“Not really. I was just dozing. Everything okay here?” She pointed at the toast.
Sophie blushed. “Um, no. Your toaster’s a bit fancy, and I kind of didn’t know what I was doing.”
Laughing, Ash walked over, took the piece of toast from her hand, and launched it into the open bin. “Let’s try this again. You sit at the breakfast bar, and I’ll do the toast.”
“Can I make you a cup of tea first?”
“That would be magic.”
They set about their tasks in comfortable silence, moving with ease around each other.
“Jam?” Ash asked as she added two more slices of lightly browned toast to the pile on the plate.
“Got any Nutella?”
Ash laughed. “Definitely not. I’d weigh a ton if I had that in the house. It’s jam or nothing.”
Sophie sighed. “All right. Jam.”
“Cool. It’s in the fridge. Top shelf.”
Sophie retrieved the jar of strawberry jam and brought it over to the breakfast bar. They munched the pile of toast Ash had made and sipped their tea.
“You look a bit tired. Didn’t you sleep well on the sofa bed?” Ash asked after a while.
Her niece wouldn’t meet her eye. “No, it was fine. What time are we going out?”
Well, that was a deflection if ever I heard one . But she’d cut Sophie some slack. She was fourteen, after all.
“Whenever you like. I need to shower first.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Well, you go first, and I’ll have another tea while I wait. I bet you take ages anyway.”
Sophie stuck out her tongue but headed for the bathroom.
Ash’s phone pinged, and she glanced at the screen. Another notification from the dating app. Online dating wasn’t Ash’s thing, but a woman she’d met at a party recently had insisted this app was different. She scrolled to it and opened the alert. Her heart lurched. No way . The woman looked so much like Vikki, Ash couldn’t close the alert quick enough. Before she could overthink it, she deleted her profile and uninstalled the entire app. It wasn’t as if she was in a hurry to date anyway—or lacking in offers. She smiled as she remembered the very flirtatious behaviour of that woman, Felicity, yesterday after her appointment. Clients often flirted with Ash; sometimes she was even tempted to follow up on it. But not with Felicity. Sure, she was definitely beautiful, but she’d worn just a bit too much make-up for Ash’s liking. She’d actually found Felicity’s friend Carmen far more attractive. Despite the posh accent, she had a more natural, wholesome look. More real.
Yes, but she is clearly straight. And we don’t do straight women, do we?
She finished her tea, then retrieved her book from the bedroom and slouched on the sofa, reading. As expected, she had a decent amount of reading time as Sophie did indeed take an age. Eventually, however, Sophie appeared looking much fresher than she had earlier, wearing ripped jeans with a Princess Leia T-shirt, her long, blonde hair brushed and shiny.
“Finally.” Ash rolled her eyes in an exaggerated fashion.
Sophie laughed as she flopped onto the sofa beside her. “What you reading?”
“Nothing you’d be interested in.” Ash smirked. “It’s a lesbian romance. All swooning femmes and tough butches.”
To her surprise, her niece flushed bright red. Sophie had known Ash was gay since she was old enough to form words. It had never been an issue, and her reaction now was baffling.
Before Ash could say anything, Sophie leaped from the sofa.
“You okay?” Ash asked.
“Yep. Forgot my phone. Be back in a sec.” She shot off in the direction of the bathroom.
Ash shook her head. As much as she and Sophie got on well, these past few months her niece had been a bit of a mystery. Remember, she’s fourteen. They’re all like that at that age, aren’t they?
When Sophie returned to the living room, Ash headed off to the bathroom. To her pleasant surprise, she wasn’t greeted by a room that looked as if a tornado had ripped through it. Huh, so in that respect, she isn’t like most fourteen-year-olds . She showered, dressed, and styled her hair. As she exited the bathroom, Sophie was perched on the edge of the sofa, Ash’s book in her hands.
“Hey, I’m not sure that’s age-appropriate,” Ash called. The novel contained some of the steamier sex scenes in her collection of lesbian romances.
Sophie jumped as if she’d been shot, and the book flew across the room to land with a loud splat on the floor beside the breakfast bar. She whirled round, her cheeks a vivid red.
“Hey.” Ash walked over to her, hands held out. “It’s okay. It’s just, you know, got some adult content.”
Sophie bit her bottom lip. “I…I know. I-I read some of it.”
Oh crap.
“Er, right. Well, just don’t tell your mum, okay? And, um, maybe stick to books more for your age.”
Sophie shuffled from foot to foot; her gaze darted to the book and back again. “What if…what if that’s the kind of book I want to read?”
Her voice was so quiet, Ash had to strain to hear it. When the words registered, she nearly fell over from the shock. “I… What?” Surely she doesn’t mean what I think she means. Does she?
Sophie was shaking.
Ash strode over and gently took hold of her shoulders. “Hey, are you okay?”
Her niece shook her head, and tears pooled in her eyes. “I need to tell you something.”
“Okay. Want to sit down?” I need to, even if you don’t. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.
Sophie nodded and practically collapsed onto the sofa.
Ash opened her arms, and her niece came willingly into a hug. She tucked her head under Ash’s chin, and her tears dripped onto Ash’s collarbone.
“Hey, come on. Whatever it is, you know you can tell me, okay?”
Sophie sniffed. “I know. You’re the one person I can tell. But it’s still hard to
