if you had, and frankly, Robert, she was the last person I needed to deal with when the truth began hitting me like a ton of bricks.’
‘Nevertheless…’
‘It’s done now,’ she said, cutting him off. ‘We’re debt-free and here in Holly Wood, ready to make a fresh start. I’m only sorry you and I won’t be able to see one another as much as I’d like, but you’ll always be welcome here on your own, you know that. Or with Annabelle, if she’d like to come. Darcie’s very keen to see her …’ Noticing the mask that dropped over his face, she said, ‘But no pressure. As I said before, I don’t want to cause you any difficulties at home.’
‘It’s not that,’ he said, ‘it’s that Annabelle might not be such a great influence on Darcie these days. She’s going through a bit of a… what’s the word? Challenging? Yes, challenging phase.’
Alicia’s eyebrows rose.
He was about to enlarge when loyalty staged a discreet interruption.
‘It’s OK,’ Alicia assured him, ‘I know what teenagers can be like, though I count myself lucky that Nat hasn’t put me through anything like the kind of nightmares I’ve seen some of my friends go through. He has his moments, of course, and he’s still only seventeen so we’re not out of the danger zone yet. However, so far, so good.’
Robert smiled fondly. ‘I take it he’s still planning to follow in his father’s footsteps.’
Alicia looked down as she nodded. ‘Absolutely. I don’t think anything could dissuade him from that. He and Craig had it all planned out, the GCSEs and A levels to start him on his way, the universities, Oxford being his first choice, naturally, Craig’s alma mater; the firms and chambers he’d apply to for work experience, the bar exams, the dinners, right through to the time he could join his father as a junior.’
‘I hope Craig realised how lucky he was,’ Robert murmured, a note of bitterness clinging to the edges of his tone.
Alicia looked at him. It would be foolish to think he had any more fondness for Craig than she had for Sabrina, and knowing how much the affair had hurt her brother made her hate Sabrina all the more for not treating Robert with the love and respect he deserved. ‘I think he did,’ she said softly. ‘He always adored the children.’
Robert looked as though would have liked to say more,but whatever it was, it didn’t materialise, and she wondered if alongside his resentment of Craig he was feeling his old sadness at not having any children of his own. A long time ago he and Sabrina had been through the tumultuous hope and despair of fertility treatment, but it hadn’t worked and in the end he’d declared himself perfectly happy to be a devoted stepdad and uncle. Though he was wonderful in both roles, Alicia and her mother had always known how deeply disappointed he was in himself for not being able to father his own child.
‘I have no problem at all imagining Nat as a leading QC one of these days,’ he said, the gentleness of his tone conveying only affection for his nephew, and no jealousy or anger towards Craig. ‘You’ll be very proud of him.’
Loving him for caring about Nat, Alicia said, ‘I already am, which is why I’m praying hard that losing his father, and making this change, right in the middle of sixth form, doesn’t send him off the rails. I don’t think I could bear it if it did.’
‘He’s always had his head screwed on the right way,’ Robert reminded her reassuringly. ‘I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about there.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you for that. Now, before I go any further into the insufferably boastful mother routine, am I allowed to ask how things are going in the world of rocket science?’
His eyes lit with humour. ‘Alicia, I’ve seen your expression glaze far too many times in the past to be tempted down that road now. It’s still all very dry, and highly confidential, and as frustrating as ever when there are so many
‘Nevertheless…’
‘It’s done now,’ she said, cutting him off. ‘We’re debt-free and here in Holly Wood, ready to make a fresh start. I’m only sorry you and I won’t be able to see one another as much as I’d like, but you’ll always be welcome here on your own, you know that. Or with Annabelle, if she’d like to come. Darcie’s very keen to see her …’ Noticing the mask that dropped over his face, she said, ‘But no pressure. As I said before, I don’t want to cause you any difficulties at home.’
‘It’s not that,’ he said, ‘it’s that Annabelle might not be such a great influence on Darcie these days. She’s going through a bit of a… what’s the word? Challenging? Yes, challenging phase.’
Alicia’s eyebrows rose.
He was about to enlarge when loyalty staged a discreet interruption.
‘It’s OK,’ Alicia assured him, ‘I know what teenagers can be like, though I count myself lucky that Nat hasn’t put me through anything like the kind of nightmares I’ve seen some of my friends go through. He has his moments, of course, and he’s still only seventeen so we’re not out of the danger zone yet. However, so far, so good.’
Robert smiled fondly. ‘I take it he’s still planning to follow in his father’s footsteps.’
Alicia looked down as she nodded. ‘Absolutely. I don’t think anything could dissuade him from that. He and Craig had it all planned out, the GCSEs and A levels to start him on his way, the universities, Oxford being his first choice, naturally, Craig’s alma mater; the firms and chambers he’d apply to for work experience, the bar exams, the dinners, right through to the time he could join his father as a junior.’
‘I hope Craig realised how lucky he was,’ Robert murmured, a note of bitterness clinging to the edges of his tone.
Alicia looked at him. It would be foolish to think he had any more fondness for Craig than she had for Sabrina, and knowing how much the affair had hurt her brother made her hate Sabrina all the more for not treating Robert with the love and respect he deserved. ‘I think he did,’ she said softly. ‘He always adored the children.’
Robert looked as though would have liked to say more,but whatever it was, it didn’t materialise, and she wondered if alongside his resentment of Craig he was feeling his old sadness at not having any children of his own. A long time ago he and Sabrina had been through the tumultuous hope and despair of fertility treatment, but it hadn’t worked and in the end he’d declared himself perfectly happy to be a devoted stepdad and uncle. Though he was wonderful in both roles, Alicia and her mother had always known how deeply disappointed he was in himself for not being able to father his own child.
‘I have no problem at all imagining Nat as a leading QC one of these days,’ he said, the gentleness of his tone conveying only affection for his nephew, and no jealousy or anger towards Craig. ‘You’ll be very proud of him.’
Loving him for caring about Nat, Alicia said, ‘I already am, which is why I’m praying hard that losing his father, and making this change, right in the middle of sixth form, doesn’t send him off the rails. I don’t think I could bear it if it did.’
‘He’s always had his head screwed on the right way,’ Robert reminded her reassuringly. ‘I don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about there.’
She smiled. ‘Thank you for that. Now, before I go any further into the insufferably boastful mother routine, am I allowed to ask how things are going in the world of rocket science?’
His eyes lit with humour. ‘Alicia, I’ve seen your expression glaze far too many times in the past to be tempted down that road now. It’s still all very dry, and highly confidential, and as frustrating as ever when there are so many
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