Page 9 of Forever Mr Black

“Penny for them?”

I shake my head dismissively. “Oh, nothing much. It’s just been a full-on day.” I rub my hands down his arms. “You’re cold,” I say, changing the subject.

“As long as you’re warm, it doesn’t matter.”

“Are you two okay out here?” a female voice enquires from behind us. I twist round to see Barbara emerging from the darkness, clutching a floor-length, button-down floral dressing gown around her and holding a torch. Gold-framed spectacles sit on the edge of her nose as she peers at us through the darkness. “I thought you’d be here.”

“We were just talking,” Art says.

“You should come inside. You’ll freeze.”

“Actually, Mum, we’re going to head home.”

He glances at me, and I smile gratefully. After the day we’ve had, I want nothing more.

Barbara shakes the torch and her head with it. “No, no, I insist. Come inside, and I’ll pop the kettle on and make us a nice, warm drink. We can have a chat about your engagement party.”

Art told me she’d insist on throwing one. Before we can object, Barbara’s already making her way back up the path, shining the torch to light the way across the stones.

Art squeezes me. “I’m sorry,” he says once she’s out of earshot. “I think she’s a little bit excited. And when I say a little bit, I mean, tremendously, and when I say excited, I mean, ecstatic.”

I smile. “Really?”

“Yep. I think she’d given up all hope and resigned herself to the fact that I was going to live a bachelor existence and she’d be grandchild-less.”

I press my lips together to suppress a smile. In the cold, dark shadows of the garden, to hear him talk about our future together, especially after today, it warms my heart.

“There you go again, talking about kids,” I tease.

Art lowers his eyes to my stomach and places a hand on my belly. “Can you imagine a life that’s both part of you and me? That we’re going to love unconditionally and protect with all our hearts? That will always come first, above everything else?”

My heart breaks a little as he talks about everything he missed out on, growing up.

I rest my hand on top of his. “Yes, I can, and it will be wonderful.”

He kisses me softly. “Whatever you do, no mentioning kids in front of Mum.” He grins. “Otherwise, her head will definitely explode.”

Three

The warm water soothes my aching muscles, and the fragrant scent of lavender-and-peony bubble bath fills my nostrils. I rest my head against the white enamel of the roll-top bath, take a deep, relaxing breath in, and close my eyes, surrounded by a mountain of fluffy white bubbles. It’s late, but I don’t care. I need something to help me unwind after the events of today.

The click of the bathroom door makes me open my eyes and lift my head. Art appears. He sees me in the bath, then pushes the door open wider, and walks in, smiling.

“I didn’t realise you were taking a bath.”

“Yeah, it’ll help me relax.”

“I’ve been on the phone to Big Steve, catching up about the club, but if I’d known you were in here …”

He lowers himself onto his haunches beside the bath and leans to give me a kiss. I resist the urge to pull him in with me.

He stands up and begins to take his clothes off. “Room for one more?”

Before I have a chance to reply, he’s holding the side of the bath and climbing in, sending bubbles sloshing over the edge of the tub and water spilling across the hexagonal grey floor tiles.

“Careful.”

“It’s only water.”

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