“I’ll admit, it was rather traumatising at the time!”
“For that to be the first impression you had of me after not seeing me for so many years!” lamented Michael, holding his head in a hand.
“Actually, we saw you on the beach the day before. You were on your phone and I don’t think you noticed us, but Monty came over to introduce himself.”
“I think I remember. It was a Sunday, wasn’t it? Layla had only been at her mum’s for a couple of nights and called me. She was upset and wanted to come home. I managed to convince her to stay, but she ended up coming back a couple of days later anyway.”
“That must have been really awkward to deal with.”
“Just a bit.” Michael sighed. “Georgia’s a great mum and we’ve remained friends. Layla came to live with me because the schools here were better and because Georgia travels away for work, but Layla goes there for holidays and is often back and forth.”
“It sounds like a good system,” said Carrie.
“It was,” said Michael. “Of course, it took Layla a while to get used to it, but she was only three when we separated, and she was used to Georgia being away for work. She’s always said she loves having two bedrooms and I know she and Georgia have a great time together.”
“So what’s happened to change things for her?”
“About six months ago, Georgia started seeing a guy called Ian. She only introduced him to Layla about a month ago when she felt that things were serious between them. At first it seemed that Layla was fine with him, but now she’s not wanting to stay there for the summer.”
“Oh dear, I bet that’s really upsetting for Georgia.”
“Yes, it must be. I’ve tried to talk to Layla about it. She says she doesn’t get on with Ian’s daughters. He has two teenage girlswho apparently come with him to Georgia’s house. Georgia and Ian hoped Layla would be friends with them.”
“Layla’s such a friendly girl,” Carrie said. “She’d make an effort to be friends with them, unless there really was a reason she felt she couldn’t be.”
“That’s what I think.” Michael took a sip of his beer and shook his head. “But unfortunately, all Layla says is that she doesn’t get on with them. Georgia thought it might help for the girls to spend more time together, go out just the three of them and stuff, but that seems to have backfired. Now Layla’s only happy to go to Georgia’s house if her mum guarantees that Ian’s kids won’t be there. Which, of course, makes things difficult for Georgia. How does she explain that to Ian?”
Carrie’s mind immediately went to her first meeting with Layla in Boots. Could Layla’s failed shoplifting attempt be anything to do with Ian’s daughters? She opened her mouth to voice her suspicions to Michael but quickly closed it. She’d decided not to tell him, and she’d told Layla her secret was safe with her. She couldn’t betray her trust.
“Poor Georgia,” Carrie said. “She must feel awful.”
“Yep. She’s pretty upset, but she’s trying to hide it from Layla and doesn’t want me to make a big deal out of it. She’s hoping Layla will get used to the situation and that she’s jealous, thinking that Ian’s daughters are taking her place. Georgia wants to let Layla visit her whenever she likes, and hopes she’ll get used to the new situation.”
“And what do you think?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Michael. “I don’t want to force Layla to go and stay with her mum if she doesn’t want to, but I think we need to find out what the problem really is. If it’s honestly just that the girls don’t get on, hopefully that’s something that can be worked on.”
“That seems sensible.” Carrie’s mind was whirring, wondering if there was anything she could do to help.
“This is just whole new territory, and it’s hard to navigate,” Michael admitted. “It’s the first time Georgia’s introduced a boyfriend to Layla. She’d dated, but nothing serious enough to bring Layla into the equation.”
“It’s a tricky situation.”
“Yeah . . .”
“Have you, um, dated much since you and Georgia broke up?” Carrie dared to ask. The alcohol must have been giving her courage.
“No,” said Michael, with a shrug. “The life of a humble bookbinder seems destined to be a single one.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“Well, it’s certainly not easy to meet women in my line of work and then there’s the living in a small town. You may also have noticed that I’m not the most outgoing person in the world.”
“You threw that barbeque — that’s pretty outgoing,” said Carrie.
“A one-off, I assure you. How about you? Have you dated since you and Poppy’s dad broke up?” Michael asked.
“No,” said Carrie, picking absently at the label on her beer bottle. “My priority’s been Poppy and... Oh, this is going to sound really stupid,” she said, putting her bottle down on the coffee table and holding her head in her hands.
