‘I’m glad. Really I am.’
She gave Henry a warm smile. ‘I know you are.’ At that moment Leo came into the clerks’ room, and she added, ‘Here’s the man I should really thank.’
‘For what?’ asked Leo.
‘For getting rid of Vince. For telling me to change the locks and bin his gear.’
‘Ah. So the deed has been done? Good girl.’
Henry sat down and switched on his screen. He glanced at Felicity as she bubbled forth to Leo the story of Vince’s departure. She seemed a bit overexcited. Probably just the relief of getting shot of him. Funny, though, Vince disappearing without so much as a murmur.
Leo and Henry began to go through Leo’s diary for the week.
‘We’ll need to change the meeting with Sullivan next Tuesday. I’ve got an interlocutory hearing on that redelivery dispute.’
‘I’ll move a couple of things around.’
‘And we need to arrange a courier to pick up a load of box files from Mays Brown on that grounding case. I’d like them before lunchtime, if possible, so I can start going through them this afternoon.’
‘I’ll get Liam on it straight away.’ Henry tapped at his screen and added, ‘I’m told the Judicial Appointments Commission is meeting next week. Going through the applications.’
‘I hope you’ll keep your fingers crossed for me.’
Henry smiled, staring at his screen. ‘You don’t need my luck, sir. I reckon it’s in the bag.’
‘Take nothing for granted, Henry,’ said Leo, before heading off to his room.
Simon was spending the evening at Rachel’s. He spent most evenings there now. The routine was easy, pleasant. Simon would come over around half six, usually straight from work, play with Oliver or help him with his homework, then begin to prepare supper while Rachel put Oliver to bed. When Rachel came down she would take over in the kitchen, then they would sit down to eat together and talk about the day. Sometimes Simon stayed over, and sometimes he went home. It was Rachel who had suggested that he leave a couple of shirts in her wardrobe. Shortly after that, he bought a second electric toothbrush and left it in Rachel’s bathroom.
Oliver and Simon had spent fifteen minutes working on a map of Oliver’s route to school for geography.
‘Right,’ said Simon, ‘you can colour it in. I’m going to see what needs doing for supper.’ He got up and went through to the kitchen, where Rachel was slicing vegetables.
‘How’s he getting on?’ asked Rachel.
‘Fine. Go and see. I’ll finish this.’
Rachel went through to the living room. ‘That’s very good,’ she said, looking over Oliver’s shoulder. ‘I like the compass in the corner.’
‘That was Simon’s idea.’ Oliver busily swapped a red crayon for a blue one. ‘Is Simon staying the night?’
‘He might.’ Rachel felt a little guilty. Maybe Simon shouldn’t be staying. There were probably a few of the mothers at Oliver’s school who would disapprove. She remembered the fuss she herself had made when she found that some girlfriend of Leo’s – or was it a boyfriend? – had been staying overnight on weekends when Oliver was there. And he’d been barely two, not even old enough to pay attention. Now Oliver was six, so she could well be accused of having double standards.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘Nothing.’ Oliver carried on crayoning, then added, ‘I like it when he’s here in the morning. Instead of just you and me. It makes the day better.’
Later, when Oliver was fast asleep, and when supper was over, Rachel and Simon nestled together on the sofa.
‘Oliver said he likes it when you’re there in the mornings. He said it makes his day better.’
Simon laughed. ‘That’s sweet.’
‘Makes my day better, too.’
Simon kissed her. ‘That’s good to know.’ There was silence for a moment, then he added, ‘I thought it might be an idea if the three of us took a holiday together. In the February half-term.’
She looked at him. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Well, the first idea I had was that you and I should go away somewhere together at the end of the month, and that Oliver could stay with Leo. Then I thought, much as I love being with you – much as I love you – it seemed sad, Oliver not coming along.’
Rachel traced a line with her finger from his brow to his chin. ‘You just said you love me.’
‘Of course I love you. Don’t look so surprised.’
‘You’ve never said it before.’
‘I’ve been in love with you since the day you walked into that wine bar in Creechurch Lane—’