He furrowed his brow. ‘A big one,’ he told her, his gaze flicking again to hers.
Sarah’s heart flipped, but she tried to keep things in perspective. It might have nothing to do with Laura. It could simply be that Ollie had invented a secret friend and he wanted to keep him just that: secret. ‘I think you might have a friend. One I can’t see.’ She narrowed her eyes playfully. ‘Am I right?’
Noting that he now looked guilty, her apprehension quadrupled. What on earth …? Whatever this was, he shouldn’t be feeling guilty, for goodness’ sake. ‘I had one when I was your age,’ she told him – a little white lie in hopes of reassuring him and winning his trust, which clearly she needed to. ‘I think it’s okay as long as they’re nice friends. Is your friend a nice friend, Ollie?’
He glanced up from under his eyelashes, his eyes wary. ‘Yes,’ he said in a small voice.
‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ Sarah smiled encouragingly. ‘So, is it a boy or a girl?’ she asked, her heart pounding as she imagined all sorts of nauseating scenarios.
‘A boy,’ Ollie replied at length.
‘And how old is he?’ she probed gently.
‘He’s small, like me.’ He sounded uncertain.
Thank God. She felt relief crash through her. ‘Is he now?’ Her frenetic heartbeat abating a little, she forced a smile.
‘Uh-huh.’ Ollie nodded. ‘I saw him in a photo.’
‘What, an actual real photo?’ She widened her eyes in surprise.
‘Yes. A little one.’ He made a tiny ‘o’ shape with his thumb and forefinger.
Sarah studied him, puzzled. ‘Really?’ she said. ‘Did someone show you the photo?’
His gaze flicked down again.
‘Who is the photo of, Ollie?’ she pressed him. ‘Does he have a name?’
‘Yes.’ Ollie looked uncomfortably back at her. ‘But I’m not supposed to tell you, Mummy.’
Unbelievable! Bloody Laura! She’d been lying to her. She’d told Ollie specifically not to tell Sarah about this – and it was definitely nothing to do with an extra bloody biscuit. Ollie might have a vivid imagination, but there was no way he would invent all this, or the fact that Laura had stressed it was something he should keep secret, quite obviously. She scanned his face, trying not to let her growing anger show in her own. His big blue eyes looked nervously back at her. He was struggling with his conscience, a child his age, for goodness’ sake. She had no idea what game Laura was playing here, but one thing she did know was that she was not getting things out of perspective.
‘You can tell me his name, can’t you? You trust me, don’t you? I cross my heart I won’t tell anyone,’ she cajoled him, and felt terrible for emotionally compromising her child.
‘Jacob,’ Ollie finally disclosed, his forehead set in a worried frown. ‘He’s a superhero and he helps all the fishes, but Laura’s lost him and I want to help him find his way home,’ he said, his little face earnest.
Fifteen
Relieved that Ollie seemed back to his normal self, charging off to play with the other children at the nursery only to charge back again when he remembered he hadn’t said goodbye to her, Sarah crouched to squeeze him into a firm hug. ‘Bye, gorgeous little man. See you later,’ she said, breathing in the smell of him. ‘Be good for Melanie.’
‘I will.’ Hugging her back, he slapped a kiss on her cheek and scooted off again, keen to catch up with his real-life friends.
‘He’ll be fine. He always settles down as good as gold,’ Melanie, the nursery manager, assured her, clearly thinking that the tear that had escaped Sarah’s eye was because she didn’t want to leave him. She was right. Suddenly she felt she didn’t want him out of her sight. She’d almost convinced herself she was being paranoid, that she’d overreacted to Joe pointing out that she was, until this morning’s discovery. Did Steve know Laura was encouraging Ollie to keep secrets? Worrying secrets? She should talk to him. But she wanted to talk to Laura first.
‘I know he will.’ Giving the woman a smile, she pulled herself together. ‘I think I’m just getting overemotional because he seems to be growing up so fast. I’m wondering when he will stop wanting to give his mum a hug.’
‘Not for a while yet.’ Melanie laughed, waving her off as she skidded across the hall to short-circuit an imminent fracas between two toddlers who were claiming first dibs on the soft-play crocodile.