He furrowed his brow, his expression growing serious. ‘Why?’ he asked, probably worried now in a professional capacity, and Sarah almost wished she hadn’t said it. The fact was, though, she didn’t trust Laura. How could she?
‘Because of the things she told Steve,’ she reminded him.
Joe’s expression was back to confused.
‘She said she was traumatised by our meeting. Why would she say that? That she felt uncomfortable, when I saw she was struggling and did my best to make her feel relaxed?’
‘Struggling how?’ He looked at her as if he were struggling – to keep up.
‘She has a stutter, though I’m beginning to wonder if she actually does.’
‘Right.’ Joe nodded again pensively and drew in a breath. ‘Sarah, are you sure you’re not getting this a little out of perspective?’
‘No I am not. It’s her who’s getting things out of perspective,’ Sarah retaliated, her frustration mounting. Could no one see what was happening here but her? ‘I just don’t understand why she would have told Steve what she did unless it was to make me look bad.’
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he tipped his head to one side and squinted curiously at her for a long, contemplative moment. Then, ‘Why would you care what Steve thinks, though?’ he asked her.
Her heart plummeted. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ she asked, though she knew from the flash of humiliation in his eyes exactly what he meant. He too clearly thought she was jealous of Laura.
‘Nothing.’ He ran a hand over his neck, looking now as frustrated as she felt. ‘I can’t see why you would be so upset about what might well be a simple miscommunication, that’s all.’
Miscommunication? Sarah stared at him. The problem here was that there was no communication. Steve and his new girlfriend were changing Ollie’s routine without consulting her and with no thought about the consequences. ‘Whose side are you on?’ she asked, biting back her tears.
‘Jesus.’ Joe shook his head and eyed the ceiling. ‘I’m on your side, Sarah, obviously. It’s just—’
‘Me being neurotic,’ she finished flatly.
‘I don’t think that. The thing is, though …’ He hesitated. ‘I didn’t want to interrupt so I waited on the landing before coming down. I didn’t hear Steve saying that Laura had said those things after meeting you. What I heard was him telling you how she felt.’
Sarah laughed, incredulous. ‘She said I’d given her a hard time.’
‘That wasn’t my interpretation,’ Joe disagreed. ‘From where I was, it sounded as if it was Steve asking you why you’d given her such a hard time.’
She looked at him, confused. ‘It’s the same thing.’
‘Is it? She probably did feel uncomfortable before you two spoke; with good reason, since she has a stutter and her boyfriend’s ex-partner was demanding to meet her on her own, to weigh her up, no doubt. Think about it: wouldn’t you feel anxious? From what you say, the meeting went well, though, so …’
Sarah’s stomach knotted. ‘You mean you don’t think she was reporting back.’
Joe shrugged. ‘I think I’d probably talk to her before jumping to too many conclusions.’
Meaning he did think she was being neurotic – out of jealousy. Was it possible she was, because she thought Laura might replace her in Ollie’s affections as well as Steve’s?
Nine
Ollie’s feet had barely touched the pavement before he was racing towards Sarah to throw himself into her arms, his little face beaming and obviously excited to see her. Swooping him up, she squeezed him close, peppering his cheeks with sloppy kisses and nuzzling his neck, which had him in a fit of giggles in an instant. His fringe had been cut, she noticed, her tummy flipping. Had Steve done that? Or had Laura? Quashing her immediate agitation, she made herself smile, for her little boy’s sake. ‘Did you have a lovely time?’ she asked him.
‘Uh-huh.’ Ollie nodded enthusiastically. ‘Mr Whale did too.’ He waggled the new soft toy he was clutching, which Sarah had been sure would be a bone of contention between her and Laura. Now, after Joe had pointed out that she might have got things out of proportion, she was realising that she might be being overprotective simply because Ollie was her child. Everything he was, everything he thought and did had come from her. She knew she was struggling to share him, but she had no choice. Whoever Steve was with, she could never bring herself to alienate him from his child, to rob Ollie of his father. She hoped they’d think to consult her in future, though, before making major decisions such as changing his comfort toys. And cutting his hair – she couldn’t help feeling Laura was making a point, hinting that Sarah wasn’t taking proper care of him.
Pushing her irritation aside rather than creating more animosity between her and Steve, she concentrated on Ollie. ‘Ooh, he’s a lovely bright blue, isn’t he? Is he your new snuggle friend?’ she asked, wanting to gauge how he felt about losing Bunny.
‘Yes,’ Ollie said with a nod. ‘Because Bunny has a portant job to do.’
‘Does he?’ Sarah looked at him, surprised.
‘Uh-huh.’ Ollie gave her another firm nod. ‘He’s guarding my new toy box.’
‘Oh, well, that is an important job.’ Dismissing the pang of sadness she felt at the thought of Bunny being in a strange house – which was a bit silly, even if it was the first toy her little boy had loved – she injected some cheeriness into her voice.
‘Laura’s going to feed him pizza faces if he gets hungry,’ Ollie informed her assuredly.
‘Yummy. They sound delicious.’ Sarah supposed they must have been if Ollie had remembered them.
‘Can I go inside and play, Mummy?’ he asked, now wearing his best beguiling eyes – and knowing full well Sarah couldn’t resist.
‘Go on then,’ she said indulgently. ‘You can have twenty minutes before bath time, but that’s all.’ Lowering her wriggling son to the ground – he was obviously keen to bolt off and no doubt upend his toy box – she made sure he was through the front door before turning back to Steve, who was retrieving Ollie’s bag from the boot of his car. Placing it on the pavement, he stayed where he was – a safe distance off, it appeared – and looked her over warily.
He had every right to be peeved. Sarah’s concerns had been for Ollie, but the truth was, she had judged Laura before even meeting her, which must have communicated to Steve that she was going to make his life difficult whoever he was with. She hadn’t meant to do that. She hadn’t meant to communicate what she must have to Joe either. He hadn’t said anything, but she’d seen the uncertainty in his eyes, the obvious hurt as he’d undoubtedly considered whether, like his wife, she was still stuck on her ex.
‘How did it go?’ she asked, walking towards the car.
‘Fine.’ Steve’s expression was guarded. ‘I’d have let you know if there were any problems, not that there would be any I couldn’t handle. I have been part of Ollie’s life since he was born, after all.’