‘I’m not marrying Serena,’ he replied carefully. ‘We just thought it might be nice if she came to live here.’
Ella frowned. ‘But she’s your girlfriend. Does that mean she’d be sort of like a mummy?’
Guy didn’t know the answer to that. In darker moments during the past year or two when other people had made pointed comments and guilt had mingled with the weight of parental responsibility, he had wondered whether he should simply find himself a wife, a suitable stepmother for the children, and stop waiting for it to happen. It, he thought, was taking its time.
Love didn’t grow on trees.There had been more than enough willing candidates, God knows, but the ones who would have made ideal stepmothers had never captured his interest and those with whom he had become briefly involved had on the whole been wildly unsuited for the task.
And it was a hell of a task for any woman; he knew that. But of all of them, at least Serena had had the guts to be honest with him from the start. Young children weren’t something she was familiar with. She was sure Josh and Ella were perfectly nice but if he didn’t mind she’d prefer to take her time getting to know them. Besides, she had added, who knew how their own relationship would work out? There didn’t seem much point in getting too emotionally involved with the kids if all they ended up doing was splitting up. That would only cause them more unnecessary pain.
It might be a pessimistic attitude, but it was practical. Guy was willing to give it a go. Just because he had fallen in love with Veronique within minutes of meeting her didn’t mean it always had to happen that way. Maybe this time with Serena, it would simply unfold at a gradual pace.
Ella, wearing pale pink pyjamas and Mickey Mouse slippers, was curled up beside him on the sofa. Reaching for the doll she had been playing with earlier she began replaiting its blond nylon hair.
‘No, Serena’s just ... Serena,’ said Guy cautiously, in reply to her question. ‘She’s a friend.’
‘So we aren’t going to be a whole family?’ Ella gazed up at him, eyes serious.
He gestured towards Josh, sitting on the floor in front of them. ‘The three of us are a family, sweetheart. You know that.’
‘Serena’s just Dad’s girlfriend.’ It was Josh’s turn to explain the situation to his young sister. ‘She isn’t part of our family because she isn’t related to us. The only way she can get related is if Dad married her, but even thenshe’d only be a distant relation.’ Glancing at Guy for confirmation, he added cheerfully, ‘Like that man who gave us the money the other week, our grandfather. He’s a distant relation too. It means they can buy you presents but they aren’t allowed to tell you off.’
Guy hesitated, then nodded. This particular matter had yet to be sorted out. All he’d got so far each time he’d attempted to call his father was the answering machine.
Ella, however, brightened. ‘He was nice! When are we going to see him again?’
‘I don’t know, sweetheart. We’ll have to see. Now, are you happy about Serena moving in?
Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?’
She shrugged. ‘I don’t mind. As long as she isn’t allowed to tell us off.’
‘That’s what Maxine does,’ said Josh earnestly. ‘It’s her job.’
Ella finished fiddling with the doll’s springy hair. ‘And teaching me how to do plaits,’ she said with pride. ‘Daddy, will Serena sleep in the same bed as you when she starts living here?’
Guy nodded once more. For the sake of appearances, Serena had been occupying the guest room for the past week. From now on, however, the subterfuge was going to have to come to an end. ‘Yes sweetheart, she will.’
‘Poor Serena,’ said Ella with a sigh. ‘She’s really going to hate it when you snore.’
Chapter 21
The trouble with liking the sound of someone from the letter they had written in reply to an advert, Janey decided, was that it didn’t tell you everything about them. Certain vital details only emerged later, when it was too late to say you’d changed your mind after all and that although you hadn’t even got to know them yet you just knew it wasn’t going to work out.
If James Blair had only mentioned in passing that he had a laugh like a donkey on helium, for example, she would have crossed him off her list faster than you could say snort. As it was, he only hit her with the awful reality of it after introducing himself in person, in the foyer of the theatre where they had arranged to meet prior to seeing a play in which his sister had a starring role.
He wasn’t afraid to use it either. To her dismay, Janey realized that the play was billed as a comedy. All James had done so far was buy her a gin and tonic prior to curtain-up, and he’d laughed five times already. Everyone was turning to stare. One poor woman, standing unsuspectingly with her back to him, was so startled by the incredible noise that she’d spilled her drink down her blouse. It was a loud laugh that erupted abruptly, exploded out of all control and didn’t know when to stop. If James Blair had wanted to forewarn her about it in his letter, he could have described it as: Bleugh-huuu ... eek ... bleugghh-huuu ... eek eek eek ...
blaaaahhhuuuhuuu ... eek. Now she was stuck with it for the next ninety minutes at the very least. She didn’t know which was worse, the sound of the laugh or the curiosity and barely concealed amusement of every other theatre-goer within earshot.
I’m a shallow, spineless person, Janey reprimanded herself, and James is probably a very kind man. Just because he doesn’t laugh like other people, there is absolutely no reason at all to wish I was anywhere in the world but here.
But it was no good. James was still laughing, people were still staring and the play, now due to start in less than three minutes, was described in her programme as ‘rip-roaring, rib-tickling, fun, fun, fun!’
‘Marvellous play,’ declared James, taking her arm in order to steer her back towards the bar when it was over. ‘I can’t remember when I last enjoyed myself so much. Didn’t you think it was marvellous, Janey?’
‘It’s awfully late.’ Damp patches of perspiration had formed under Janey’s arms; she could feel them as she glanced at her watch. ‘I really think I should be making a move.’
‘Oh, but I told my sister we’d meet her for a drink after the show. You can stay for another ten minutes, surely?’
He looked so crestfallen she hadn’t the heart to refuse. He wasn’t her type, but he was undeniably decent.
‘OK,’ she heard herself saying out of sheer guilt, ‘just a quick drink. Then I’m afraid I really will have to
