Sarah laughed and leaned in to kiss the lips of the man she’d fallen in love with all those years ago. The man she suspected she could so easily love again. She had to be sure, though. Ollie had to be her priority.
‘I’d better get on.’ She eased away as she heard her son’s feet pad across his bedroom. No doubt he was heading for his toy box.
‘Talk later,’ Joe said throatily, and squeezed past her to the stairs.
Watching him go, Sarah traced her lips with her fingertips, a warm sensation spreading through her body. She had to put Ollie first, but she owed it to Joe not to mess him around. She would ring him, and she would see him. She would just take it more slowly, as he’d hinted she should before she threw herself at him, which only went to show how caring he was.
Her mind made up, she turned to Ollie’s room, her eyes snagging on the wall clock as she did. God, the time. She was going to be so late for work. Needing the extra money now she was on her own, she’d applied for a job as a behavioural therapist at the dog rescue centre, which paid more but also meant working alternate Saturdays. Her friend Becky, who taught at the local primary school, looked after Ollie on those days, and she was wonderful with him, but still Sarah felt guilty spending so much time away from him.
Composing herself, she pushed his bedroom door open. ‘Morning, munchkin.’ She smiled, finding him sitting cross-legged on his bed, surrounded by a sea of Duplo. ‘And what are we making this morning, hmm?’
‘A train,’ Ollie replied, his brow furrowed in concentration.
‘So I see. It’s a very smart train.’ Sarah made a space and sat down beside him. She was doubtless going to be late, but having got herself in a state one morning while trying to adjust to single parenthood, only to end up shaking her little boy’s world further, she’d vowed never to do that again. ‘Who’s that?’ she asked, pointing to the tiny figure in the bright yellow driver’s cab.
‘Daddy. He’s coming to see me,’ Ollie answered without missing a beat, and Sarah’s heart squeezed for him. He missed him. Of course he would.
‘He is coming, darling.’ Wrapping an arm around his shoulders, she drew him close. ‘He’s going to take you to see his new friend. Would you like that?’
‘Is he a workmate?’ Ollie asked innocently, having met one or two of Steve’s employees when he’d collected them in his van on the way to take Ollie to nursery.
‘Not a workmate, no. A lady friend,’ Sarah answered carefully. ‘I think she’s a good friend, though.’
The furrow in Ollie’s brow deepened as he processed her words. ‘Is she a nice friend?’ He looked up at her, his wide blue eyes scanning hers unnervingly. It was as if he knew that in order to like her, he would need his mummy’s approval.
‘I’m sure she’s lovely. I bet we’ll all get along really well,’ she reassured him, her heart aching as the reality of the situation sank in. Steve had to move on. There would inevitably be another woman in his life, but she hated the thought of someone else taking over her responsibilities as a mother, which this Laura inevitably would now they were going to be living together. Steve had seen Ollie regularly, but his time with him had been limited to day visits since his mother didn’t have much room. They’d agreed he could stay with him on the weekends Sarah wasn’t working once he got a suitable place of his own. That thought caused a flutter of nervous butterflies to take off in her tummy.
‘Will she play Lego with me?’ Ollie asked, after due consideration.
‘Probably. You can ask her when you meet her.’ Sarah forced some enthusiasm into her voice, though her nerves were tying themselves into knots as she wondered how soon that would be. ‘Now, how about we go and brush your teeth so you can give her and Daddy a big bright smile when you see them?’ She gave his shoulders another quick squeeze. ‘Becky will be here soon. You like Becky, don’t you?’
‘Uh-huh.’ Nodding, Ollie slid dutifully off the bed. ‘She makes scrambly.’
He meant scrambled eggs, his favourite, which Sarah had precious little time to make in the mornings. Burying a sigh, she accompanied him to the bathroom.
After encouraging him to use his Batman toothbrush in all the right places, she was following him down the stairs when Becky arrived. ‘Hiya, gorgeous little man,’ she said, stepping in and immediately crouching to pull Ollie into a hug. ‘And how are we today? Smiley or sad?’
‘Smiley,’ Ollie said with an assured nod. ‘I’m going to meet Daddy’s new lady friend.’
‘Oh yes?’ Straightening up, Becky took hold of his hand, raising an eyebrow at Sarah as she did.
Sarah rolled her eyes. ‘Talk later,’ she mouthed. Becky knitted her brow. Obviously she’d gathered that Steve was in a new relationship.
‘Mummy said she’s a nice friend,’ Ollie went on as Becky led him to the kitchen.
‘Did she?’ Becky cast Sarah a surprised glance over her shoulder. ‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it? We wouldn’t want him to have a nasty friend, would we?’
‘No.’ Ollie shook his head in agreement. ‘That would make Daddy sad.’
Suppressing another despairing sigh, Sarah left Ollie in Becky’s capable care and grabbed her mobile from the hall table. She’d made a decision. She’d been planning to call Steve later, but as she was running late anyway …
‘It’s just a quick call,’ she said when he picked up. ‘About your text.’
‘Right.’ Steve sounded wary, as if girding himself for an argument. Sarah wouldn’t go there. Ollie would only be caught up in the middle of it, and she didn’t want that.
‘I’m okay with your girlfriend meeting Ollie,’ she said, making sure to keep any emotion from her voice, ‘on one condition.’
‘Which is?’ Steve asked cautiously.
‘I meet her first. On her own.’
Four
Laura
Realising that Steve was on the phone, Laura tried not to too obviously eavesdrop as she came into the bedroom to get changed out of her PJs ready to go to work at the hospice. She’d wanted to tell him she’d rearranged her wardrobe to make a bit more room for his clothes, but he seemed deep in conversation. Squeezing past where he sat on the end of the bed, she collected her uniform from its hanger, grabbed a scrunchie from the dressing table and hitched up her hair, giving him a smile through the mirror as she did.
Steve reciprocated and then furrowed his brow as he turned his attention back to his phone. ‘No, no problem,’ he said to whoever he was talking to. ‘I’m sure she’ll be fine about it. It’s just, wouldn’t it be better if you brought Ollie along to meet the two of us together?’
Halfway into her uniform, Laura paused, her stomach somersaulting. He was talking to his ex. They were obviously discussing her meeting Ollie with a view to him coming here. Steve was desperate to maintain regular contact with his son, for him to start visiting now he was moving in, hopefully staying alternate weekends. Laura was desperate to meet him. With Steve’s help, she’d been busy turning the box room into a little boy’s dream room. But now, realising a meet-up might be imminent, she felt a chill of trepidation run through her. What if he didn’t take to her? She couldn’t bear that.