Page 33 of Love Me Till Wednesday

‘Why did you buy those?’

‘I didn’t. Becky bought matching pyjamas for all of us one Christmas.’

Now that her eyes were starting to focus better, Lisa could see that the bears were wearing Christmas hats.

‘And you kept them?’

‘They’re still serviceable. Why wouldn’t I use then?’

Lisa chuckled. ‘Still the same old Pete.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean? And why should I change? I’ve always been perfect.’

Elise returned, clutching a packet of painkillers and Lisa’s phone.

‘Thank you,’ Lisa said, unlocking the phone. She’d missed two calls and a text from Noah that just said

Phone me ASAP

‘Important?’ asked Pete.

‘Possibly. It’s my estate agent. He might have another viewing planned.’ She tapped Noah’s name.

‘Lisa! How are you this beautiful morning? I have excellent news.’

‘Oh yes,’ she said, holding the phone further away from her ear so he sounded less shouty.

‘Our friend Adam has accepted your price.’

‘He’s done what?’

‘You’ve sold your house.’

21

‘Are you absolutely sure you want this t-shirt? It’s got moth holes in it.’ Lisa asked Sam, holding one of the offending holes close to the webcam.

‘Mum! It adds to the lived-in feel,’ he complained.

‘But you didn’t bother taking it with you?’

‘I couldn’t fit everything in my backpack. You told me to travel light, remember? How much more of this is there to do? I’m supposed to be going out this evening.’

‘I scheduled our Zoom call so it didn’t clash with your social life,’ Lisa said. She looked up at the bank of clocks on the kitchen wall showing different times around the world. Greg had originally put them up there for decoration, but with Sam on his grand tour of the Far East and Australasia, they had a practical use now. The Sydney clock showed 6.20 pm. Why was Sam complaining? He usually went out on the town much later than that when he was at home.

Sam looked annoyed. ‘Can’t we do this another time? I’m not in the mood now.’

Lisa sighed. This was proving to be so much harder than it needed to be. She’d thought the floordrobe in Sam’s room would be the easiest mess to tackle first. ‘I’ve got more exciting things to do, too, but your bedroom needs sorting out this weekend.’ Lisa watched him turn off the mic and talkto someone on the other side of his laptop. ‘I won’t have room to store all your stuff in my new place, and we’ve got to be out of here by the end of August.’

Sam took himself off mute. ‘What new place?’

‘Didn’t you read my text? Dad wants his share of the house back, so I’ve had to sell up.’

Sam looked shocked. ‘But I like the house we’ve got!’

‘You tell your father, then. Though I can’t see him being persuaded by someone who’s only spent three weeks at home in the last two years.’

‘But I’m planning on coming back.’

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