Page 29 of Beg, Borrow or Steal
Libby’s head jerked and her eyes widened in surprise. ‘Wh – ’
‘Dr Morrison saw you … er … communicating with my door.’ He risked a small grin but squashed it when it was met with another glare. ‘She was pretty pissed off with me. First bit of emotion I’ve ever seen her display, to be honest. Pav was convinced that she was a radiology cyborg sent from the government before that little outburst.’
‘I think it would be best if you just leave,’ Libby said, crossing her arms over her chest and unconsciously tilting her chin up to the exact same stubborn angle as her daughter had a moment ago.
Dr Grantham sighed and rubbed the back of his neck for a moment. ‘I didn’t mean what I said to Pav … it was out of context. I – ’
‘I heard the context, you lying toad,’ she snapped, and blinked furiously to dispel the annoying sting of tears. ‘And don’t worry – I have no intention of meeting your precious mother. I’ve no intention of having anything to do with you at all. So apology accepted; you can leave with a clear conscience.’
*****
‘I didn’t mean …’ Jamie trailed off as he took in the unshed tears which Libby was furiously trying to hide. He swallowed past a lump in his throat and squared his shoulders. He’d known this wouldn’t be easy but he couldn’t wait all weekend to apologise. He hadn’t been able to sleep last night, thinking about what she must have overheard and with the other idiotic comments he’d made to her face running through his mind. Libby had let slip earlier in the week that she wasn’t working this weekend, and he decided his best option was to just show up at her flat. He assumed the chances of her picking up the phone to him were slim so he thought it better that she wasn’t forewarned.
‘Look, let me do this. Let me take you guys out on the boat. I made a promise to Rosie and I don’t want to break my word.’ They stared at each other for a moment before she looked away and surreptitiously wiped underneath her eye. When she looked back at him the tears were gone and a determined expression was in their place.
‘I don’t have the luxury of too many free weekends with Rosie. It might be distasteful to you but I do actually have to earn a living.’ She took a deep breath, further distorting the letters stretched across her chest. ‘I would prefer it if you left us in peace to get on with our day.’
She was so sodding stubborn. For some reason he had the insane urge to reach out, swipe the flour and egg off her nose and kiss her until she stopped being so bloody difficult. Luckily, before he could do anything quite so stupid, the door to Rosie’s bedroom flew open and the four-year-old emerged dressed in a pirate outfit complete with foam scabbard and eye patch.
‘I’m ready,’ she shouted, moving into the room and swatting her mother on the bottom with her sword before poking Jamie in the stomach. ‘Take me to my ship.’
‘Rosie – I …’ Libby started, dropping down to her daughter’s level and turning the little girl to face her.
‘Alan’s ready too,’ Rosie said in a small voice, lifting the spider up between them to show that it was sporting a similar eye patch and was covered in skull-and-crossbone stickers. Libby closed her eyes slowly and Jamie watched as her shoulders slumped in defeat.
‘Okay,’ she said through a forced smile, grabbing Rosie in for a tight hug. ‘Okay, honey, let’s go pirating.’ Once she’d disentangled from Rosie’s arms and stood up, she gave Jamie another glare.
‘Right,’ she told him. ‘You can come back and get us in an hour.’
‘I’ll wait,’ he said, and her eyes flashed.
‘I’m in the middle of making pancakes.’
‘I can make pancakes,’ he told her, sauntering through to the kitchen and ignoring her huff of frustration. Yes, he could come back and pick them up in an hour, but even with Libby’s overt hostility, he found he liked being in their small, chaotic environment. Not usually a fan of clutter or mess, he felt strangely at home in the haphazard space. Rosie’s pictures covered the walls and cabinets in the kitchen area (which was also covered with a thick layer of flour and generous slodges of raw egg), the hooks on the back of the door were bursting with small, brightly-coloured coats in Rosie’s size, and below that were rows of shoes, all for a little girl, with only one ratty pair of women’s trainers and the battered black leather shoes he recognised as the ones Libby wore to work. The purple sofa in the middle of the space was strewn with children’s books and the coffee table in front of it had a huge, half-completed Lego Millennium Falcon on top. There were moreStar Warstoys on shelves at the back of the room, and a large globe taking up much of the corner by the window.
‘Do you make it snow inside like Mummy?’ Rosie asked hopefully, as she clambered onto the stool next to the kitchen counter so she could watch Jamie clean up the mess from the previous pancake attempt.
‘Er … ’ He smiled and caught Libby’s eye as she stared at him in annoyance, risking life and limb to give her a wink. An actual wink. Jamie didn’t think he’d winked since he was a teenager. He just wasn’t a playful winking type of guy. ‘No, gorgeous, that’s a very special talent. I’m afraid I just make standard pancakes.’
‘Oh.’ Rosie’s face fell.
‘You can crack the eggs though,’ he told her, and she beamed at him. ‘Why don’t you go and get ready?’ he asked Libby, ignoring the fact that she was literally shaking with suppressed rage, her small hands balled into fists at her sides. She glanced at Rosie, who was bouncing in her seat with excitement, and her face softened.
He felt a flash of regret and annoyance as Libby’s shoulders slumped slightly again and she sighed in defeat. He preferred her anger to this reluctant acceptance of the situation. As she shuffled out of the room he cleared his throat and started picking out the broken pieces of egg that were now in the bowl as a result of Rosie’s rather overenthusiastic cracking.
He would make it up to Libby today. They would have a good time … no, a fantastic time … and she would forgive him. Maybe then he could get on with his life without this woman invading his thoughts twenty-four seven.
Chapter 14
misogynistic, hypocritical caveman
‘Rosie, I’m not sure Beauty wants your face buried in her fur the entire day,’ Libby said.
‘She likes it,’ was Rosie’s muffled reply, and Beauty gave the side of her face a lick as if to confirm. ‘Watch out for the pirate scar, Booty,’ Rosie giggled as the dog continued her assault with her tongue while her tail wagged furiously. Before they could leave the flat Rosie had insisted that she have what could only be described as a Chelsea Smile painted on her face – red lines extended from both corners of her mouth to her cheeks, punctuated with black ‘stitches’. The effect was pretty gruesome but Rosie had refused to go anywhere without it.
‘Don’t worry,’ Jamie said, grabbing more and more food from his huge fridge and dumping it into a cool bag, ‘Beauty loves the attention.’ Libby was sitting on a stool at his vast kitchen island, still taking in the huge, sterile space with bewilderment. The massive mountain of smelly fur was totally incongruous to Jamie’s house, which was all clean lines, order and absence of clutter – or in fact any life at all.
‘Is it … ?’ Libby paused, then dropped her voice to a whisper, ‘Is itreallya dog?’ Jamie smiled, glanced over at Libby, and then started laughing when he took in her serious expression.
