an amused smile. ‘He was going to ask you to send him some, but he’s been really busy with work …’
He’d obviously forgotten. That was typical Steve. Clearly Laura knew what he was like, always working late, determined to make his building business successful – in his dad’s memory. He was so tired sometimes, though, he said himself he would forget his head if it was loose.
‘I think Ollie takes after Steve more than me.’ Sarah reached into her bag for her phone. ‘He has blonde hair – which Steve says was the bane of his life when he was little, because people kept mistaking him for a girl – and huge, beguiling baby-blue eyes, though don’t let those fool you. Here you go.’ She flicked to one of the photos she’d taken in the pub garden and passed the phone over.
‘Oh my gosh.’ Laura swallowed as she studied it. ‘He’s just perfect,’ she whispered, her eyes glassy again, but this time with wonderment.
Six
Due to pick Ollie up for his first weekend visit at Laura’s, Steve rang to say he was a few minutes away, throwing Sarah, who was still in her pyjamas, into a complete flap as she tried to get their son dressed and ready to go. He was early and she was nowhere near ready.
‘Is Daddy coming soon?’ Ollie asked, his eyes wide with excitement as his head popped through the neck hole of his jumper.
‘Very soon.’ Sarah gave him a bright smile, whilst inwardly cursing herself for getting up so late. She’d intended to be up and organised, even though it was her Saturday off. She’d wanted Ollie to wear his new tiger hoodie and jogger set but found it wasn’t in his wardrobe when she looked for it. Finally remembering it was in the wash, she’d ended up grabbing the first things that came to hand, his Spider-Man T-shirt and monster jeans, both of which she realised, too late, had grass stains on them she hadn’t been able to shift. It was no big deal, children got dirty, but despite telling herself she was being silly, she’d wanted to make a good impression. She would hate Laura to think she wasn’t meticulous about cleanliness.
She doubted Steve would be very impressed when he spotted Joe’s car on the drive. Sure Joe would understand why, she’d been going to ask him to leave before Steve arrived, but then events had overtaken her. She hadn’t wanted to shove him out of the door and now she felt immensely guilty that he was obviously here, with no idea why she should. There was no reason she should be defensive about him staying over – Steve hadn’t wasted much time before embarking on another relationship, after all. Wasn’t it hypocritical of her, though, not to have mentioned Joe, given her reaction to Steve’s news about Laura? She really should have said something.
Tugging Ollie’s jeans on as the doorbell rang, she hoisted him up, grabbed the bag she’d packed with any essentials he might need and headed for the landing. As he seemed to be growing heavier by the day and insisted he was a big boy now, she didn’t generally carry him down the stairs, but even with her holding onto him, she doubted he would negotiate them carefully with his daddy at the front door.
Setting him down in the hall, she took hold of his hand, tugged in a breath and pulled the front door open. ‘Morning,’ she said cheerfully, though she felt far from cheerful, knowing she was going to have to say goodbye to her little boy for a whole weekend.
Clearly noting her pyjamas, Steve arched an eyebrow curiously, and then bent to sweep Ollie up as he launched himself at his legs. ‘Hiya, Batman,’ he said, hoisting him high in his arms. ‘How you doing, hey?’
‘I’m not Batman, I’m Spider-Man,’ Ollie pointed out, plucking his shirt away from his chest, showing off the grass stain as he did so, to Sarah’s dismay.
Ah well, she doubted he would stay clean for very long anyway. ‘Sorry I’m not dressed yet,’ she said, moving back to allow Steve in. ‘You caught me by surprise.’
‘I gathered,’ Steve said, stepping into the hall. ‘I take it you’ve got company?’
Hesitating, Sarah was debating how to answer when Ollie piped up, ‘It’s Joe. He’s Mummy’s friend and he’s having a shower.’
‘Is he?’ Steve glanced at Sarah, his expression somewhere between troubled and puzzled. ‘Well, that’s nice, isn’t it?’
‘Uh-huh. He’s my friend as well,’