Gino knew when words were useless. Brushing back the hair from the child’s forehead, he drew her to him and laid his lips against the swelling.
‘I think we look exactly alike,’ he said, ‘and if anyone thinks you’re my daughter, I’ll be honoured.’
Laura saw the look that came into the child’s face, and she knew that she was doing the right thing in this marriage.
There was another reason, but one that she wasn’t ready to face yet. The knowledge had come upon her suddenly and without warning, disconcerting and almost scaring her. She still needed to discover what she thought about it, and that was hard with Gino constantly around. There was no chance to stand back and consider when events were moving them closer every day.
A visit to a second-hand furniture shop produced a single bed that they pushed into Laura’s room to stand alongside hers, and a narrow wardrobe that they only just managed to get into the room.
‘Your things don’t take up very much space,’ Laura said, almost in dismay.
He shrugged. ‘I travel light, but don’t worry. I’ll buy a decent suit for the wedding. And there’s something else we ought to talk about.’
A hesitancy, almost an embarrassment in his voice made her look at him quickly, wondering what could follow.
‘I thought we’d covered everything,’ she said, trying to sound casual.
‘We haven’t discussed the help I’ll be giving you with this place. There must be all sorts of jobs I can do, and we must work out what they are. Cooking for instance. You know I’m good at that. I can do the evening meal, and if you insist on still working at the pub I can do breakfast next day, so you can sleep in a bit. We should draw up a roster-is something the matter?’
‘No,’ she said quickly, hoping there wasn’t a note of hysteria in her voice.
‘Then why are you laughing?’
‘It’s the thought of you, drawing up a roster! I didn’t know you were so organised. The state of your room-’
‘Never mind that,’ he said hastily. ‘Just because I’m untidy doesn’t mean I’m not organised.’
‘Doesn’t it?’ she asked innocently.
‘It’ll be better if we make a plan,’ he said, grinning in reluctant acknowledgement. ‘All right, you make the plan, I’ll just follow it.’
‘It’s a lovely idea, Gino, but are you sure you want to?’
‘I’m not just going to be the lodger any more,’ he reminded her quietly.
‘Then I’ll be very glad.’
And that, she thought wryly, would teach her to have unrealistic hopes.
But she cherished their moment of shared humour. It would make the future possible.
Before they left the room she said, ‘What about your family in Italy? Will they be coming?’
‘No,’ he said briefly. ‘Now, come and let me show you how well I can cook eggs and bacon.’
He was gone, hurrying downstairs before she could ask any more questions.
On the appointed day they all went to the Register Office. A brief, dry legal ceremony, and Laura and Gino were husband and wife.
Sadie had a digital camera, courtesy of Compulor, and when they were outside she took picture after picture in various combinations: the bride and groom together, trying not to look too self-conscious; then the two of them with Nikki, standing just in front, beaming with joy; then Nikki and her new father, holding hands, smiling at each other. Looking at those pictures later, Laura knew that the huge gamble she’d taken was worth it.
How different from her first wedding day, when she’d worn a glamorous gown of satin and lace, the reception had been a huge affair at an expensive London hotel, and the guests had been show-business friends.
Now they returned to the boarding house to cut the wedding cake that had been Claudia’s gift, while Sadie busily downloaded pictures and printed them out as her gift. The happy couple were toasted in champagne, a gift from Mrs Baxter, who had returned with good news of her grandchild.
On that first wedding day the bride and groom had flown to the Caribbean for two weeks. Laura had been deliriously in love with a man who adored her. Their honeymoon lovemaking had been golden, ecstatic, and the future had stretched out, glittering with infinite promise.
Laura’s second wedding day ended with her going to work behind the bar, after which her new husband collected her and they walked home quietly together. He made her a cup of tea and they talked for a while about nothing much. Finally they looked in on their sleeping daughter, and went to their room.
There they lay down in their separate beds and each lay alone, staring into the darkness.
After a while Gino raised himself on his elbow and listened until he was sure Laura was sleeping. He got out of bed and went to sit by the window, looking out onto the dark street, and beyond it the park where his life had changed for ever.
He’d done it, he thought, with wry self-mockery. Gino, the playboy who’d always loved lightly, except once, to whom life was a laugh, had made a sensible, arranged marriage, because now that was the only kind of marriage he could make.
He knew he’d surprised Laura by agreeing so readily, but her suggestion had found an echo in his own thoughts. She’d made it easy for him, laying out the terms methodically, saying in every way but words that she was still in love with Steve Deyton, and that he, Gino, was second-best.
His passionate love for Alex, and its brutal ending, had left him in a desert. He must find a purpose for his life, or live in that desert for ever. Love was over, but there was still the warm affection he felt for Laura, and the knowledge that to Nikki he was a blessing. That would have to be enough. He would make it enough.
‘And that’s me set for life,’ he thought with a faint smile. ‘Next stop, middle age. Tomorrow I’ll buy a pipe and slippers.’
He stayed by the window until the first light of dawn began creeping through the streets. Then he dropped a light kiss on his wife’s forehead, being careful not to wake her, and got into bed.
Laura lay without moving, alert behind her closed eyelids, as she had been all night. She had known the moment when Gino went to the window. She had sensed every move he made, practically every breath he drew.
To the last moment she’d clung to the hope that he would take her into his arms and say to hell with their agreement, this was their wedding night and he was going to make love to her.
But when he merely kissed her and turned away she took a long slow breath and told herself to be sensible. She had been sensible for years now, but suddenly it was very hard.
To Nikki’s joy, the circus came to town. Claudia and Sadie astonished everyone by revealing that they were circus nuts.
‘But only if there are no performing animals,’ Claudia said gravely. ‘That we couldn’t countenance.’
‘But we’re assured that there are only acrobats and clowns,’ Sadie chimed in. ‘And we wondered if Nikki would like to come with us.’
Nikki nodded vigorously, and the visit was planned for a Saturday evening. Mrs Baxter was away, staying with her son to help out with the new baby. Bert and Fred had gone out to a football match that would probably end in an evening out with ‘the lads’. So once the trio had left for the circus the house was much quieter than usual.
Laura was looking forward to a meal alone with Gino, and when the phone rang she crossed her fingers, hoping that it was nothing important.
‘I’ll get it,’ Gino said, going out into the hall. ‘Hello?’
‘Is Laura there?’
‘Who wants her?’
‘It’s Mark.’
He’d been meaning to ask Laura about the mysterious ‘Mark’ who called her up out of the blue and for whom she would dash off at a moment’s notice. But the pressure of events had driven it out of his mind, until now.
‘Can you tell me what it’s about?’ he asked.
‘I really need to talk to her urgently. Is she there?’
‘I’ll fetch her,’ Gino said through gritted teeth. ‘By the way, you’re talking to her husband.’
Laura was already emerging from the kitchen, her eyebrows raised in a query.
‘It’s Mark,’ Gino said, adding with heavy significance, ‘he needs to talk to you urgently.’
