Page 44 of Out of Control

It was true he had told Fiona that. But he’d been talking about relationships with women whom he didn’t yet know. He had not mentally included Fiona in that sweeping statement.

“You said she doesn’t trust you. That she’s keeping secrets,” Dorothea prompted.

“Yes. She was outside One More Bean with a man. They didn’t see me and I accidentally overheard Fiona say that she hadn’t told me something because she didn’t trust me.” He looked across the table for a reaction to his confession of eavesdropping. Dorothea looked puzzled so Meeko continued. “Is she keeping secrets?”

The old lady’s face closed up. “I don’t know who she’s told what. Who was the man?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s unlikely to be a relative. Fiona is an only child and both her father and me are only children. What did he look like?”

“They were behind me. I didn’t get a proper look. Perhaps a couple of inches taller than Fiona. Dark hair. Stockier than me but still slim.”

“Overly confident?”

“Couldn’t say because I didn’t speak to him. But Fiona obviously thinks he’s more trustworthy than me.”

“It might be Rob. I know that she did meet him recently.”

“Rob?” An innocent explanation was coming and it felt like the anticipation of stepping into a warm bath when every single muscle aches from exertion.

“Her husband.”

“Husband!” The icing-sugar-dusted pastry of his second mince pie suddenly stuck in his throat and made him cough. Meeko reached for the paper serviette again.

“Sorry, ex-husband. It must be about . . .” She paused. “. . . thirty years ago. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you.”

“I know she was divorced. A long time ago.” There was a tightness in his stomach as he contemplated Fiona getting back together with her ex-husband. He hardly dared to ask the next question. “Is there more that I need to know?”

Dorothea hesitated and her eyes roamed the room. “It’s not for me to say. You need to ask her yourself.”

“Could there be something going on between Rob and Fiona now?” He hoped his voice didn’t sound as shaky as he felt.

“Doubtful. Until very recently Fiona hadn’t mentioned him for years, and whenever she did, it was always in the role of the Antichrist.”

“How do we find out what their relationship is now? Can you talk to her?”

Dorothea shook her head. “Absolutely not. Our relationship has the ups and downs of a mountain range as it is. If I start prying, she’ll close me off completely, and that can’t happen when I’ve just met my granddaughter- and great-granddaughter-by-proxy. I’ve got pictures!”

Meeko sat politely as the old lady scrolled slowly through the images of her newly found non-blood relatives. As he was about to leave, she placed a hand on his arm. “It’s in my best interests to find out what’s going on with Rob, isn’t it? If Fiona gets side-tracked by him and boots Joe out, I might lose access to Adele and Natalie. I don’t care about Joe but I do love them lasses, especially since the mother has run off — they need me.”

Meeko nodded. Whatever reason brought Dorothea onto his side was fine by him. But he would prefer it if Joe didn’t stick around long-term.

“I will put out feelers.” She gave him a wink. “As I told Santa at the party: I want to see my daughter settled down with a good man before I go to my grave. And, putting my selfish grandmareasons aside, I don’t think that man is Joe. No proper man would have been happy with that arm’s-length relationship she instigated.”

“Thank you.”

“Put your number in my new phone. We might need to be in touch.” Dorothea’s eyes were alight now, as though she was looking forward to some cloak-and-dagger espionage. “It’s subterfuge, like on the TV, isn’t it?”

He tapped the screen of the phone to add his number to the meagre few already in there.

“Thank you. One question for you.” Dorothea paused. “Are you available as a long-term partner for my daughter?” Her face was deadly serious.

Chapter 33

It was 29 December before mother and baby were given a clean bill of health to come home. Joe was beside himself with excitement and Fiona tried but failed to elevate herself to his level of anticipation. She was growing fond of Adele — there was a lot of herself in the girl, in particular the way Adele was adamant there was no place in her or Natalie’s life for the baby’s father. It reminded Fiona of the way she had dropped Rob and become totally self-reliant. Women learn from the adversity that men inflict upon them. They learn that you should trust no one but yourself.

During their daily visits to the hospital, she had come to tolerate short periods of holding Natalie without tears falling. And she was loving the newly animated version of Dorothea — rejuvenated by her new relatives-by-proxy. But all of this was tempered by the realities to come when Adele and Natalie were in her space twenty-four hours a day.

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