‘Erm, I think I’ll go to bed now,’ says Alice. ‘I’m suddenly feeling really tired.’ She smiles at Luke in that awkward way when someone is trying to pretend everything is okay, when it clearly isn’t. ‘Goodnight, Clare.’ She pauses, as if she wants to say something but then changes her mind and walks over to the door.
‘Yeah, night.’ I can’t bring myself to say her name. The door closes and I wait until I hear the creak of the stairs and I’m confident she has gone to her room.
‘Look, Babe,’ says Luke before I can say anything. ‘She genuinely came down last night and asked if I would do this as a surprise for you and your Mum.’
‘She may have done, but I tell you what, Luke, you’re letting a bit of flattery from a young woman go to your head.’ The seed that Tom planted earlier somehow has not just taken root but grown into a great big fucking tree without me even realising. Luke looks incredulously at me.
‘Are you serious?’ he laughs. ‘You can’t be. Fuck, you are. Oh, come on, Clare, what’s got into you? I was just taking the piss the other night about you being jealous, but you really are.’
‘What do you expect?’ I ask. ‘All this cloak and dagger over a flaming portrait. I don’t like it.’
‘The portrait?’
‘No! You two. I don’t like you two being all sneaky.’ I look at Luke and he has a small smile on his face. ‘And I don’t like the portrait either, now you come to mention it.’ I stick out my bottom lip like a child. Luke’s mock look of disappointment is making it difficult to stay cross with him.
He comes over and wraps his arms around me and kisses me, nuzzling my neck. ‘Are you saying you don’t like it?’
I make a half-hearted attempt to push him away. I want to be cross with him, but he makes it very difficult. ‘No. I don’t.’
‘Not even this?’ He takes his kisses down the side of my neck and moves the shoulder of my dressing gown over, where he kisses my bare skin.
I wriggle free and rearrange my robe. ‘That’s cheating.’ I look over at the canvas. ‘I still don’t like it.’
‘Clare, you’re overreacting. Look, I’ll wash up and then I’ll come up to bed.’
I know sulking is such a childish act, but I can’t help it as I retreat out of the room and back up to bed. When Luke comes up some ten minutes later I pretend to be asleep. I’m on my side with my back to him. He gets into bed and leans over and kisses the back of my head.
‘Night, Babe. I love you and don’t you forget it.’ He turns over and pulls the quilt up around his shoulder. It’s not long before his breathing slips into the deep rhythm of sleep, leaving me wide awake, battling the green-eyed monster again. How the hell did I become such an irrational and jealous person?
Chapter 11
It’s Saturday morning and although I’ve been really busy with work and helping Mum and Alice prepare for the little get-together we’re having this afternoon, I haven’t been able to stop replaying Alice’s confession in my mind. It’s not so much what she said but the way she said it and her body language. I just can’t make it all tie in together. And then, in the next thought, I’m chastising myself for being suspicious and reminding myself that Alice has already been through a lot in her life; maybe she has developed a coping mechanism and I’ve just become far too cynical in my job.
I’m also aware that I may have overreacted slightly about the portrait. I didn’t get a chance to apologise yesterday; Luke kept himself shut in his studio for most of the evening and I ended up going to bed alone. He’d come up some time in the night and I vaguely remember cuddling up to him.
When I wake up I can hear him in the shower, so I wait for him to come out and apologise for overreacting.
‘Hey, don’t worry,’ he says generously. ‘You’ve had a tough week emotionally and, I promise you, it was all totally innocent.’
‘I love you,’ I say, appreciating his forgiving nature. I stop in the bedroom doorway and kiss him.
‘I love you too, Mrs Tennison. Now, haven’t you got some baking to do for the party?’ He gives my backside a tap. ‘No soggy bottoms!’
I grin to myself as I go downstairs, feeling a surge of love for Luke.
I spend the next couple of hours with Mum and Alice preparing the buffet food for this afternoon. Luke takes the girls to the park to keep them out from under our feet and when he returns everything is ready and there’s an air of happiness about the place.
Mum has only invited a handful of people over to meet Alice. I had warned her about overwhelming Alice. Naturally people are curious to meet her, but I don’t want it to turn into a freak show. Mum understood and the guest list extended to Pippa and her family, Leonard, Tom and Lottie and a couple of Mum’s friends from the WI.
I’m rather nervous about Tom meeting Alice, for some reason, and I’m not sure why. I suppose it’s a bit like taking your boyfriend or girlfriend home for the first time to meet your family. You’re never quite sure how it’s going to go and what you really want is for everyone to like each other and get on well together.
‘Hi, Tom,’ I say, opening the door when he finally turns up. ‘And, hello, Lottie. How are you?’ I give Tom a kiss on the cheek and then bend down to give Lottie a hug. ‘Hannah’s in the garden on the trampoline if you want to go through, sweetheart.’
‘How’s it going?’ asks Tom as Lottie skips off towards the rear of the house. He has a bunch of flowers in one hand and a bottle of red in the other.
‘Good,’ I say. I run my hands down the sides of my trousers, aware my palms are sweaty.
‘Not nervous at all, then?’ says Tom, nodding at my gesture.
I give a small laugh, which says it all. ‘It just feels really strange introducing you to Alice after all this time. I wasn’t like this when Luke met her.’
‘Deep breaths and relax,’ says Tom. He breathes in through his nose and slowly out through his mouth. I do the same. ‘That’s it. Nothing to be nervous about at all.’
We go through into the kitchen and Tom greets Mum with a kiss and presents her with the bottle of wine. The men get handshakes and Mum’s friends get his most charming smile. Finally, it’s Alice’s turn.
‘This is Alice,’ I say to Tom. ‘Alice this is Tom.’
‘Wow, you’re really here. Amazing. It’s just amazing,’ says Tom. He takes a moment to look at her and a small blush rises to Alice’s face. Tom steps forward and offers the bunch of flowers to Alice. ‘Hello, Alice.’ His voice is full of sincerity and he gives her a small peck on the cheek. ‘Welcome home.’
‘Hello, Tom,’ says Alice and accepts the flowers. ‘They’re beautiful. Thank you, so much. I’ve never been given flowers before.’
I look on and realise I’m smiling. That’s so thoughtful of Tom. I glance at Luke, who looks back and gives a smile and a slight raise of the eyebrows, which I interpret as Luke thinking Tom is being typically smooth and charming. I move over to him, snaking my arm behind him to reach a glass of wine on the counter. ‘Flowers, eh? Nice touch.’