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It was Saturday, and the day stretched before her. She was toying with the idea of being a tourist for the day. Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Tower Bridge and the London Eye were all on her radar. The weather was bright and sunny and there was something freeing about the thought of wandering for a while, maybe stopping for a bite of lunch and perhaps even a glass of wine.
She was just pulling on her jacket when there was a knock at the door. She pulled it open to see Joshua and Hannah standing outside. ‘Something wrong?’ she asked, glancing between them both. ‘Do you need me to watch Hannah?’
Her first thought was that Joshua had been called in unexpectedly to work. Why else would they both be at her door?
‘No, Auntie Clara. We’re going to the Tower of London, and I want you to come with us.’
Clara was stunned but her face broke into an immediate smile. Firstly, at Hannah calling her Auntie, and secondly at being invited at all. Her gaze met Joshua’s and he gave a good-natured shrug. ‘I think my company alone is a bit boring for my daughter. She wanted to ask a friend.’
Clara knelt down so she was opposite Hannah. ‘And that’s me?’
Hannah nodded as if it was the most natural thing in the world. ‘We haven’t gone anywhere together yet and you’ve been here for ages.’
Her eyes gave the briefest glance to Joshua again. She wanted to be sure that Hannah wasn’t pushing him into this. He might not really want to spend time with her at all. But the look in his eyes seemed sincere and half amused. ‘What do you think? Have you been before?’
Clara picked up her bag and swung it over her shoulder. ‘Never. I’d just got ready as I wanted to do a bit of sightseeing today too. The Tower of London sounds perfect.’ She pulled the door closed behind her. ‘Thanks for the invite.’
Hannah started bouncing on her toes as they called for the lift. ‘Told you she would come, Daddy.’
Joshua looked over as they stepped into the lift then leaned over and whispered in her ear, ‘Prepare yourself. Hannah will talk all day.’
Clara gave a genuine grin. ‘Can’t wait.’
* * *
Because it was a Saturday they had to stand in a queue for a while to get through the entrance to the Tower of London. Hannah hadn’t stopped bouncing and waited for her turn to get her picture taken next to one of the famous Beefeaters in their traditional dark blue and red uniform.
The inside of the Tower was busy, but they weren’t in any hurry so enjoyed one of the tours, listening to the Yeoman Warder tell stories of the Tower’s history, treachery, torture and legends. Hannah was captivated, particularly when they met the Ravenmaster and were able to hear the names of some of the ravens around the tower.
The queue for the Crown Jewels outside the Jewel House in the Waterloo Block was large, snaking its way across much of the grounds. Joshua bought them all ice creams to eat while they stood and waited, entertained by a group of performers who re-enacted a few of the tales about the Tower.
As they moved forward into the dimly lit corridors towards the Crown Jewels Hannah slipped her hand into Clara’s. For a second Clara was startled, but the little hand felt comfortable in hers and a smile slid across her face. ‘Told you I was old news,’ Joshua said in a voice low enough that Hannah couldn’t hear.
Clara gave him a cheeky wink. ‘Guess you need to up your game then.’
‘Sounds like a challenge,’ he said with a teasing tone.
‘Not sure you’re up for it,’ she quipped back quickly. As the line moved forward, Clara lifted Hannah up onto her hip so she could get a better view of the Crown Jewels. They couldn’t linger too long, as the line was constantly moving. But they got a chance to look at St Edward’s Crown, which was used for the Coronation, and the huge Cullinan Diamond mounted in the ceremonial sceptre and rod.
Hannah’s favourite was the Imperial State Crown with the huge Black Prince’s Ruby set into the cross at the front of the crown, and she was delighted when Clara bought her a hand-sized replica of the crown in the gift shop later.
She toyed with the thin plastic box it was housed in, trying to stick her fingers through the tricky gaps. ‘It’s okay—’ Clara laughed ‘—it’s yours; you can take it out.’
Hannah sighed. ‘But it’s too little for my head.’
Clara nodded in agreement. ‘It is, but you can sit it in your bedroom and look at it when you fall asleep. Maybe you’ll have a dream about being a princess, or a queen.’
‘Or a unicorn!’ said Hannah excitedly.
Clara kept nodding but looked at Joshua in bewilderment. He laughed. ‘You’ll learn. It doesn’t matter what the topic of conversation is these days, it always comes back to a unicorn.’
She shook her head. ‘Guess I’m not as up-to-date as I thought I was.’ Her heart was feeling full in her chest. She’d had such a lovely morning with them both. Playing the part of a tourist was always going to be fun, but doing it with them had made it so much better. They’d chatted easily today. Hannah was enthralled by the stories and the sights. Any hint of bad behaviour disappeared in seconds with the latest distraction.
As they walked out of one entrance to view the blue and white Tower Bridge, Joshua’s hand brushed against hers. He gave her a smile and then put his arm around her shoulder. ‘Anyone hungry?’
‘Me!’ both Hannah and Clara shouted at once.
They strolled along the edge of the Thames until they came to a restaurant that had tables set out in the sunshine. It was obviously popular but,
after a few minutes’ wait, they were guided to a table and given some menus.
The waiter appeared as they were watching the tour boats on the Thames and took their order. Ten minutes later Clara was sipping a cool glass of wine and eating traditional fish and chips. She let out a sigh.
‘What?’ asked Joshua.
She smiled. ‘Nothing—just a perfect day. Exactly what I wanted to do. I got to see one of the sights in London, and now I’m having a gorgeous lunch and a glass of wine.’ She raised her glass. ‘I thought I was going to be doing this by myself, so thank you for the invite today.’
* * *
Joshua’s heart gave a strange kind of flutter in his chest. This morning he’d acted on a whim. Hannah had pleaded to invite Clara on their trip, and he hadn’t let himself find a hundred reasons to say no.
Because he hadn’t really wanted to.
He couldn’t pretend that his stomach hadn’t been giving the odd flip-flop as he’d knocked on her door. But Clara had seemed delighted. And his heart might have skipped a few beats.
All morning she’d been great company—attentive to Hannah, and easy around them both. They weren’t dating, so there was no problem with her spending time with Hannah, but the truth was Joshua didn’t really introduce any female friends to Hannah. He’d met a few of the fellow mums and dads from Hannah’s time at nursery and now at school—children’s party invites made that inevitable—but that wasn’t a circle of people he would call friends.
Between working and Hannah’s activities, there was hardly time to get to know the doctors he worked with, let alone their families.
Now, sitting here with the breeze from the Thames and the sun in the sky, Joshua realised for the first time in years he was actually enjoying himself.
As they ate their food he could see the excitement in Hannah’s eyes. It had been there all day. All she wanted to do was impress Clara, and that made his heart ache a little. Had he made a mistake? He knew she was only here for another four months.
