‘I know.’ Sarah felt contrite. ‘Look, Steve—’
‘We went out for lunch today,’ Steve said, fetching Ollie’s coat from the boot. ‘He had mini chicken nuggets and vanilla ice cream. He didn’t eat a massive amount, so Laura made him some toast with peanut butter and cream cheese for tea. He had a home-made kiwi fruit lolly too. He wolfed that down. He’s obviously keen on those.’
‘Oh, right.’ Sarah was surprised. She’d tried him with kiwi fruit once. He hadn’t been that enamoured. She hadn’t thought of making lollies. Laura was plainly making a huge effort to ensure he ate properly. ‘That’s brilliant,’ she said, now feeling even more guilty. ‘I was wondering whether to give him a bedtime snack, but he obviously won’t need one.’
‘No.’ Steve smiled shortly. ‘Laura’s been great with him.’
‘I gathered.’ Sarah paused, and then braced herself to broach the subject of Ollie’s hair, which she couldn’t pretend she hadn’t noticed. ‘I see you’ve cut his fringe,’ she said carefully.
‘Laura did.’ Steve studied her cautiously. ‘It was tickling his eyelashes. It’s not a problem, is it?’
‘No,’ Sarah said quickly, thinking better of pointing out that it might have been nice to check with her first. ‘It’s just … I had him an appointment booked, but I can easily cancel it. It will save me some money.’
‘Great.’ Steve nodded and walked to the driver’s-side door.
‘Steve …’ She stopped him as he pulled it open. ‘About the argument we had, the way you said I made Laura feel. I didn’t mean to. I really was thinking about Ollie’s welfare, but … Anyway, if I did make her feel uncomfortable, I’m sorry.’ She waited, hoping he would accept her apology and they could get back to being friends, as they’d promised they would be.
He appeared to debate with himself, then, ‘It’s okay, no harm done,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Laura said you got along all right in the end.’
Sarah felt a huge surge of relief. Joe had been right. She should have listened to him, been less defensive. She would have to apologise to him too, and try to reassure him. She hoped he wasn’t regretting getting involved with her.
‘I don’t think it’s me you should be apologising to, though,’ Steve suggested, smiling more easily, which was at least something. ‘I’ll call you about having Ollie the weekend after next,’ he said. ‘Meanwhile, try not to worry so much, hey? We’ll work things out. I’m one hundred per cent with you in regard to what’s best for Ollie.’
Nodding, Sarah gave him an appreciative smile in return, then waved him off and hurried into the house to check on Ollie. Finding him whirling Mr Whale around, Spider-Man hitching an undulating ride on the creature’s back, she smiled and went to run his bath.
Half an hour later, she encouraged a still far too excited little boy into bed. ‘So did you like Laura, sweetheart?’ she asked. It was obvious he had got along with her, but still, she just wanted to check.
‘Yes.’ Ollie nodded happily. ‘She told me a story,’ he said as Sarah reluctantly tucked Mr Whale in with him. He did seem to love the cuddly toy.
‘I gathered.’ She reached to smooth her fingers through his fringe, which wasn’t too bad, she supposed, if a little bit lopsided. ‘About dragons, I bet.’ She smiled, assuming Laura had read to him from his bedtime story book.
‘Uh, uh. Superheroes.’ Widening his eyes animatedly, Ollie stretched out his arms superhero style.
Not his bedtime story book then. Sarah tried very hard not to mind. Stipulating which stories Laura should read really would be bordering on neurotic. She hoped she realised that overstimulating his mind at bedtime wasn’t a good idea, though.
‘Was it indeed? We’ll have to see if we can find you some bedtime superhero books, then, won’t we? Meanwhile, under the duvet, little man.’
‘But I’m not tired, Mummy.’ Ollie angled for a reprieve.
‘You’ve had a busy day. You’ll be tired in the morning. Come on, chop, chop, or no sweeties tomorrow.’ Wearing her best stern face, she reached quickly to tickle him into submission.
He wriggled and giggled, and eventually gave in, burrowing under his duvet before she could get him again.
‘I have a secret,’ he announced as he finally settled his head on his pillow.
‘Oh yes?’ Sarah looked at him curiously. ‘And is it a secret you can share with me?’
He scanned her eyes, a reluctant look in his own. ‘Laura told me I can’t tell you.’
Ten
Sarah had to psych herself up to call Laura. She’d been going to suggest they meet up so she could offer her an apology, as Steve had suggested, though she wasn’t sure an apology was actually in order. Now, though, she was perturbed. Planting ideas in Ollie’s head about keeping secrets from his own mother wasn’t on. Then there was the issue of his bunny. In Sarah’s mind, Laura really should have consulted her about taking away his comfort toy. He might have been fine for one night, excited and tired out enough to go off to sleep, but what about if he woke in the night here, and Bunny wasn’t home where he should be?
‘Hi, Laura. It’s Sarah,’ she said when Laura picked up. ‘I know it’s early, but I wondered if we could have a quick word?’
‘Yes, of course. Is everything all right? It’s not Ollie, is it?’ Laura asked, with a panicky edge to her voice that threw Sarah a bit.
‘No, he’s fine,’ she assured her. ‘It’s just … Well, to be honest, Laura, I’m a little miffed. Ollie tells me you’ve been telling him to keep things from me. I know it probably looks like I’m nit-picking, but I had to say something. Encouraging him to keep secrets from his own mother is sending out the wrong signals, don’t you think?’
‘Oh no … God, I’m so sorry, Sarah. I didn’t mean to do that,’ Laura said, clearly contrite. ‘I gave him an extra cookie and told him it was our secret and not to tell anyone. I was just joking with him, but I should have realised that at his age he would take me seriously. I’m really sorry.’
Sarah immediately felt bad. Telling him to keep an extra biscuit a secret was fairly innocuous, even if she would rather he didn’t have too many. ‘It’s okay.’ She climbed down, feeling awkward. ‘I was a bit concerned, that’s all. Ollie’s normally such an open little boy, and I …’ She trailed off, not sure what to say that wouldn’t sound as if she were imagining Laura capable of all sorts of things.
‘You were worried. Obviously you would be,’ Laura picked up sympathetically. ‘You can never be too careful where children are concerned. I do understand, Sarah. Really I do.’
‘Thanks,’ Sarah said, feeling guilty again. Wasn’t it her who was supposed to have been doing the apologising? ‘I, um … I was going to call you anyway,’ she went on, wondering how many wrong feet it was possible to have. ‘I wondered whether we could perhaps meet up for a quick chat about things generally. I thought we might do better to talk to each other rather than through Steve. I mean, he’s bound to feel a bit like piggy in the middle, isn’t he? What do you think?’