“Great,” Tom said, his face lighting up. He pointed at his smile and then nodded at Daisy, encouraging her to smile too. They sat like that, side by side, until the bus reached Goodge Street and she jumped off. Tom was right. It really did make you feel better.
Chapter Twelve
Tom
Looking back, Tom probably should have asked if Daisy could do another day for the makeover, given that he always had Martha on Wednesdays, but she was doing him a favor and he didn’t want to let her down. Instead he’d called his dad that morning, knowing that if Martha didn’t have advanced warning of the change of plan, she would be inconsolable at the news of no ice cream. To his surprise, Martha had screamed in delight at the prospect of an afternoon clothes shopping instead, provided there was an ice cream thrown in at some point.
Laura, on the other hand, was confused.
“You’re doing what?” she asked, taking the phone from Martha to stare at the screen, something she rarely did, which caused Tom to flinch. He wasn’t used to having his dad’s wife’s face staring back at him.
“I need some new clothes and I thought Martha could help,” he said. It was only as he ran through the plan in his head that he realized the genius of it. Daisy would be there and Martha would meet her and then Martha would go home and tell Laura. Between the two of them, it was definitely going to get back to Sophie.
“She’ll be tired. She does PE on Wednesdays,” Laura said.
“I know. I’ll make sure she eats and rests and hydrates, don’t worry.”
Laura frowned. “What’s the urgent hurry for new clothes?” she asked.
“No urgent hurry, it’s just organized for today.”
Laura looked away from the phone. “Hold on,” she said.
His dad reappeared.
“Hiya, Tom.” He came way too close to the screen, his jet-black hair ruffled and slight stubble on his chin. Tom could see objectively that his dad was a good-looking man, he just wasn’t sure he was good-looking enough to end up with someone young enough to be his daughter.
“Hey, Dad!” Tom said, giving a small wave.
“You okay?” his dad asked, concern on his face.
“Yes. Why?”
“Well what’s the urgency for new clothes?”
Tom laughed. “Your wife just asked me that.”
“I know, and I’m backing her up. It’s weird.”
“Is it?” Tom frowned.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you always go for ice cream on Wednesdays. It’s a thing.”
“I want to buy clothes,” Martha shouted and there was a sharpness to her voice, which meant things were about to escalate.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Tom’s dad said. “Clothes it is.”
Tom didn’t bother to comment on the very different approach to parenting his dad had with Martha. It was best not to.
“Great. It’s a deal then. See you later, champ,” he shouted, hanging up so that his dad and Laura could no doubt delve into it in great detail, without him present.
And now, here they were, approaching Daisy outside John Lewis on Oxford Street with Martha quizzing Tom over and over about what his superpower would be if he were a Pokémon. No answer he gave was good enough for Martha and so they went on.
“Justflying is boring, you need to flyanddo something.”
