That evening, when we go up to bed, I clamber in next to Luke and snuggle up to him. ‘That was a lovely day,’ I say, ignoring the green-eyed monster that was never far away.
Luke wriggles down in the bed and cuddles me. ‘It was,’ he says. ‘Is everything okay, Babe?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Sure?’
‘Absolutely.’ I’m certain Luke knows I’m not exactly telling the truth. He can read me like a book. He says he can tell as soon as I walk into the room what sort of mood I’m in. To be fair, I can usually tell with him too. I suppose it’s because we’ve known each other for so long.
‘You okay with Alice being here?’ he asks.
‘Yeah. It will be fine. Just feels a bit odd,’ I confess.
‘How do you mean?’
I blow out a long breath. ‘I don’t know. A bit awkward, maybe. Not how I thought it would.’
‘Which was?’
‘More of a connection, I suppose. She’s Alice. She’s my sister, but the vibe is missing. I can’t feel it.’
‘Give it time and don’t overthink it. You know what you’re like,’ says Luke. ‘It must be strange for her too. Give her a chance.’
I raise my eyebrows at him. ‘So, I take it you like her, then?’ And there it is, the jealous streak I never knew I had. I can’t help myself.
Luke rolls onto his back. ‘She’s a nice girl,’ he says, cocking his head to one side. ‘It must run in the family.’
I prop myself up on my elbow. ‘Nice?’ I say. ‘What does “nice” mean? Nice in what way?’
Luke looks out the corner of his eye at me. ‘Not jealous, are you?’ There’s a note of amusement in his voice.
‘Me? Jealous? Why would you think that?’
Luke grins and bundles me onto my back, climbing on top of me, his leg astride, and kisses me. ‘Don’t worry, Babe, you know I have eyes for you and you alone.’
‘I’m not jealous.’
‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks.’ He smothers my reply with kisses.
Chapter 9
‘How does a panini and a glass of vino at the wine bar sound?’ says Tom, poking his head around the door of my office. Tom has been in court for most of the week and only now, as we head towards the weekend, do we catch up.
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I say looking at the list of emails still awaiting my attention. It had been a long week. The Monday rumble had been drawn out, Leonard giving me a good grilling about the McMillan case. Sometimes it’s as if I’m still an employee rather than a supposedly equal partner. I resisted the urge to say anything, though. It was easier to answer the questions than to get into an argument with him. I’d made that mistake once before, and that was before I even worked for him. It was when I was at university and had taken my eye off the ball and been distracted from my studies by my search for Alice. He had helped a bit at first, but he was adamant that I shouldn’t let my grades suffer.
‘Come on, you could do with a break,’ says Tom. ‘It will do you good to get out of the office for an hour. We could just grab a sandwich from the kiosk and sit in the park, if you like? I can tell you how I wiped the floor with the defence this week.’ He polishes an imaginary badge of honour on his lapel.
I feel myself relent. It’s a nice day and there probably won’t be many more chances to get out and enjoy the local park before the weather shifts properly into winter.
‘Okay, why not?’ I say, standing up and grabbing my bag. ‘The park sounds like an excellent suggestion.’
Tom ushers me out of the office, his hand resting between my shoulder blades. ‘If we go stealth mode, we can sneak out before Leonard spots us,’ he whispers.
I stem the giggle. We’re like school kids playing truant.
We both have a bacon and Brie panini and a coffee. The park is quieter than at weekends and we plonk ourselves down on one of the benches that edge the fountain. The white stone basin has recently been sandblasted and the blue-tiled floor cleaned. Brown, yellow and red leaves from the surrounding trees have begun dropping and float in the water like little boats. In the centre is some sort of mermaid and fish statue, the water spouts out of the fish’s mouth. When we’ve been here with the girls, Luke has remarked how hideous the whole thing is. I don’t think it’s that bad, but then I haven’t got the artistic eye he has.
‘Congratulations on your win in court,’ I say.
‘Thanks. Wasn’t sure if the witness was going to crack at first, but fortunately I’d done my homework about her reliability and was able to dish the dirt. Once the jury heard how she’d perjured herself in court before, it was game over.’