but no Y. So I used a V and part of an L. There was only one R, so I had to use a P and the other part of the L. By the time the haphazard proposal was in place, the Alphabetti was cold and the toast was black, and the smoke had set off the smoke alarm, which roused Suzie from her sleep. I quickly cooked eggs instead, and fresh toast, and positioned the eggs like eyes on the plate. I gave the plate a squirt of ketchup for the smiley mouth, perfected the arrangement of the proposal, and added the remains of the Alphabetti
–
which I warned Suzie not to eat as I had messed with it so much
–
as hair. The breakfast in bed part was ruined as Suzie came down to make sure I was still alive as the house was filled with smoke, so we ended up having breakfast in the kitchen instead.
The reaction. I haven’t seen Suzie smile like that for a long time. It seems everyone has an inner child and Suzie’s likes Alphabetti.
I sat in the car outside Jules’s place with Harry sitting next to me.
‘Are you ready for this?’
I nodded.
‘I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. I feel like I’ve pushed you into this.’
‘No, I want to do this. I’m not delighted, of course I’m not. But you can’t control who you fall in love with.’ If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have spent the last two years in love with my best friend. I sighed. ‘I want her to be happy again and if Badger can help with that then I’m ok with it.’
I got out the car before I could change my mind and strode up the path.
When Jules opened the door, I tried to find some words to apologise, to make things good between us but I had nothing. I was still hurting over this.
Tears welled in her eyes and I found myself stepping forward to hug her. I held her tight as she sobbed against me, and I soaked her jumper with my own tears.
I felt Harry shuffle us forward so we were no longer standing on the front door step, then he closed the door behind us.
‘Badger!’ Harry called. ‘Put the kettle on, I think we’ll all need a cup of tea in a minute.’
*
I tucked into a slice of Jules’s delicious banana cake as I watched Badger lying on the floor, playing with Bella. It was clear for everyone to see how much he adored this little girl that wasn’t his.
Harry was outside in the garden, taking some of our calls.
Jules and I had cried and apologised and cried some more whilst Harry and Badger had loudly and diplomatically talked about football. It would be a while before things were back to normal between us, but we were getting there.
‘So you spent the night with Harry last night,’ Jules said as she wiped the table.
I swallowed a big lump of cake. ‘How do you know that?’
‘We’re following the blog too. It sounds like a lot of fun. But my point being that Harry doesn’t have a guest room. Badger told me he doesn’t.’
‘He does. Just not one with a bed in it.’
‘So…’ she smiled as she sat down opposite me with her tea in her hand.
‘So I slept in his bed. It doesn’t mean anything. We’ve done it before.’
‘Of course it means something, you’re in love with him.’
‘In love with who?’ Harry asked as he came through the back door.
Jules paled.
‘Tiny Tim,’ I blurted out in panic at the same time Jules said, ‘Ryan Gosling,’ and slapped her hand down on Ryan’s photo in the magazine she had been reading.
Harry looked between us. ‘Which is it?’
‘Well, we were talking about Tiny Tim before and Jules said he reminded her of Ryan Gosling and I said I loved him and Jules thought I was talking about Tiny Tim, but I wasn’t.’
Jules stared at me, open mouthed, as I prattled on with my excuse. Way to play it cool.
Harry seemed to buy this, or in the least was willing to humour me. He joined me at the table, stealing a large crumb from my plate, as he slid the magazine towards him.
‘So Ryan Gosling eh? What is it about him?’
I stared at Harry and dragged my eyes down to look at
–
which I warned Suzie not to eat as I had messed with it so much
–
as hair. The breakfast in bed part was ruined as Suzie came down to make sure I was still alive as the house was filled with smoke, so we ended up having breakfast in the kitchen instead.
The reaction. I haven’t seen Suzie smile like that for a long time. It seems everyone has an inner child and Suzie’s likes Alphabetti.
I sat in the car outside Jules’s place with Harry sitting next to me.
‘Are you ready for this?’
I nodded.
‘I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. I feel like I’ve pushed you into this.’
‘No, I want to do this. I’m not delighted, of course I’m not. But you can’t control who you fall in love with.’ If it was that easy, I wouldn’t have spent the last two years in love with my best friend. I sighed. ‘I want her to be happy again and if Badger can help with that then I’m ok with it.’
I got out the car before I could change my mind and strode up the path.
When Jules opened the door, I tried to find some words to apologise, to make things good between us but I had nothing. I was still hurting over this.
Tears welled in her eyes and I found myself stepping forward to hug her. I held her tight as she sobbed against me, and I soaked her jumper with my own tears.
I felt Harry shuffle us forward so we were no longer standing on the front door step, then he closed the door behind us.
‘Badger!’ Harry called. ‘Put the kettle on, I think we’ll all need a cup of tea in a minute.’
*
I tucked into a slice of Jules’s delicious banana cake as I watched Badger lying on the floor, playing with Bella. It was clear for everyone to see how much he adored this little girl that wasn’t his.
Harry was outside in the garden, taking some of our calls.
Jules and I had cried and apologised and cried some more whilst Harry and Badger had loudly and diplomatically talked about football. It would be a while before things were back to normal between us, but we were getting there.
‘So you spent the night with Harry last night,’ Jules said as she wiped the table.
I swallowed a big lump of cake. ‘How do you know that?’
‘We’re following the blog too. It sounds like a lot of fun. But my point being that Harry doesn’t have a guest room. Badger told me he doesn’t.’
‘He does. Just not one with a bed in it.’
‘So…’ she smiled as she sat down opposite me with her tea in her hand.
‘So I slept in his bed. It doesn’t mean anything. We’ve done it before.’
‘Of course it means something, you’re in love with him.’
‘In love with who?’ Harry asked as he came through the back door.
Jules paled.
‘Tiny Tim,’ I blurted out in panic at the same time Jules said, ‘Ryan Gosling,’ and slapped her hand down on Ryan’s photo in the magazine she had been reading.
Harry looked between us. ‘Which is it?’
‘Well, we were talking about Tiny Tim before and Jules said he reminded her of Ryan Gosling and I said I loved him and Jules thought I was talking about Tiny Tim, but I wasn’t.’
Jules stared at me, open mouthed, as I prattled on with my excuse. Way to play it cool.
Harry seemed to buy this, or in the least was willing to humour me. He joined me at the table, stealing a large crumb from my plate, as he slid the magazine towards him.
‘So Ryan Gosling eh? What is it about him?’
I stared at Harry and dragged my eyes down to look at
Similar Books
