Page 63 of Welcome to Pennycress Inn

Without thinking, Laura moved to block the doorway. ‘We?’

‘Yes, me and Dina.’ Harry jerked his head behind him, indicating his car. ‘You remember her? From the pub?’

Looking from Harry to his familiar blue Peugeot, she swallowed. Hewasback with Dina then. And he’d brought her to Laura’s parents’ house. When he’d no doubt had a pretty good idea she would be there. What was he playing at? ‘You’re back with her then.’

‘Yes, we had a break, but…’ He shrugged as he tried to step around her. ‘I guess when two people are meant to be, nothing can stand in the way.’

Moving into his path again, Laura held her hand out. What did he mean by that? And by reminding her that Dina had frequented the same pub as them? Was he admitting he’d hadfeelings for her when he’d been with Laura? The suspicion had niggled away at her for some time now, but she’d never had any evidence and she doubted she ever would. Always needing to be the good guy, Harry was too careful for that. ‘I can take that for you.’

‘Oh, I’d rather give it to Ruth myself. Thank her properly.’

‘I think…’ Her voice tailed off as she heard footsteps behind her.

‘Harry, sweetheart. Lovely to see you.’ Her mum appeared by Laura’s side, forcing her to step out of the way.

‘I just wanted to return your salad spinner. Thank you for lending it to me.’ Harry held out the bag. ‘There’s a card and a little something in there for Phil too.’

‘Why don’t you come on in, give it to him yourself?’ her mum smiled warmly.

‘I’d like that. Only for a moment, mind.’ Harry’s self-assured smile returned as he walked past Laura, his arm brushing her sleeve.

Left alone in the hallway, Laura slowly closed the front door and shifted from foot to foot as she listened to her mum fussing over Harry. How often had he really been popping round since she’d moved out? She’d only been gone a couple of weeks and she knew for a fact that her mum had already invited him in for tea and now she was lending him kitchen paraphernalia? Why was he still hanging around? Because he knew it would annoy her? Or simply because he missed being part of the family? And Jackson? What would he think, seeing Harry just turning up like this?

She peered through the glass of the front door; she could just about make out someone sitting in the passenger seat. Dina. The woman Harry had been seeing shortly before he and Laura had met. The woman Harry had returned to. She pressed herfingers against her temples and massaged them, the headache returning.

A few moments later, Harry reappeared in the hallway and made his way back to the front door. ‘Bye, Laura.’

‘Bye,’ she muttered as she held the door open for him, watching her ex-husband make his way down her parents’ path to his car, to his new partner. His exandpresent partner should she say? She walked back to the living room as she tried to make sense of the situation. As she made her way through the toys scattered across the carpet again, she glanced quickly in Jackson’s direction. She couldn’t read his expression. Was he okay after seeing Harry? He didn’t think there was anything going on between them, did he?

‘That was nice of him to pop round like that, wasn’t it? And he knew just what to get you for your birthday, didn’t he?’ Her mum nodded towards the bottle of whisky sitting on the carpet next to her dad’s feet before leaning forward and continuing to cut and dish out the cheesecake, seemingly oblivious to how uncomfortable her own daughter was feeling.

Sitting down on the rug again, Laura closed her eyes briefly. This wasn’t exactly what she’d envisaged happening before she told her parents and siblings that she and Jackson were now an item.

‘And it seems he’s back with Dina again, sweetheart.’ Her mum passed her a bowl.

‘Yes.’ Taking the bowl, Laura scraped some cream from the edge of the cheesecake. ‘That’s nice for him.’

‘No need for that tone, sweetheart. I had the poor lad crying in my kitchen when he broke up with her the week you moved out of here.’ Her mum passed Jackson a bowl too.

Shifting her position on the floor, Laura bit down on her bottom lip. She took a deep breath before speaking, trying desperately to keep her voice steady. ‘You do know that he wasseeing her before me and him got together, don’t you? And that there’s a strong possibility he at least had feelings for her before our marriage ended.’

Her mum snapped her head up and looked at her. ‘No, he wouldn’t have done that to you. Not Harry.’

Gripping her bowl in her hands, Laura clenched her jaw. What was she supposed to say to that? How was she supposed to respond to the fact that her own mum was adamant that she knew Laura’s ex-husband better than she did herself? ‘Okay…’

‘Are you crying, Auntie Laura?’ Tammy looked up from where she was helping Jasper make a tower with the brightly coloured plastic bricks.

‘No, sorry. I’m not.’ Swiping the back of her hand across her face, Laura placed her bowl on the rug in front of her and stood up before making her way to the kitchen. As she walked past the sofa, she quickly glanced at Jackson, trying and failing once again to decipher from his expression what he was feeling.

‘Sis, wait up.’

Once in the sanctuary of the kitchen, Laura held the door open until Richie had stepped through before turning away from him.

‘Are you all right?’

‘Well, I didn’t expect my ex to gatecrash my dad’s birthday celebrations, and even less expected my family to welcome him with open arms.’ She took the tissue he held out towards her and turned to face him. ‘It almost feels as though everyone’s on his side. Not that there should be sides, but… did you hear Mum when I dared to suggest Harry might have been unfaithful?’ She tried to keep her voice steady and low as she felt a flash of anger.

‘I—’

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