‘I’m not sure,’ I replied, fudging the truth. No point in letting past experiences get in the way of a romantic moment.
‘I wasn’t either, but I think I’m beginning to be convinced,’ and he started again, kissing me from top to bottom until we drifted off into a long, contented sleep.
‘Tap-tap-tap-tap, tap-tap.’
The familiar sound woke me with a start.
Mother! It was her usual knock on the window before she let herself in with her spare key.
I pushed Tom out of the bed and he landed with a thud on the floor. He looked up quizzically.
‘It’s my mum,’ I hissed. ‘Quick, hide in the bathroom.’
But there was no time. She came bounding up the stairs, her speed taking me by surprise. Since when was she ever in a hurry to see me?
Tom dived into the walk-in wardrobes.
Mum blew in the door like a tornado and perched on the end of the bed. The concept of privacy and personal boundaries had yet to reach her world.
‘Darling, just a quick visit to make sure you arrived back in one piece. I’m off to the Women’s Institute for my new wine tasting class. Will you nip over and check on your father later? Actually, call him first to make sure he’s there. He’s off work today so the chances of him making it out of the pub are slim.’ Now that Michael was making plans to move out and go to college, they weren’t even making a pretence of being happy together any more. Michael, Callum and I had a sweepstake running on when their divorce proceedings would kick in. If they called the lawyers anytime in the next six months, I was on to a mega pack of Wotsits and a family sized Whole Nut.
Mum was just about to turn on her heel and bolt out, safe in the knowledge that her firstborn was intact, when she froze.
‘What was that?’ she gasped.
What? Did she have radar instead of ears? I hadn’t heard a sound.
‘There it is again,’ she whispered.
I still hadn’t heard a sound. She tiptoed over to the wardrobes, whilst I could only look on, astounded. In one movement, she reached the doors and threw them back. There stood Tom, tall, handsome, bright red and with only the ostrich feather hat that I’d bought for my cousin Dee’s wedding covering his dignity.
Mum rounded on me in horror, for once utterly speechless.
‘Mum,’ I began weakly, but it was no use. She backed out of the door in a stunned trance, before sprinting down the stairs and out of the front door, a resounding slam marking her exit.
I looked up at Tom’s bemused, mortified face.
‘If it’s any consolation, I introduce all my boyfriends that way,’ I deadpanned.
‘Really?’ he said, laughing now as he climbed back on to the bed. ‘In Ireland, we tend to find a cup of tea and clothing works better at the first meeting.’
I went back to work the following night, taking two cartons of cigarettes for Ray.
‘Cooper, you shouldn’t have! Did you treat yourself to anything nice?’
‘Funny you should ask that, Ray. I’d like you to meet Tom…’
For the next four weeks, Tom adopted my habits of staying up most of the night and sleeping late.
Every day was a revelation that saw us fall more and more into love, lust and healthy obsession.
But this time it felt amazing. For once, there were no niggling doubts. None! We fitted together perfectly in every way, both physically and mentally. He was a gorgeous man, sensitive but strong, protective but encouraging. He adapted completely to my world, no mean feat for a well balanced individual, and to the people in it.
Even Callum warmed to him after he got over his feelings of disloyalty to Doug. Michael thought he was great, and a couple of nights a week they’d hang out together, playing pool or renting a video when I was working. And, as for my gran, if she ever wanted a toy boy, then Tom was the number one candidate. She swore he was the double of my Irish grandfather when he was alive, a thought that put a smile on her face.
The only cloud on the horizon was Tom’s family. He worked on his parents’ dairy farm about fifty miles from Dublin and they were becoming ever more demanding of his return. Eventually he could stall it no longer.
‘I need to go back,’ he told me, one morning, as we lay in bed watching the sun come up.
‘Don’t…’ I stopped him, by putting my finger on his lips. I didn’t want him to go, couldn’t bear the thought of waking up and not hearing his gorgeous voice in my ear, whispering good morning. We had gone from zero to love and bypassed everything in between. Sure, it was quick, but – stop me if you’ve heard this before – this time I knew it was right. We were perfect for each other. He kissed my fingers one by one, before his eyes locked on mine.
‘Come with me,’ he said.
I swallowed back my sadness. ‘I can’t. I don’t have any more holidays and if I up and leave Ray will sack me and…’
‘Come forever,’ Tom pressed, cutting me off.
‘But… but…’ It wasn’t clear what he was saying and I didn’t want to presume. ‘You said your parents would never accept us living together.’
His gorgeous grin was infectious. ‘They will when we’re married.’
And of course – again, stop me if you’ve heard this before – right there, right then, that felt like the best idea I’d ever heard.
We spent the next couple of days working everything out. He had to go back soon, so I switched my shifts around so I could take two nights off together. The plan was that I’d go with him, meet his family, and then return to Scotland while he stayed there and went back to work on the farm. For
