part of me.’ He glances over at her, happily bouncing away. ‘Isn’t that right, precious?’
‘She is lovely,’ I admit, ‘but she’s also a tyrant.’
He chuckles. ‘She knows her own mind, that’s for sure. But she’ll settle down. It’s early days yet. She’ll be fine – we’ll all be fine. I know it.’
We sit in easy silence for a few moments, absorbing the atmosphere. He finishes his glass of champagne and pours another. I feel my limbs tingle and loosen.
I get up and cross the room to the window, drawing a large heart in the condensation on the glass, an arrow through the middle and our initials on either side.
‘What are you, a teenager?’ he teases.
‘That’s how it feels,’ I reply. ‘Like falling in love all over again.’ I rub a clear patch with the edge of my sleeve and look into the garden. The skies are leaden and there’s a strong wind blowing across the lawn, bending the trees and making the long grass shiver with rain. I could stay here indefinitely in our romantic bubble, but I know it can’t last.
‘What are we going to do, Seth?’ I say eventually. ‘We can’t hide forever.’
He frowns at me, surprised by my sudden pessimism. ‘I don’t see why not. Nobody knows we’re here; we’ve both covered our tracks really well. The police think Mabel’s dead, and the sister and her boyfriend are very strong suspects.’
‘But what about as she grows? We can’t keep her locked up. What if she gets ill and needs a doctor? What about school?’
‘You can buy fake ID,’ he replies. ‘It’s expensive, but perfectly possible – if you know the right people to ask.’
I turn to him. ‘And do you know the right people?’
He looks abashed. ‘Well, um, no, but I could find out. I’ve got savings, Terri. I can afford new ID for all of us, if necessary. I’ll move out of my flat, come down, find a new job. We can make it work.’
‘Yeah, but not here, unfortunately. The bloody neighbours are already poking their noses in. I told them Mabel was a little boy. I’ve managed to keep them away from her so far, but as soon as they see her face, they’ll know. Her photo is all over the media.’
‘We’ll sort it out, I promise,’ he says, beckoning me to come back to the sofa. I pad over and sit down again, curling my legs under my bottom. ‘Let’s just enjoy ourselves this evening, eh? Make the most of it.’
‘Yes, you’re right.’ I inhale and take a deep breath of him. ‘It’s so good to see you.’
Mabel gurgles happily in agreement.
Later, I cook pasta and we eat with the bowls on our laps, passing the parmesan and grater back and forth, drinking the second bottle of champagne Seth brought to celebrate our reunion. Mabel has gone down – if not for the night, at least for several hours. She was worn out after all the attention Seth gave her this afternoon. I can already tell he’s going to make a wonderful dad.
‘I hope I’m not bringing up a sensitive subject,’ I venture, chasing a piece of fusilli around my plate. ‘But what made you decide you weren’t gay after all?’
He chews thoughtfully, then puts down his fork. ‘I just didn’t enjoy the scene. I thought I’d feel that I belonged somewhere at last, but I just felt lonely and isolated. I looked at everything I’d given up – you, my relationship with my family – and I realised I’d made a terrible mistake.’
I grip his hand and squeeze it tightly. ‘My poor love. It was Amber who pushed you into it.’ I remember him nervously delivering a speech about needing to discover who he really was and putting himself first. The words were Amber’s, not his – she was the ventriloquist and he her dummy.
‘Yes,’ he admits. ‘It suited her for me to be gay because she could keep me as her plaything. But when I came out, she wasn’t there for me.’
‘That’s disgusting.’
‘She’d got what she wanted by then.’ He cocks his head in the direction of Mabel’s bedroom. ‘I’ll never forget the look in your eyes when I told you Amber was pregnant,’ he says. ‘It was like I’d sucked all the life out of you. I knew you didn’t like her, but until that moment, I had no idea how deep your hatred was.’
‘I loathed her,’ I reply. ‘She treated you like a pet, a little lapdog she could carry