was the father of her child, after all. She couldn’t bear for it all to go wrong after all her planning and preparation. She’d worked so hard to make this happen.
‘We can organise for Ollie to come over once you’ve met Sarah,’ Steve went on. ‘You want to meet him as soon as possible, don’t you?’
Laura looked up at him. ‘Yes.’ She managed a small smile.
Steve looked relieved. ‘He’s a great kid,’ he said, his eyes filled with pride. ‘A handsome little fella too. Sorry I haven’t been able to show you anything but baby photos. Sarah tended to take most of them, and she’s wary of posting pictures of him online.’
‘He takes after his father then?’ Laura teased.
‘Obviously.’ Smiling bashfully, Steve squeezed her closer. ‘I just know you’re going to love him.’
Laura had no doubt she would. She already did. He was a beautiful child. He’d stolen her heart the second she saw him.
Five
Sarah
Sarah was beginning to wonder if she’d been stood up. Checking her watch and noting that Laura was now fifteen minutes late, she glanced around, avoiding the gaze of the two men at the bar, who’d been eyeing her curiously. They obviously thought she’d been stood up too. Deciding to give her another five minutes, she selected her Kindle app on her phone, attempting to appear laid-back as she tried to make her drink last.
Ten minutes later, she’d had enough. How ridiculous was it to be sitting in a pub drinking Coke while waiting for her ex-partner’s girlfriend, who’d demonstrably indicated how reliable she was by not showing up? Sarah really didn’t like confrontations – arguing rarely solved anything – but she was going to have firm words with Steve.
Grabbing her bag, she got to her feet ready to leave just as a woman flew through the pub entrance, looking hurriedly around before rushing towards her. ‘S-s-s …’ she started, and then stopped, her cheeks flushing furiously as she glanced at the ceiling. ‘I’m sorry I’m late,’ she said, clearly flustered as she looked back at Sarah. ‘There was a crisis at work. A p-p-patient …’
She had a stammer. Sarah was surprised. Steve hadn’t mentioned it, though she supposed there was no reason why he should have done. Her gaze travelled over the other woman. Small and delicate-featured, she seemed fragile, a vulnerable quality about her that would make you instinctively want to protect her. Yet there was a determination beyond the nervousness she could see in her eyes; feline eyes, she thought, almond-shaped and the true striking green of a cat. With her rich auburn hair tied messily on top of her head, she was open-faced and undeniably pretty, in an imperfect way. Sarah didn’t know her, but she could see why Steve had been so easily attracted to her.
‘It’s okay,’ she said charitably. ‘I was beginning to wonder whether you were coming, but I haven’t got to rush off anywhere.’ Joe had offered to look after Ollie. She still hadn’t told Steve that they were sort of together. It was early days yet. She wasn’t sure what the future might hold for them, but still she was aware that she might possibly have been practising double standards, wanting to know all there was to know about Laura whilst neglecting to mention that Joe had become part of Ollie’s life. She knew Joe, but Steve didn’t, after all.
‘S-s-sorry,’ Laura said again.
Noting the two bright spots on her cheeks turning crimson, Sarah couldn’t help feeling sympathetic. She was clearly terribly self-conscious. ‘It’s fine,’ she assured her again. ‘Shall I get us a drink while you catch your breath?’ They probably looked a bit obvious standing in the middle of the pub. The two guys at the bar were now openly eyeing them both, one of them clearly liking what he saw as he looked Laura up and down. Evidently he was into nurses’ uniforms, which was what Laura appeared to be wearing.
‘Thanks.’ Laura began to ferret in her bag – for her purse, presumably.
‘I’ll get them,’ Sarah offered. ‘Why don’t you grab a seat before someone else takes the table?’ She indicated the one she’d just vacated. ‘What do you fancy?’
‘White wine, please.’ Laura squeezed her eyes closed as she said it, making it obvious she was concentrating hard to get the words out.
Minutes later, Sarah returned with white wines for them both, having given the guys who’d started talking to her at the bar short shrift on Laura’s behalf. The woman looked as if she