I sit down on the sofa and stare at the television. The noise makes no sense. I shut my eyes, terrified he’s been involved in a car crash and it’s too late to tell him I love him. Should I be ringing Accident and Emergency to see if he’s been admitted? Should I be sitting here doing nothing? What if he’s in terrible trouble?
*
I feel a tug on my arm. ‘George, back to bed,’ I murmur. I wrap the blanket around me and rest my head against the pillow. I’m wearing Finn’s old hooded top that I’d found tucked in the back of our wardrobe. It still smells of him.
He takes a strand of my hair and tucks it behind my ear. ‘Who’s been sleeping on my pillow and my blanket?’ he says, as if he’s one of the three bears scolding Goldilocks.
I open my eyes. ‘Finn!’ I fling my arms around him. ‘I’ve been so worried. Where have you been?’
‘Dorset.’ He kneels down by the sofa.
‘What?’
‘I wanted to bring you home. The thing was, you weren’t there.’
‘I’m here.’
‘I can see that,’ he says with that smile that’s about to happen. ‘So I turned my car round and came back again, fast as I could, because I figured I’ve already lost enough time and I can’t afford to lose anymore, not with my family. Not with you.’
I hug him again and this time I feel his arms wrap tightly around me. I tell him I shall never again run to Clarky when the going gets tough. I will never lie again. ‘Except if I’ve done something stupid like get another parking ticket,’ I add.
‘J, I’m sorry too. I’ve done a lot of thinking and know I haven’t exactly been the model husband. I need to be more involved in George’s life, not deny how difficult he can be. We have to face his problems head on, together, without me shouting my head off. But,’ he says, ‘most importantly, I don’t want to let things slide between us, the way people drift apart without even realising and then find there’s nothing left to salvage. This past fortnight, I’ve been miserable. I was so angry. I went over and over it again, imagining you and him together. Nothing but my own stupid pride got in the way of my seeing you and our baby and George. But then I got tired, J. So tired of dwelling on the past. I don’t want to lose you and …’
‘Finn, there’s no chance of that.’
‘I want to see Scarlett. I’ve got to see her.’ Quickly he stands up and gives me his hand. I take it and lead him upstairs, into the quiet dark room. He picks her up and out of the cot. I can see he’s crying as he holds her close, breathing in the smell of her skin. ‘I’m such a proud stubborn idiot.’
I lean across to kiss him. ‘Yes, but you’re my proud stubborn idiot.’
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
‘Hello, dear, Mrs Bourbon here. You’ve been gone ages and ages. Where’ve you been?’
‘I took your mother away for the weekend,’ Finn says. ‘How was Mrs B?’
‘She took me to the car-boot. I bought a pog set.’
‘I’m not even going to ask what that is.’
‘What have you been doing all this time?’
‘Having fun with your mother. I need to spoil her more.’ I smile widely. I’ve just put Scarlett to bed and am about to join them but decide it’s more fun listening outside the door.
‘What did you eat?’ George asks.
‘Pepperoni and cheese pizza. We went dancing.’
‘Where?’
‘In Cambridge.’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s where we first met. That’s where we fell in love. We went to my old club.’
‘Can I go?’
‘I’ll take you when you’re old enough.’
‘What’s that in your hand, Dad?’
‘A matchbox.’
‘Why?’
He pushes it open. ‘I love you,’ I had written inside, just as Finn had done after we spent our first night together.
‘I love you,’ reads out George.
‘That’s right. I love you, Mrs Bourbon. Now, go to sleep. It’s late. I didn’t expect you still to be awake.’
‘But no one’s turned my brain off.’
Finn presses the imaginary button.
‘’Night, Mrs Jammie D.’
‘’Night, Mrs Bourbon.’
THE END
Also by Alice Peterson
Rebecca and Joe. They parted the best of enemies. Will she give him a second chance?
Out Now
Also by Alice Peterson
A funny and heart warming novel about love and loneliness, family and loyalty, lodgers and friendships - it'll put a big smile on your face.
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Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Also by Alice Peterson
You, Me and Him Page 29