‘Ah, Charlie, you drenched me!’
‘Oh, he’s just having fun.’ Colette chuckled and kneeled down to say hello. ‘Hello there. You don’t know me but I’m an old friend of your mum’s. My name’s Colette.’
Kim smiled, watching her interact with Charlie on his own level. She truly had a natural way with children, which made it all the more heartbreaking that she couldn’t seem to have any of her own.
‘So how have you all been?’ Colette questioned as she took a seat at the table alongside Annie. ‘It seems much longer than five years.’
‘I saw you guys in London just after I had Lily, remember?’ Kim reminded. ‘So not that long for us.’
‘But I definitely haven’t seen you since before our wedding,’ Colette said to Annie. ‘Charlie was just a baby then. And look at him now …’
‘I know. Again, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it,’ Annie stated. ‘How’s Ed?’
Colette’s features twitched infinitesimally. ‘Ah, you know, all work, work, work,’ she mused, as she tried to pass off her obvious unease.
Kim really needed to be getting back to work but she so wanted to stay here and linger over pina coladas and catch up with them for as long as she could.Even if hers needed to be a virgin one. She wrestled hard with herself, unable to believe that there was another snag, yet another fire to put out.
It was getting to the point where it would be a miracle if the launch happened at all.
‘Charlie really is growing up so fast, Annie,’ Colette was saying.
‘I can’t believe it either. It’s as if he was born yesterday.’
‘He doesn’t look so much like you, though. Perhaps he’s more like his dad?’
The colour seemed to drain from Annie’s face at this and Kim was surprised that the topic of Charlie’s dad would have such an effect on her friend, given that she’d always been so open about the fact that it was just an ill-fated encounter.
‘He’s a great kid,’ Kim put in quickly. ‘So happy and fun-loving, and I have no doubt that he’ll make you really proud.’
‘He already does,’ Annie said with a smile. ‘And what about you, Kim? How are you finding motherhood these days?’
‘Oh, where’s Lily? Is she here?’ Colette chimed in, looking around.
‘Aw, you just missed her and Gabriel, but you’ll see them later, I’m sure.’
‘Do you have any pictures? I’d love to see them.’
Kim flipped the cover open on her phone case and entered her passcode. She flicked her finger upwards in rapid succession as she looked for the most recent photos she had of her daughter.
The further down the list she went, the worse she began to feel. She really was her mother’s daughter.
There were tons of pictures of the villa project, some professional shots for social media, and other stuff she’d been sent for approval from the marketing department.
Finally, she found a few from a weekend trip earlier in the year. Gabriel had insisted she take a break from the seemingly endless villa preparations, and the three of them had headed to the Hamptons for a few days.
Kim still had to work most of the time but there were a few occasions when she took an hour or two away to focus on him and Lily.
‘We went boating,’ she commented, as she handed the phone to Colette, feeling a little on edge as she watched her pass the phone in turn to Annie, who seemed even more curious.
‘You all take such perfect pictures,’ she sighed as she handed the phone back, but Kim thought she noticed an edge to her tone. ‘Lily looks sooo like her dad. No offence, Kim, but I can’t really see you in her except for the colour of her hair.’
‘That’s probably for the best,’ she chuckled ruefully. The fact that her daughter looked more like Gabe and called for him when she was frightened or couldn’t sleep didn’t really bother her. Kim had work to do and she did it. He had more time.
‘Kim?’ Colette’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
‘Sorry, what?’
‘I was just saying that it might be nice to head over to Positano for dinner for old times’ sake later, if you can spare an evening. A good excuse for the three of us to catch up before everything gets too crazy for you. What do you think?’
