I think he’s facing the wall. His voice sounds closer.
‘While I was making our tea, I wrote down a few ideas for a book.’
‘Really?’
‘This old house has given me some ideas.’
He needs to return to writing. It will do him good. ‘That’s great news,’ I say.
There’s a long pause, and I wonder whether he’s fallen asleep. ‘I’m struggling a bit at the moment, Nelly.’
‘I know.’
He stays silent for ages. I don’t try to fill the gap.
‘Do you know about what happened to me a few years ago?’
‘I know about the reality TV show.’
‘Oh.’
‘That must have been incredibly tough for you.’
‘It was.’ He sighs. ‘I feel like I am in a revolving door of pain right now. Coming back here was a bad decision.’
‘Whydidyou come back here?’
‘Molly, my ex-girlfriend, grew up near here. She’s moved back to be nearer her parents.’
I stay silent.
‘She’s living with Rory, my ex-best mate.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Ah, so that’s who Rory is.
There’s another lengthy silence. ‘The day before Molly went on that reality TV show, she told me she was pregnant.’
I stare in horror towards the pillow wall.
‘It was early in the pregnancy, like five weeks, and not something we had planned. She told me that while she was on the show, she would consider what she wanted to do.’
He sniffs, and I wonder whether he’s getting emotional. ‘When she came off the show, she had to go into hiding because the public turned on her after the way she’d treated me. Even though she’d done that to me, I stood by her as she was pregnant with my child.’
I can’t believe what I am hearing. Nothing that I read online mentioned a child. That was so brave of him for standing by Molly.
His voice is cracking. ‘We broke up before Alfie was born.’
The name Alfie lights up my mind. Alfie was who he was talking about in his sleep. ‘You have a son. That’s amazing.’
‘Yes, he’s two years old. He’s fantastic and he loves his teddy and big red toy trucks.’
The jigsaw pieces of Oliver are starting to fit together in my mind.
He sniffs. ‘I’ve moved back here for him and to help Molly with co-parenting. I didn’t want to be a father who lives in London and sees his son only on weekends. I want to do the school picks up, homework and watch his class assemblies.’
Hearing him talk about his plans for Alfie makes me smile. I can hear the excitement in his voice.
