She watched as Rosa turned and headed back towards the car park, waiting until she was out of sight before heading back to the office.
Barely five steps later, she recognised the face of a woman smiling at her.
“Hi, Billy,” Pippa said with a wave.
“Oh, hey,” Billy said. She twisted around to make sure Rosa was gone. “How are you?”
“Good, thanks. All settled back in after the trip? Robbie had such a good time—she hasn’t stopped talking about the skiing they did.”
“Yes, I think we all got something out of it.”
“Must have been a nice opportunity to spend time together as a family. Was that Rosa I saw heading off?”
“Uh…” Billy twisted around again, as if Rosa might suddenly pop up and deal with this for her. “Yes, it was.” She didn’t add anything further.
“Well, it was great to see you. Pop into the café one day—we can have a catch up.” She leant in, kissed Billy’s cheek, and gave her a friendly hug. “Bring Rosa.”
“Sure…have a great day.” Billy waved and set off, not eager to get any more involved in a Rosa-focused conversation.
By the time she made it back to the office, she’d forgotten all about Pippa catching them together. She was more concerned with making sure she and Rosa didn’t mess up. Rosa was right—the last thing they needed to do was cause Imogen any more heartbreak over her parents.
Niamph grinned as Billy shook off her coat and hung it over the back of her chair.
“So, sneaking off for lunch now too, huh?”
“There was no sneaking—not really—and there was no…” Billy leant forward. “It was actually a proper chat between parents about their child. Not hanky panky.”
“Shame.” Niamph winked, then turned serious. “Everything’s okay, though, yeah? With Imogen?”
“Yes, I think so, but Rosa is worried, and she’s got a point. We need to make sure we get this right between us.”
“Because Imogen won’t like it?”
“No, because this is all Imogen wants,” Billy said, taking her seat at the desk.
Niamph’s eyes went wide. “She knows?”
Billy shook her head. “No, just a general conversation she had with Rosa last night about wishing we’d fought harder to stay together so she could have had a proper family.”
“If only she knew.” Niamph smirked.
“I know, and I’d have been okay with telling her beforehand, but now…I’m not so sure. I think Rosa is right to be concerned. Like Imogen, I want nothing more than for us to be a proper family again, but I can handle things if it all goes wrong. I’m not so sure either of them can.”
“Billy, nothing will go wrong. You love them and they know it…they both want it.”
“That’s what I keep reminding myself.” Billy smiled. “Whatever it takes, I want my family back.”
Chapter forty-eight
“Okay, so all I want you to do right now is to clear tables and get things into the dishwasher,” Georgia said to Imogen.
Robbie stood beside her in a matching T-shirt withAston’sprinted across the back. They both wore black aprons tied around their waists as well.
“I can do that,” Imogen said.
“Of course you can.” Georgia smiled. “Just watch Robbie and see how she does things and you’ll have the hang of it in no time.”
Robbie grinned at Imogen.
