Ash gave her a squeeze. “Do you want to tell me exactly what she said, or is it too painful?” She needed to know what she was up against so she could help Sophie through this.
Sophie sniffed again. “She…she said I was way too young to know that’s how I felt. And that once I got a boyfriend, I’d be fine and forget about it all.” She wiped at her eyes. “And she said it was all nonsense anyway, that I was just copying you because I’d…I’d always thought you were cooler than her and it was just hero worship gone wrong. She said…she said you’d always been a bad influence on me and this was the final straw.” She started crying once more. “She said she’d stop you seeing me.”
A range of emotions chased themselves through Ash—fear, anger, and sadness. Anger held the upper hand. “Huh, I’d like to see her try.” She willed herself to calm down and stroked Sophie’s hair again, the motion as soothing for her as it seemed to be for Sophie. “Look, she was just taken by surprise. I’m sure most of what she said she didn’t mean.” I bloody hope so, anyway . “I’ll pop round tonight and talk to her.”
“She’s got the bingo gang round tonight for their stupid cheese-and-wine thing.”
“All right, maybe not tonight. What about tomorrow?”
“She hasn’t said she’s doing anything, and I know she’s not at work, so yeah, maybe.” Sophie shut her eyes and shook her head. “I’m so not ready for this. I’m still working it all out myself.”
“I know you are. And that’s the main thing we need to get your mum to understand so that she can give you the space and time you need for it, yes?”
Sophie nodded against Ash’s shoulder.
“I’ll talk to her, I promise. But you should go home, you know.”
Sophie sat up with a start. “And have her yell at me again?” Her bottom lip wobbled.
“She probably won’t. She’s got some thinking to do too.” Ash sighed. “Look, you can stay here for a while, but promise me you’ll go home later, yes?”
Sophie frowned but nodded. “Okay. Promise.”
“Thank you. Does she know you’re here now?”
“No. I told her I was going uptown to look in the shops. She didn’t seem bothered.”
Jesus, Courtney! She’s your daughter, for crying out loud . “But you’ve got your phone with you, in case she calls?”
“Yes. But she won’t.”
There was no way Ash was going to agree with her niece out loud on that, even though she was one hundred per cent certain the youngster was right. “So.” It was time to set the drama aside. “You hungry? I was going to get something from the Greek place and bring it back here. You in?”
Sophie lifted her head, and a smile broke out on her face that made Ash’s heart clench. “Can we get them spano thingies?”
Ash chuckled. “Spanakopita?”
Sophie nodded enthusiastically.
“Definitely.” Ash grinned. “Tons of them.” After one last squeeze, she released her niece and stood. “Come on. They open in about twenty minutes. We’ll get the first fresh batch straight out of the oven.”
“Yes!” Sophie fist-pumped and leaped out of her seat.
Carmen eased her way past the group of people smoking outside the restaurant’s main doors. As soon as fresh air hit her nostrils, she sucked it in with relief. Inside the private dining room it had been stuffy, and an atmosphere like that always played havoc with her sinuses. Her head ached, but not just from the sinus problem.
Once again she’d spent the best part of a Saturday evening being bored rigid at a client’s celebration. This time it had been one of her classical actors, hosting a small gathering, as he called it, to mark his fortieth birthday. His idea of small differed from Carmen’s: there had been fifty or so people crammed into a space probably only designed for forty at maximum. The noise level and all-round tedium of the conversations around her had wilted Carmen like a flower in a desert.
She stood for a moment on the pavement simply breathing. Sometimes, when she had to suffer such evenings, she wondered just why she did what she did.
I need a walk.
Not caring which way she headed, knowing she had her trusty Google maps app to rescue her if she got lost, she turned left, which seemed to lead her away from the strip of restaurants and bars and into an area a tad quieter. She looked around as she walked, not that familiar with this part of town. Somewhere behind her was Goodge Street station, and somewhere ahead, therefore, was Euston. Maybe I’ll head in roughly that direction and catch a cab from there.
She turned the next corner, and her steps paused. She was at the top of the street where Ash’s tattoo studio was located. How funny. She hadn’t realised she was that close.
She wondered how Ash was. She’d thought about her a few times during the week and, of course, had discussed her over breakfast with Felicity. I still can’t believe Felicity went back to see Ash. How embarrassing! Although, she had to admit, she could definitely understand Felicity’s observation that Ash had a certain presence about her. For one moment she considered walking down to see if Ash was still at work but then shook off the thought. Ridiculous idea.
After crossing the street, she turned right and found herself in another busy road lined with pubs. However, now the noise didn’t bother her so much, so she pushed on, sidestepping a big group of people outside one pub and—
“Ooof! ”
Carmen walked into someone—or they walked into her—and bounced back off them. She swung both arms out to balance herself and with some windmilling managed to prevent tumbling onto her backside.
“Jesus, sorry!” a voice said.
She looked up—straight into the deep brown eyes of Ash.
“Carmen! Wow.” Ash looked her up and down. “Are you okay? I
