drink. She noticed Jasper climb onto the sofa and curl up in the cushions. His lightsaber was still in his grasp but tiredness was beginning to catch up with him; he’d stayed up late to see everybody, but she’d need to put him to bed shortly. ‘Jazz and I were heading off to kindergarten yesterday morning and we found a book in the basket of my bike. A brand new book, just sitting there. How weird is that?’
‘Yes! That’s his book! That’s my mate!’ Liam said excitedly.
‘I haven’t told you which book it is.’
‘I already know which book it is! It’s got the sheep on it.’
Her eyes widened in surprise. ‘How’d you know that?’ she chuckled, amazed. ‘Oh, wait – did you put it in my basket?’
‘No! They’ve got this mad marketing campaign going – he was telling me all about it: they’re just leaving signed copies of the book in random places about the city.’
Lee frowned. ‘Why?’
Liam struggled to remember why. ‘I think because it’s a . . . nice surprise? Something about . . . paying it forward?’ It was clear he had no idea what was being paid forward. Liam worked in finance, so had no concept of anything ever being free.
‘Well, next time you see him, you can tell him your friend got one of them.’ Lee shrugged.
‘I’ll introduce you to him and you can tell him yourself.’
Lee was bemused. ‘I think you’re overestimating my excitement about it.’ She glanced over at Jasper, his head on the cushions, eyelids drooping . . . ‘Come on, Jazz: time for bed, bud. Come and say goodnight to everyone.’
‘No seriously, I’m thinking about having a Christmas party,’ Liam continued as she got off the table. ‘I’ll introduce you.’
‘Yes! Get in!’ Noah cheered. ‘A party! New women! Thank God! I’m in severe drought over here. I’ve not had a whisker of action for months now.’
‘Months? Oof.’ Liam gave a pained look that suggested he never went more than days if he didn’t want to. Mila’s face fell.
Jasper came over and they all sank to their knees in turn to give him goodnight hugs and kisses. ‘Goodnight, buddy,’ Liam said, giving him a high-five.
‘Don’t let the bed bugs bite, little dude,’ Mila whispered, kissing his cheek.
‘You keep sleeping tight and you’ll be as big as me before you know it,’ Noah said, wrapping him close to him so that all Lee could see, for a few moments, was the top of Jasper’s head.
‘Up you go,’ Lee said as Jasper passed her. ‘Brush your teeth, I’ll be right there to tuck you in.’
She watched him climb the stairs, his lightsaber banging against the treads.
‘I’ll tell you who has been getting some action, though,’ Liam said in his most gossipy voice. He looked across at her again, not missing a beat. ‘Your old friend Harry Cunningham. His wife’s pregnant!’
Lee felt her body go very still as three pairs of eyes settled upon her. ‘Yes, I know.’
Liam deflated again at her apparent boredom on the issue. ‘Oh. The way they said it, I thought it was a big deal.’
‘Why? How did they say it?’ Mila asked, her eyes flitting over to Lee.
‘Well, I got the impression they must have been trying for ages and that’s why they kept the pregnancy so hush-hush for so long. Harry’s getting on, let’s be honest.’
‘Mmm.’ Lee nodded noncommittally but her mind was racing. They’d kept it quiet? How far along was Gisele, then? Lee had assumed just a few months at most. ‘How did you hear about it?’
‘One of the guys at the party just now goes to the same gym as her. Don’t tell Harry, but I think he’s always had something of a thing for her. Anyway, he said he hadn’t seen her around for months and then bumped into her in the street sporting this massive bump.’
‘Right.’ Lee sincerely doubted anything about Gisele was massive. From what she remembered, the woman was a doll. ‘And how did you and he get onto the topic of Gisele being pregnant? She didn’t go to university with you, did she?’ Lee knew she was six years younger than them, for a start.
Liam thought back for a moment, trying to recall the flow of conversation. ‘Oh. It’s because I said I was coming on here, to yours. And Viktor recognized your name of course, because of you and Harry winning the Pulitz—’
‘Right,’ she said brusquely, cutting him off. She couldn’t even bear to hear it said out loud.