Page 27 of One Hot Summer

“Mum? Is that you? Your Zack mask is very convincing.” I prodded his face.

“Ha! You know what I mean.”

“Yeah… I guess.”

His words knocked me back a bit. He didn’t say ‘our baby’. Did he mean that I would have babies in a future without him? Or was he planning that kind of future with me? We’ve never talked about having kids. We’ve never even talked about getting married. He has practically moved in with me since I got back from Rome. We haven’t spent a night apart. I know the tenancy is up on his flatshare soon. Did he want to renew it, or make it official and move in with me? Apparently, grown men are as silent as babies when it comes to what they’re thinking. I might have to tickle it out of him, like I had to tickle Sam to tell me where he had hidden my phone after I’d let him play Candy Crush on it earlier.

“Perhaps.” I didn’t know how else to respond.

“I was chatting to your brother about holidays. He said they’d not been abroad since having Sam.”

“No, I think the thought of controlling that many children on a flight gave Elizabeth an anxiety attack. Shame really. They had some fantastic holidays before they got married. They actually took three months off work and travelled around Asia for their honeymoon.” I remember my mother being in a panic as they went during monsoon season and we lost contact with them for a few days. It turned out they’d made friends with a local taxi driver who took them in. Only my brother could have ended up in that situation.

“Maybe we should go away together. What do you think?”

“Really?” I had visions of us buying a tent, camping in a boggy field and trying to heat up tomato soup over a poorly lit campfire. “Yeah, that could be nice.”

“There’ll be some late summer deals. Portugal is nice, have you ever been?”

“No.” I suddenly perked up and momentarily forgot all about my hunger pangs. “Have you?”

“A few times. Or we could look at the Canary Islands. Where would you like to go?”

“Anywhere I can relax by a pool or dip my toes in the warm sea and feel my skin sizzling under the sun.” I smiled. Rome was amazing, but I felt like I needed another holiday to get a rest as soon as we got home. A relaxing, romantic summer getaway, just me and Zack, would be perfect.

It may not be one of the more serious relationship questions like babies or marriage, but going on holiday together is a big commitment. We could wake early and, in true Brit style, nab our sun loungers before everyone else and then head for breakfast. Sunbathe, swim in the sea, more sunbathing, eat as much food as possible. Then, before it was time for our evening meal, we would head back to the hotel to shower and have sex.

“Great. We can get looking soon, get some ideas.” He took his left hand off the steering wheel and put it on my leg, leaving it there whilst we cruised down the motorway.

I heard my phone ping through the Bluetooth connection to the car. I’d not checked it since Sam brought it back from wherever it had been hidden. There were two missed calls from Sarah and three WhatsApp messages.

Tea.

TEA.

FFS WILL YOU CALL ME, TEA TEA!!!!!!!

Oops. I had already failed in my duty.

“I forgot that Sarah was meeting someone today. She mustn’t be enjoying herself much.” I couldn’t contain my giggles.

“Aren’t you going to call her then?”

“Okay, okay, I suppose I ought to rescue her.”

It was probably time to put her out of her misery.

“What took you so long?” Sarah asked me breathily when I finally called her.

“It wasn’t that long,” I laughed, “only an hour. Little Sam had my phone, sorry.”

“I could have been kidnapped and murdered in that time. Although that might have been preferable. Oh Jenny, it was bloody awful. Just awful. I forgot how terrible the dating scene could be.”

“Given how much I complained about it, that does surprise me.”

“I couldn’t get away quick enough. I am mortified.”

“So, go on then, tell me what happened?”

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