‘I bet he does.’ He sounds disdainful.
‘The last time he bumped into Nicki was when you guys were about to get married. He didn’t know you’d had a baby girl.’
‘Right, okay.’
I frown at him. This subject is not going down too well.
‘Do you fancy doing something tomorrow?’ I ask. ‘We could do a boat trip to one of the islands maybe.’
‘You don’t need to do more research?’
‘Thatisresearch. I can write about the places we visit, the things we do.’
‘I feel like Isak should be showing you Thailand, not me. That’s who Timo is based on, after all,’ he says sulkily.
‘Hey,’ I chide, sitting up and swinging my feet off the sofa and back onto the floor so I’m facing him. ‘What’s going on?’ I demand to know. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It’s true, isn’t it? I did Cornwall, he should do Thailand.’
‘It’s not real, Charlie. You said it yourself, it’s only a story.’
‘She was obviously inspired by this place, by him. Maybe that’s where you should be getting your inspiration also.’
‘No, thank you,’ I say impertinently. ‘I can get plenty of information for the book, regardless of who I’m with.’ And then, and I say this without pausing for thought, ‘Anyway, if anyone inspires me, it’s you.’
We stare at each other for a long moment.
‘And April,’ I add.
He sits forward and rakes his hand roughly through his hair. ‘Sorry, I don’t know what’s got into me tonight,’ he mutters. ‘I’m feeling a bit, I don’t know, low.’
‘Youdidmiss my company,’ I say with a grin.
He flashes me a smile at last and I have an almost unbearable urge to go over and straddle his lap.
‘I did,’ he admits quietly, with a curious look of longing on his face. My breath catches.
There’s a cry from the direction of his bedroom. Charlie tenses as he waits to hear if April has woken up. Sure enough, she starts to wail.
‘Better go see to her,’ he says heavily. ‘Think I’ll hit the sack now, anyway.’
‘Okay. Me too. I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Night.’
I watch him edgily as he ambles back into his bedroom.
Chapter 42
Alain joins us again the next morning at our breakfast table. ‘Where are you going for dinner tonight?’ he asks.
‘We were thinking Thai,’ I reply.
‘Oh, abeautifulrestaurant.’ He shakes his head with incredulity. ‘The sunsets from the balcony are stunning. What will you do with my granddaughter?’
‘We’ll take her with us,’ Charlie says.
‘Oh, no!’ He looks dismayed. ‘You can’t enjoy the meal and the view with a baby! You must get a sitter.’
