‘Not quite that good. I’m in charge of the project.’ Dean wore a grin from ear to ear.
‘Dean, that’s amazing news.’ Vernon stopped walking and clapped his arms around him.
‘I’m lost. Explain please,’ Hayley said, feeling a little left out.
‘Oliver Drummond signed off on the Globe today. We’re launching in March and it’s my job to coordinate the whole thing, to make sure it happens,’ Dean explained, still smiling.
‘That’s… so cool. It is cool, isn’t it? It’s not going to be too much for you? Have you got enough time to take it on?’ Hayley asked.
‘Hay, I’ve been waiting so long for something like this. As much as I like Peter, he hasn’t exactly been pushing me towards running projects like this. It’s a huge opportunity,’ Dean told her.
Of course it was. It was what her brother was good at. Managing. Being utterly competent and clever. He was in his element. And he was such a lovely person, he deserved every ounce of his success. Unlike her, with her lack of full-time job and a mission to track down an ex-lover.
She broke, bursting into heavy, hot tears.
‘Hayley?’ Dean said, as Hayley turned away from him, her hands up to her face.
She was so embarrassed, yet she couldn’t stop. ‘I’m OK,’ she forced out, as thick, wet streams fell from her eyes and almost froze on her cheeks.
‘I’ll catch up with Angel,’ she heard Vernon say softly.
She felt Dean take a step towards her and she wafted her hand in the air. ‘Don’t hug me. I’m being an idiot.’
‘You’re not being an idiot,’ Dean said in a consoling voice.
‘I am. It’s the jet lag, that’s all, or maybe looking at paintings of pigs with three tails.’
‘Are you sure? Has something happened at home?’
Hayley shook her head, turning finally to face him. ‘Nothing’s happened. I just…’ She stopped.
‘Tell me, Hay, please,’ Dean begged.
She looked across the park at Angel. She was throwing a stick for Randy, getting encouragement from Vernon. She needed to talkto her daughter, properly. She deserved to know the truth now. She raised her eyes to meet Dean’s anxious expression.
‘I quit my job and Angel wants to find her father.’
There. She’d told someone. A slight lightening of her shoulders occurred and she blew out a breath as if she’d been holding it in her whole life.
It was Dean’s turn to exhale. ‘Well, you know what I think about your job? I think you can do better than a dry-cleaning company. I’m glad. And you’ll find something else. Hey, maybe this is a chance to pick up your college course again? Get back into fashion?’
Hayley thought about her ideas book with the beginnings of a couture dress shaped like the Guggenheim. It was hardly Vivienne Westwood.
‘So what has Angel said about her father?’ Dean asked.
‘Nothing. I mean, she hasn’t spoken to me about it at all. And half of me wishes she would and the other half hopes she doesn’t.’
‘Then how do you know she wants to find him?’
Hayley sighed, remembering the very moment she’d made the decision to come here.
‘Because she made a wish to God and Father Christmas. And I was standing outside her bedroom door.’ Hayley paused. ‘I heard her. She tagged it onto the end of her prayers, Dean. She said, if Father Christmas or God were listening, there was only one present she really wanted…’ The emotion was trying to get the better of her again. She took a breath. ‘She would like to meet her dad.’
This time, when Dean moved to comfort her, she let him. She buried her face into his woollen coat, sniffing hard to control the tears. Dean’s hand was in her hair and she let his warmth and his love wash over her for a moment.
‘This was always going to happen, Hay. And to be honest, she’s so bright, I’m surprised she hasn’t asked before now.’
‘I know.’ She lifted her head up. ‘And that’s half the issue. She hasn’t actuallyasked, Dean. She’s made a wish she thinks I don’t know about. Because she feels she can’t talk to me about it.’
