Page 20 of Just Between Us

Downing the refill of my rum, I shook my head – no, I wouldn’t honestly be able to handle that. I would cross that bridge if I ever had to, but I didn’t know if it was something I could handle gracefully.

“What if she wants a full life, Rich? What if she wants kids, and the white picket fence, and the career, and everything the world has to offer her right now? Do you really think that’s something you can give her? Do you want to reverse your vasectomy? Do you want to be fifty and doing the school run?”

Those thoughts pulled me in two directions. The first between being able to give Lucy the happy ever after she might want with me children included. And the second, would my child want an old codger picking them up from school? Would people think Lucy was my daughter instead of my partner? Damn, Gillian was good at this. I shook the confusion from my head and knocked back my rum again, preparing the words in my head to say.

“I know you’re here for answers, Gillian, and I wish I had them, but I think the only thing I can do is be honest with you. I want to give your daughter whatever she lets me.”

In my mind, that didn’t sound as perverted as it did when I opened my mouth. I cringed a little at the double entendre.

“What I mean is,” I explained further, “if she wants the happy ever after, I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens for her. If she wants to walk away, I’m not going to lie, it will devastate me, but I love her enough to walk away if she needs me to. I’m not going to stand in the way of her having the fullest life she can. It’s what she deserves.”

Gillian knocked back her rum and stared off into the distance, mulling over my words.

“Okay,” she said finally.

Is that it?

“Don’t get me wrong, Rich, if you do anything to hurt her or fuck up her life, you will disappear. Don’t doubt me on that. I will make it happen. But I can see how much you care about Lucy, and I can see how much she cares about you. I can either support her or alienate her. Given that I think you’ve both got enough trouble ahead with how Annie will handle all this, I choose to support her.”

I sighed. She was right. I knew it. She knew it. Lucy knew it. Annie wasn’t going to be happy about the fact her dad wasshagging her best mate, and there was nothing I could think of that was going to get around that fact.

Gillian clearly knew what I was thinking. Her hand squeezed my shoulder. “I’m here for you all. You know that.” She smiled at me warmly. “Now, are we going to order a takeaway to soak up some of this rum or what?”

I laughed, pulling my phone from my pocket and opening the Deliveroo app.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

LUCY

Annieand I were lighting up the town when Rich texted me to tell me he and Mum had come to an understanding. I smirked, wondering how many times Mum had threatened to kill Rich if he hurt me. Annie thrust a shot glass at me.

“Jesus Christ, can you not?” She huffed before knocking back her shot.

I knocked mine back just after. “Not what?”

“That!” She pointed at my phone. “Seriously, you’re out with me, not your fucking boy toy. Can you put your phone away?”

This wasn’t like her. Annie wasn’t usually the jealous kind. “What is up with you?”

“I think my dad is having an affair.”

Oh, fuck.

“What do you mean, anaffair?”

“As in fucking someone,” she shouted over the music. A couple of people looked at her and I pulled her to the smoking area outside the back of the club.

“What makes you think he’s seeing someone?” I asked. Inside, I was panicking that she knew it was me. Outside, I was trying to play it cool and act like I knew nothing.

“He’s getting on like a fucking teenager. He’s always texting someone, and he’s always got this stupidly happy look on his face.”

“You’re not happy for him?”

Annie glared. “It’s not like that, Lucy. I mean, if this is someone important to him, why isn’t he sharing it with me? We don’t do secrets. We haven’t since Erica fucked off. So, they’re either married, or it’s someone I wouldn’t approve of.”

I tried to think of some other reason for Rich being secretive. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to give you any reason to worry when you’re making a life for yourself. We both know what happened to your dad when your mum did her boss. Maybe he doesn’t want you to feel like you have to be there in case things fall apart again.”

My stomach vaulted at the thought of something not working out between Rich and me. That was the last thing I wanted to happen.

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