He could.
Theyshouldmake the most of their time together, right? Because soon enough there wouldn’t be any more nights like this. No friends and family popping round for a drink.
But you have friends up in Nottingham. Good friends.
He’d kept in touch with a few friends from his uni days. It wasn’t as though he’d be totally on his own up there.
Still...
Reaching for his phone, he typed out a quick message to Aiden, inviting him round for a drink and telling him to drag Ian along too. The reply was immediate and made him laugh.
Aiden:Yep, be there in a bit. Promised Ian pizza for helping, so ordered it to be delivered to yours. And tell Sarah that Ian’s injury was nothing to do with me.
What’re you laughing at?” Sarah asked, peeking at his phone. “Oh God,” she said, catching the end of the message before Ed could pocket it. “What the hell has he done now?” She shook her head, expression fond. To say Ian was accident prone was an understatement.
Pizzas arrived fifteen minutes later. Aiden had ordered enough for about ten people.
“Hey, Ruth?” He set the food on the kitchen counter. “Who’s got the kids tonight?”
She made a face. “They’re with their dad. For once.”
Ruth’s husband had left her for a woman he worked with about eighteen months ago. The hurt was still raw. The kids had also taken a backseat to his new relationship, which upset her even more.
With a smile, he slid the wine glass towards her, hoping to take her mind off it. “So you can stay as long as you want then?”
“Yep.” An answering smile spread slowly, but her happiness was genuine. “I can.” She lifted her glass. “Cheers.”
All three of them clinked glasses just as a knock on the door sounded.
“I’ll get it.” Sarah disappeared to answer the door, and Ed took the opportunity to slide an arm around Ruth and give her a quick hug. “All right?”
She leant into him with a sigh. “Yeah.” She let out another sigh and rested her head on his shoulder, listening to the laughter in the hall as Sarah let the others inside. “Fuck, Ed. I’m going to miss you.”
“Same.” He gave her another squeeze and let go. “But I’ll only be a couple of hours up the motorway, not the other side of the world.”
“I know, but—”
“Where’s those pizzas.” Ian set beer and more wine on the worktop and then made a beeline for the food.
Ed moved away from Ruth to get some plates out as the pizza boxes were opened and the smell of garlic and cheese filled the air.
The kitchen was a riot of noise as drinks were poured and food dished out. Yes, he was going to miss having them all so close by, but Tom’s words still haunted him.“Can’t rely on your family all your life, Ed. You’re almost forty, for God’s sake. Time to fly the fucking nest.”A fresh start was a good thing, if just to prove to himself that he could do it.
For now though, as chatter and laughter surrounded him, he settled back with a glass of wine and prepared to enjoy his evening.
And made a mental note to do more of this while he was still around.
ED WOKE TO a raging headache and the sound of knocking on his front door.
He groaned, one hand massaging his temples, the other scrabbling about on his bedside table for his phone.
Fuck.
The time on the screen glared back at him, taunting. 11:05.
Arse. That was probably Oliver at the door, and despite Ed’s best intentions, he was once again woefully unprepared for a day of decorating—his stomach lurched as he sat up—or prepared for anything at all.
Gingerly standing up, Ed steadied himself with a hand on the headboard. Once satisfied he wasn’t actually going to throw up, he went to answer the door, wincing at the bright light streaming through it.
