Page 27 of A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton

‘Upstairs still.’ A grumpy expression passed over Luca’s face as he said it. ‘He’s cross.’

‘Oh really?’ Marc raised an eyebrow. ‘Don’t tell me you two have been squabbling on your birthday?’

Luca shook his head vigorously. ‘He’s a poo head.’

‘That’s a bit harsh,’ Marc quipped. ‘He only got poo on his head once, that we know of.’

Luca’s grumpy face morphed into a smile. ‘You’re silly.’

‘I know.’ Marc handed Luca the beakers. ‘Put these on the table while I go and see what’s up with Liam.’

As he went upstairs, before he got to grips with whatever had annoyed Liam this time, he thought back to his conversation on the driveway with Lauren. She intrigued him. She was certainly attractive, with a pretty smile and a calm manner that made him want to be around her. Of the few dates he’d been on after Tessa, the women he’d met had all been outgoing, settled in their careers and sometimes, like him, on the other side of a relationship, mostly a divorce or separation. He gave himself a mental telling-off; Tessa had always reminded him that he shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. The way Lauren had responded to his gentle suggestion that they meet for a drink had been almost gauche, as if she’d never been asked out in that way. Perhaps men are a bit more direct in the West Country. He smiled to himself. Perhaps I’d have had a better response if I’d just shown up outside the café on a tractor and offered her a pint of Scrumpy and a roll in the hay!

He was still grinning when he reached the boys’ bedroom. Inside, Liam was sitting on the bed, clearly in a sulk.

‘What’s up, bud?’ Marc asked, sitting down next to him.

Liam shook his head. ‘I hate Luca.’

Sighing inwardly, Marc prepared himself to do an intervention that the United Nations would be proud of. ‘And why’s that, then?’

‘He invited Kyle to our party, and I wanted to. Kyle’s my friend, not his.’

‘So is Joe not your friend, then?’

‘Not as much as Kyle.’

‘I see.’ Marc pretended to consider this deeply. ‘So, what you’re really saying is that you’ve got two friends coming over, right? So, actually, Luca might have done you a favour.’

Liam considered this for a moment or two. ‘Maybe.’

‘Well,’ Marc dropped his voice conspiratorially. ‘Don’t tell Luca I said this, but you might need to look after him this afternoon. If you’ve got two good mates coming over, you need to make sure Luca can play, too, yeah?’

Liam looked fractionally happier. ‘Maybe.’

Score one for negotiation, Marc thought in quiet triumph. ‘So will you come down and help us to sort the food out?’

‘Okay.’ Liam hopped off the bed and darted out of the door.

Marc leaned back against the wall and let out a sigh. Conflict resolution in the Cold War would have been easier than treading a path between the twins. But if that was the only point of contention today, he’d have got off lightly.

As he walked back downstairs in Liam’s wake, he found his thoughts drifting back to Lauren. It would be lovely to get to know her better. But could he really find the time and space to include someone else in this chaotic life? Would it be fair? He put that out of his mind. Today was all about making sure the boys had a birthday to remember. If, indeed Lauren was at the pub on Christmas Eve, and by some miracle he could get down there, even for a bit, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. In the meantime, he had a party to organise. And a mission to make sure that the boys didn’t come to blows before the day was over.

25

‘Happy birthday, dear Liam-and-Luca… Happy birthday to you!’

Both boys beamed and then blew out the candles on their birthday cakes. Lauren had really come up trumps on the design. Marc was relieved and grateful. Often, his default setting as a parent was to treat every decision like an obstacle to be cleared, and by asking Lauren to make the cakes he felt as though he jumped sky high over that one. He decided to text Lauren later with a picture of the boys blowing out the candles.

‘Come on then, lads,’ Marc said, once they’d all tucked into a piece of delectable sponge. ‘It must be time to watch the movie.’

Cheers from all four little boys greeted this announcement, and as Marc cued up the film and Bella helped by sorting the popcorn, Marc felt as though he’d really pulled off this afternoon.

Kids happily ensconced, Marc, Bella and Noah kept a casual eye out for any potential disharmonies among the boys. Despite Liam’s initial grumbles about the guest list, all four of them had got on well, and Marc was able to relax a little.

‘Thanks again for coming over,’ he murmured to Bella. ‘I know you two probably have more exciting things to do on a Saturday afternoon.’

‘What, and miss the epic movie that is Dinos versus Robots: the second chapter?’ Noah grinned back at him. ‘Honestly, mate, it’s good to be here. I don’t think we’ve done enough of this as a family.’