thick green fleece, he seemed so at ease in his own skin and to so completely own the space he occupied, that it felt like a shame to disturb him.
It took him a few seconds to notice my presence.
‘Heidi,’ he said, sitting up straight. He seemed relieved to see me. Maybe he wasn’t quite as blasé about my coming tonight as he’d tried to make out.
‘Hi,’ I replied, with a small wave.
He shuffled over to the far side of the sofa and patted the newly empty spot, encouraging me to sit down.
But I’d no sooner perched next to him than he got to his feet. He finished the remainder of his pint in one.
‘White wine, right?’
I caught a waft of his aftershave. Nothing like the clean, metallic scent Jason liked to wear, it had a cinnamon kick that reminded me of the way the house smelt at Christmas.
He went to the bar and was soon back with our drinks. As he handed me my glass, I saw a plaster on his thumb.
‘What did you do there?’ I asked, brushing it lightly with my forefinger.
He waited before answering, as though he wanted to see how long I was willing to let my hand remain touching his.
‘Cut myself chopping some onions at work,’ he said. ‘Had my mind on other things.’
I met his eyes with a smile and he retook his seat next to me. The fire was banked high with slack and the coals glowed amber in the grate. I tried to stop the side of my body from pressing into Tommy but the sofa was small and after a while sitting tense and upright, I became uncomfortable and so I let myself relax in next to him.
The pub crowd that surrounded us was a mixture of lone men supping pints at the bar and groups of friends and couples at the many tables arranged about the place. The air murmured with laughter and easy conversation. I watched as the people at the table nearest to us got up, ready to leave. Two couples – a middle-aged husband and wife and a much older pair, sporting grey hair and glasses; it was clear from the way the younger couple were helping the others on with their coats that they were either their parents or grandparents.
I turned to Tommy.
‘Do you have family round here?’
‘They’re mostly in Glasgow.’ He shrugged. ‘But then, I think family is what you make it.’ He laughed to himself. ‘Or who you make it.’
‘You don’t ever wish you were like Keith?’ I said, trying to find a way to turn the conversation to my advantage. I could tell by the look on his face that this was too much of a volte-face but to stop now would make it worse. ‘You know, with his Mary Poppins routine.’
‘You mean him looking after Mikey?’ he asked carefully.
I nodded, relieved. He wasn’t fazed by my random change of direction.
‘Sure. Helping your family is an important thing. The most important thing. Keith’s sister works shifts. Stacking shelves. Not easy when you’re a single mum.’
I thought back to the exchange I’d witnessed between Keith and the man that night in the alley. Robbie, that’s what Keith had called him. He must be the ex-husband.
‘Does she have just the one kid then, his sister?’
‘She’s got two others. You’ve met Kimberley already, I think. She works for me. In the caff.’
The chubby girl behind the counter. She’d been there the day I got knocked over by the car.
‘Then there’s Jake. He’s still at school. Mikey is the youngest.’
‘Three?’ I said, failing to hide my surprise. ‘She has three kids?’
‘That’s right.’ Tommy stopped and considered me with a strange half-smile.
That night in the alley Robbie had mentioned two children: a son and a daughter. Where had this third child come from? Of course, it was entirely possible that Keith’s sister had had a baby either before or since her marriage to Robbie.
‘Being a single parent is tough.’ I thought back to how it had been raising Lauren on my own. Even with Mum and Dad to help, it was hard and often lonely. ‘Divorce?’
‘More complicated than that. She was married but he used to knock her around, whether the kids were there or not. Social services got involved. She stuck by him and in the end they took the kids off her, into care.’
‘That’s awful.’
‘It was a long time ago, now. Being without them messed her up. You can imagine.’ He paused and, even though I