‘I feel like crap, but I’ll live. I hope you and Dad don’t get it.’
‘Me too. It will be a right nuisance if none of us can function properly. We’d have to paint a big cross on the door.’
‘Huh?’
Zoe shook her head. ‘Never mind. It was a silly joke about what they used to do in the old days. Wasn’t even funny – don’t know why I thought it would be.’
‘Are you all right?’ Billie asked carefully.
‘Of course.’
‘I’m sorry I was so mean to you this morning.’
‘It’s fine. You had a lot on your plate – I know that.’
‘But I didn’t mean it.’
‘I know that too.’
‘And then you and Dad…you’re not going to leave, are you?’
Zoe regarded her for a moment. She should have realised the effect her argument would have on Billie, who had lost so many people in her life, people she cared about, that surely one of her biggest anxieties was losing more. She took a long time to let people in precisely because she was afraid to lose them once she’d got close. Zoe had worked hard to become her friend.
‘Is that what you think?’ she said finally.
Billie gave a faint shrug. ‘You still haven’t said.’
‘Iwould never end things here,’ Zoe said, keeping her tone as neutral as she could.
‘Dad’s mad about you.’
‘I’m mad about him too. You and Louisa as well. I think we make a good team.’
Billie was silent for a moment as she seemed to ponder Zoe’s words. ‘Maisie phoned me.’
Zoe’s forehead creased into a frown. ‘I’m sure she did.’
‘Do you really think Ezra is deaf?’
‘I don’t know, but there were things today that I couldn’t explain, so it makes sense to send him to someone who has more knowledge than me. If he is, the earlier we can detect that, the better we can help him and Maisie deal with it.’
‘Ezra’s dad will never want anything to do with him now.’
‘You don’t know that. Anyway, I thought he was out of the picture.’
‘He was, but Maisie said she sent a photo anyway, and he’d been texting her again. Like they might get back together.’
‘She hasn’t said anything about that to me.’
‘She’s not going to, is she?’
‘And I can’t say he sounds like the most reliable lad. He’s messed her around all through the pregnancy, and now he wants to pick up like he did nothing wrong? And if he rejects Ezra just because there might be a problem, then he wasn’t worth the effort in the first place.’
‘That’s what I said. He sounds like a dickhead, and I told her she should steer clear.’
‘I’m glad she’s got you to talk to.’ Zoe got up. ‘I need a drink. Do you want anything from the kitchen?’
‘I might have a sleep here.’
