‘Is she okay?’ he asked, sweetly concerned.
‘Oh, she’s ace.’
‘Mum.’
‘Yes, love?’
He lifted the wooden bench and pulled the end around, so it was facing her, before sitting down. ‘I want to be honest with you.’
‘Well, that’s always very much appreciated!’
Instantly, she wondered what he had been less than honest about and also noted her rather jolly tone, trying to mask her fear. Was Angela right, did she laugh things off?
‘Christmas wasn’t the only thing that Iris and I argued about, although that was the final thing, for sure.’
‘What else did you argue about?’ Enya did her best to control the quake to her voice, as she had the distinct feeling that whatever he was about to impart was not necessarily something she wanted to hear.
‘Okay.’ He took his time, as if digging deep to find the courage. ‘This is going to sound nuts, or like I’m checking up on you, and I’m not, I’m really not!’ He opened his hands out, palms facing upwards, as if to demonstrate that he came in peace.
‘What? Just say it! You’re making me nervous!’
‘It’s just that, I’m not that observant, but Iris is.’ His mouth curved at no more than the thought of her, a good sign that this young love might not, after all, be dead in the water. ‘She’s pretty good at the detail and stuff.’
‘Right.’ She had no idea where this was heading.
‘That time when we called you from The Mount, do you remember? Last week, when Iris and Trish wanted to show you the ribbon colours for the cake and talk about chairs and the decorations and stuff, when they invited you over for the barbecue. We FaceTimed you.’
‘Erm...’ She wrinkled her nose, did she remember that call? ‘Yes, vaguely.’ She did her best to keep her somersaulting gut at bay, blowing upwards with her bottom lip protruding, knowing she could at least blame the beads of sweat on her top lip on the intense heat.
‘Okay, well, don’t get defensive or mad.’
‘Oh, my goodness! Don’t you start! I do not!’
There was an uncomfortable beat of hesitation after she raised her voice. Aiden stared at her. ‘Shall I come back later?’ He gestured towards the house.
‘No!’ she inadvertently barked, and again rubbed her eyes. ‘Just, just tell me what you wanted to say.’
‘You were at the kitchen table.’
‘I recall.’ Her mouth went dry. Dominic had been so certain he was out of shot, out of range, but what if... She felt a little light-headed, a little nauseous; just the thought of having to conjure a lie to cover their deceitful tracks was awful.
‘There was a bottle of wine on the kitchen table.’
‘Guilty as charged!’ She laughed, in the most natural fashion she could manage.
‘And there were two glasses, two wine glasses.’
‘No there weren’t.’ It felt easiest to say this, to deflect, to hold her gaze steady and not give in to the desire to scream that was building in her throat. Not that it felt comfortable or came easily to her, none of it.
‘There were, Mum. Iris took a still, a screenshot, a picture.’
‘She did?’ Her voice was thin with discovery and guilt, and more than a little irritation at Iris’s sleuthing. Her guilt made the whole topic most uncomfortable.
‘Yep, and she’s right, two wine glasses.’
‘I must have used one and grabbed another and, what can I say?’ Again, that laugh, she had no idea where it came from. ‘I do it with coffee mugs and teacups, often have a couple on the go.’ She sounded defensive and she knew it.
‘They were both full of wine. I mean, sure, if one was empty and you misplaced it and filled another, but are you telling me you were drinking from two glasses at the same time?’
