“I don’t want to upset her.”
“She’d want to know what’s going on,” said Carrie, kindly. “Maybe it might be better to speak with your dad first and then you can talk to your mum together?”
“Do I have to tell Dad about what happened in Boots?”
“That’s completely up to you,” said Carrie. “He won’t hear about it from me,” she reassured.
Layla gave a little smile.
“I’ll talk to Dad about Kara and Esme,” she said.
“I know this is a really hard thing for you to deal with. Know that I’m always available if you need to chat about it or anything else.”
“Thanks, Carrie,” Layla said, now being the one to instigate the hug.
Layla was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I wish you were staying here and that you were Dad’s girlfriend. Then it would be like Poppy was my little sister.”
Carrie didn’t know what to say. This was definitely not the way she’d expected the conversation to go.
“And I think you’d be a really cool stepmum. Plus, you make my dad happy.”
“I do?” Carrie croaked.
“Oh yeah. He’s always in such a good mood now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so much.”
Carrie fought to keep her face from breaking into a grin. “I’m glad you told me that, thank you,” she said. She had no idea Layla felt this way, and after her conversation with Michael the night before, she knew neither of them was looking for a relationship. Layla was being lovely, but who knows how she’d feel if her dad was actually dating Carrie, and she could morethan understand Michael not wanting to risk it after what had happened with Georgia dating Ian.
“So . . . do you think you and my dad . . .?”
“I really like your dad,” Carrie said, “and I’m grateful to have him as a friend, but Poppy and I will be returning to London in a few weeks.”
Layla’s face fell and Carrie gave her a squeeze. “We’ll be back to visit, I promise. And I bet we can fit in loads of fun stuff before Poppy and I leave.”
“I figured it was worth asking,” Layla said, making Carrie laugh.
“If you’re OK shelving those for a few minutes, I’ll go and make us a cup of tea,” Carrie suggested.
“Sure,” said Layla. “I’ll be fine.”
Carrie headed into the bookshop’s kitchen and filled the kettle. She needed a couple of minutes to herself to process the conversation. She felt so sorry for what Layla was going through. How could those two girls have been so unkind to her?
She also felt for Georgia. The conversation she and Layla were going to be having was not an easy one, and she wouldn’t want to be in her situation.
Of course, what was also going through her mind was what Layla had said about her and her dad. She loved that Layla thought that she made her dad happy, and for a moment she allowed herself to imagine being with Michael. But no. There was no guarantee that Layla would continue feeling that way, and the poor girl was already going through enough. Plus, Carrie would be back in London in just a few weeks. Starting something with Michael would only make that harder than she already knew it would be. That didn’t stop her imagining what they’d be like together though.
She took as long as she reasonably could making the teas and processing everything that was going on in her mind before she went back out to help Layla.
Chapter 13
Carrie spent the following day wondering how things were going for Layla. Layla had left the previous evening determined to speak with her dad. An hour or so after she’d gone, Carrie had received a text from Michael saying simply,Thank you. From that she guessed it had gone well, but the real test would be when poor Layla spoke with her mum.
Carrie was left wondering until Wednesday. She was in the bookshop with Poppy and was about to close up for lunch when Michael and Layla walked in.
“Hello, you two,” she said as lightly as she could. “How are Tabitha and the kittens?”
“Definitely making my allergies worse,” said Michael, blowing his nose.
“They’re doing really well,” Layla said. “I think their eyes are going to open soon!”
