Page 102 of Musical Games
‘I… I don’t. I just sing.’
‘Cool. I’m a stunt performer. You think you could introduce me to Brad?’
Sam forced a smile. ‘Yeah, no worries.’
28
Jamie was at breaking point. On discovering he’d been cooking all of her meals, Morag went from baffled fear to excitement within ten minutes. Now she was ordering her food from him days in advance, circling recipes in magazines and critiquing each dish as if she was a judge onMasterChef. When the doorbell wasn’t chiming ‘Auld Lang Syne’ to summon him upstairs, he was humming it. The tune had buried itself so deeply into his head that nothing, even sleep, could dislodge it.
He didn’t even have a job to go back to when his mum was back on her feet. Gregor had been forced to take someone else on after Jamie told him he wouldn’t be back for at least another two weeks. The doorbell rang again and he walked up the stairs, his feet heavy.
His mother was sitting up in bed and… Was she wearingmake-up?
‘Can I get you anything?’
She patted the bed. ‘Sit down, son. You and I need to have a wee chat.’
‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine and dandy. I could have been up and about more last week, but I’ve been lazy and taking advantage of your cooking.’
‘I can carry on cooking once you’re downstairs, you know.’
‘Aye, you could.’
Morag picked at the edges of her flowery nightgown.
‘Son, I haven’t been entirely honest with you about what I was doing that night you came home early.’
‘Go on.’
‘Well, I’ve been dipping my toes into the waters of online dating and seeing what kind of men are out there.’
Jamie’s blood ran cold. He knew exactly what kind of men were out there. If there was a dating pool his mum was fishing in, it was full of sharks, with a thick layer of scum floating on the top.
‘Mum—’
‘And that night I went on my first date.’
Jesus Christ.Thank fuck he’d returned in time to stop whoever it was from getting in the house.
‘We had a lovely time and we’ve been getting to know each other more over the phone. Anyway, we want to take our relationship to the next level.’
What. The. Actual. Fuck?
‘Och, don’t look at me like that, son. Big Jim’s a sweet wee man.’
‘Big Jim?’
‘Aye, it’s my pet name for him.’
‘Is he tall?’Please, for the love of god, say he’s tall.
Morag laughed. ‘Not really.’
‘Then why is he calledBigJim?’
His mother was suddenly fascinated by the edge of her dressing gown.
