And then his phone vibrated on the counter next to them and he whipped his arm away from Georgie to snatch up the phone and push it straight into his pocket.
And…what? Heneverused to behave like that.
That wassucha guilty gesture.
The utter humiliation. She’d been about to allow herself to give in to the temptation to kiss him exactly as another woman was probably messaging him.
‘Who was that?’ she heard herself asking.
‘No one.’
‘No one? A phantom messager?’ She didn’t like the way her laugh sounded so horribly brittle.
‘Ha. Yes. No. Obviously notno one. But no one important. Just Mikey.’
Mikey was his brother. And it was clearly nonsense because why would Declan act like that about a message from him.
‘I…’ This was the moment. She coulddemandthe truth. Shewantedto demand the truth.
If she weren’t so tired and didn’t have Daniel to consider, she would.
‘I think…’ No, she couldn’t right now. She needed to work out first what exactly she thought. A side part of her brain wondered at the new woman she’d become; the old Poppy would have just asked. The old Poppy had never felt this drainedby life, though.
‘Poppy.’ Declan reached towards her again and she took a big step away from him and banged her hip hard on the table.
‘Oh!’ he said, as she said, ‘Ouch.’
‘Are you okay?’ His face showed a mix of concern and slight misery. ‘Poppy?’
Could he really be this good an actor?
And then his eyes slid away from hers in a way that was new, and just… suspicious.
She turned to the worktop so that she could close her suddenly tear-filled eyes without him seeing her do it, and heaped the nearest pieces of dirty cutlery into a bowl and put it on the work surface above the dishwasher.
After a pause, Declan said, ‘Poppy.’ Unbelievably, his tone had returned to normal. It was like Jekyll and Hyde. ‘Obviously you are not lifting a finger to clear this mess up. The whole reason I was cooking –tryingto cook – was to give you a break from constant housework. Obviously I didn’t totallysucceed but,you know, beans on toast is a greatalternative. And before I make the gourmet beans and heated bread, I’m going to have the kitchen sparkling.’ He was being sonice. But then everyone always said that cheating men often behaved like wonderful partners, to assuage some of their guilt.
‘You can’t do all of this yourself.’ Avoiding looking directly at Declan, she picked Daniel up and kissed him before putting him in his – miraculously still quite clean – highchair and strapping him in and handing him a rattle to distract him while he was waiting for his food. ‘It would take you hours.’
‘I have hours. No work this evening. I’ll do Daniel’s tea too.’
‘Well… Thank you.’ She would, she supposed, feel better for a rest, which could only benefit Daniel, and to give Declan his due, he was an amazing father.
‘Okay. I’m going in.’ Declan took the destroyed apron off the hob.
They both stared at the pan for quite a long time.
‘Whatwasthat?’ Poppy asked eventually, not wanting to engage with him but really curious.
‘It was similar to your creamy chicken and cider dish. And I was doing a tomato and olive compote and some green beans with a curry dressing.’
Wow. That would have been alotof flavours on the same plate. Poppy wondered whether it would have all come together deliciously, or… not. It was the thought that counted, of course. But only if the thought came from a place of love and not a place of guilt.
‘Sounds as though it would have been lovely,’ she said with an effort. ‘Thank you.’
‘I mean…Wouldhave been. Not looking so lovely now.’ Declan grimaced in the direction of where something orange had splatted on the wall next to the hob.
Again,howcould he be acting so normally?
