked up. There was no need to ask what she meant.
‘Dad? This is about Chantal, right? How do you know?’
‘He messaged me.’
‘Of course he did.’ Zoe stifled a groan. Her instinct was that he would have been better keeping his news away from the ex-wife who hadn’t quite let go of the bitterness she felt at the way their marriage had ended. But then her mum would have found out eventually, and perhaps it would have been worse if she’d been kept in the dark for weeks or even months when everyone else knew. ‘I can’t say I’m all that surprised, to be honest. I mean, Chantal is young – there was a good chance she’d want kids.’
‘Your dad isn’t young, is he? How selfish! Imagine what he’ll be like in a few years at the school gate…people will think he’s picking up his grandchild.’
‘Dad seems chuffed,’ said Zoe carefully.
