She thought he wasflying. He opened his mouth to correct her, but wasn’t the whole plan to make her think that? What if that was why she came back to him? If she knew the truth, would she be here?
“It was a struggle,” Tom said, forcing a grin. “What with my flying and all, but I’m glad you said it.”
He reached across the table, stroking her hand that was wrapped around her mug.
“I’m glad too,” she said, smiling at him. He leaned a bit closer, to see if it reached her eyes. He wasn’t going to take any chances.
Despite Tom thinking they had a whole weekend stretched out ahead of them, Sophie left after breakfast to go back and read through her script. He was pleased for her, he thought, as he made his way to his dad’s house. This was a different version of Sophie. She was lighter and happier and she had focus. It was what she’d wanted when they were together, and now that she had it, maybe everything would be different. It would be the relationship she wanted, and she’d stay.
Tom couldn’t help thinking that way. He couldn’t help worrying that if something changed even slightly, she might want to leave, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle that heartbreak twice. He wanted to relax into it and to trust how she felt, but it was difficult. It would just take time, but she was worth it.
To distract himself, Tom turned up at his dad and Laura’s, having offered to hang out with Martha for the afternoon. They’d replied with great enthusiasm and had met Tom at the door with Martha already bundled up in her biggest coat. He didn’t really want to think about what they were so eager to get up to inside. Probably laundry, he assured himself.
“Please be careful with her,” Laura said. “She’s been needing her inhaler quite a lot recently, so we’ve been taking it quite easy.”
“No problem,” Tom said, trying not to roll his eyes. “We’ll walk extra slow.”
Martha stepped out, joining Tom on the driveway.
“I’m guessing something happened with you and Sophie after your exhibition,” Laura said.
Tom nodded. “Yep. Turns out she isn’t too good for me, after all,” he replied. He couldn’t help it. He knew Laura probably talked Sophie into breaking up with him on The Worst Day, otherwise why had she been at their flat? Why had she left, and then Sophie ended things minutes later?
Laura frowned. “No one thought she was too good for you, Tom. Anyway,” she glanced down at Martha and back up. “Have fun.”
“We will,” Tom said and, before he could wonder if she had anything more to say, the door closed gently in his face. It seemed so unfair that, of all the women his dad could have picked, he’d chosen Laura.
“Three options, pal,” Tom said to Martha as they started walking. “Park. Pub. Hot chocolate.”
“With marshmallows?”
“Always with marshmallows.”
“Parkandhot chocolate?” Martha asked, jumping in the air and turning to look at him. He shrugged. He had no otherplans for the day and she would definitely stop him thinking too much about things.
“Fine, but you’re paying,” he said and she turned to him with her mouth wide open.
“I don’t have any money,” she said. “But Idohave these.” She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a handful of old dried flowers and some rocks.
“Perfect.”
There was something so calming about being with his sister. She lived in the moment. He was sure she must worry about things, but it was as though she voiced them and they were gone. He watched her now, flying across the monkey bars and making friends in the sandpit. The whole world was one big adventure to her. One big opportunity. He remembered a sign he saw on the wall of a pub once. “There are no strangers, only friends we have not met.” Martha definitely lived by that rule.
“Watch this,” she shouted to Tom before leaping off the side of a pirate ship and into the sand. She looked back at him and he did a double thumbs-up. If Laura had been there, she’d have stopped her or shouted at her. Told her to be careful. Tom wanted to be the one to encourage the opposite.
“Go, girl!” he shouted, raising his hands to his mouth as a mum glanced across at him and smirked. She definitely thought he was her dad.
“Okay,” Martha said eventually, approaching Tom at the picnic table. “I’m thirsty.” She gripped her throat and stuck her tongue out. “And tired.”
“Hot chocolate it is.”
They walked to the café in the courtyard of Kenwood House and Martha ran to a table inside, right by the radiator. Tom ordered a tea for himself and Martha’s hot chocolate supreme and sat down opposite her.
“So you and Sophie love each other again?” Martha asked, reaching onto the table and turning the bowl full of sugar sachets upside down so they spilled out onto the table.
Tom watched, not commenting. “That’s right,” he said instead, wondering if it was too soon to useloveand whether it was weird to question that when they’d been in love for so long already.
“So she didn’t want time by herself anymore? She stopped being a snake?” Martha started stacking the sugar sachets on top of each other, building some sort of saccharine tower, perhaps to make up for her vicious tongue.
