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Oddly, I didn’t want the call to end, but my daughter was on her way back, her tongue out in concentration and both hands gripping her plate.
“It’s a date. By which I mean a non-romantic page on the calendar. Unless ye say otherwise. Until then, I’ll send a few pictures,” he said in a purr.
“Pictures? Of what?”
“The cottage. Now who has a dirty mind?”
He hung up, and I stared at the phone, my body warm from the brief chat alone.
Tobi set her plate down on the table, her thumb in the cake. “Bette let me have it for nothing.”
“That is so kind of her. People can be lovely.” Here, two hours north, just not where we’d come from. I brushed a curl back from her face so she didn’t eat it. “Listen, for your first day inyour new school, I have an idea. We’ll bake something nice and take it in for all the other children.”
“So everyone will like me?”
“Just to be kind, like Bette.”
Tobi grinned big, dropping fairy cake crumbs. “I really want to do that.”
My phone dinged, and she angled to see the screen.
“What’s that?”
A photo of the cottage’s exterior displayed. Gone were the broken windows and piles of rubble. I stared at the sweet home, flicking through the three other pictures Valentine sent.
I imagined painting it. Finding furniture. It was a dream I wasn’t sure I could afford.
“Is that our new house?” Tobi tried again.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m still searching.”
“But can it be? Then I don’t have to sleep away from you.”
I hugged her to me, kissing her soft hair. If only it could be, everything could all work out so well.
Half an hour later, the library café was closing and we needed to move on. We’d killed time but couldn’t go back to Molly’s yet. She wasn’t back for an hour, and I didn’t have a key.
Outside the library, a chilly April gale swept over us, so we ran to the car, Tobi clutching her sparkly backpack. Rain splattered on us, soaking my hair and sliding down my neck, so I dived into the back of the car with my daughter to get her into her car seat without standing in the downpour.
Closing us in, I stripped her coat then mine. The windows fogged.
While I got to grips with the buckles, Tobi drew on the glass with her finger. She took a rush of breath.
“Mama, look.”
“What, baby?”
“It’s Greg.”
Horror slammed into me. I froze then slowly lifted my head.
On the main road, beyond the library car park’s railing, a metallic-orange four-by-four crawled past, the driver just visible from our angle.
Tobi was right. Tall, fair, and smug-faced Greg was one of the people who absolutely could not find us. If he did, my entire plan would fall apart.
In a panic, I dropped flat to the seat, my heart rebooting and skittering like a scared rabbit.
“Duck down so we can play a game,” I whispered, sinking my fingers into Tobi’s hair to gently guide her low.
