‘Go on then. I’m on the edge of my seat now,’ he added sarcastically.
‘Olivier Demont.’
‘Oh,Olivier. That’s right, he said he was coming over to visit soon. Oh, fantastic.’
Ash paused in the process of picking up a bag of dog food. ‘How come you didn’t warn me?’
‘Did you need warning?’ The pitch of Ro’s voice lifted slightly. ‘I thought you liked Oli?’
‘I did. I do. I mean – I think I do – it’s been a long time.’ She broke off from her rambling, so pleased that Romesh couldn’t see her face. Despite her epic crush on Olivier, she’d never mentioned to Ro how she felt. She’d known he wouldn’t have been able to resist trying to match-make and that would have been so embarrassing. ‘“Warn” was probably the wrong word to use. I just meant, how come you never mentioned it?’
‘Well, you never really ask about him so I figured you wouldn’t be that interested. How was he, anyway?’
‘Good, I think. He looked good anyway.’
‘Ofcoursehe looked good.’ Romesh filled his voice with unmistakable innuendo. James’s voice piped up in the background again and Romesh laughed. ‘You’ve got nothing to worry about, sweetheart,’ he joked with his husband before coming back on the phone to her properly. ‘I love it when he pretends to be jealous. As though I have eyes for anyone but him.’
Ash smiled and decided to leave hefting the big bag of dog food until she’d finished on the phone to Ro. ‘How is the adoption stuff going?’
Romesh sighed. ‘Okay. I think. We have another class next week and it should be the last visit from the social worker before they put together their report. If everything goes according to schedule, we should know whether they’re going to recommend us to the independent panel before Christmas.’
‘They will. How could they not? You’ll both be amazing parents. James is a doctor for goodness’ sake, and you had glowing references.’
‘Yes, we did. Thank you, angel. But you know how these things are. The law might say it’s fine for us to be parents but will that be the reality of how we’re treated?’
‘If it’s not, you can appeal, can’t you?’ Ash swallowed over a hot stirring of indignation that flared up in her stomach. ‘You think this social worker is prejudiced?’
He sighed again. ‘No. I don’t know. We’ll just have to see what happens and hope for the best. Come on, let’s talk about something else. Are you still coming to the quiz at the bar tomorrow night?’
‘Of course.’
‘Great. It starts at eight but shall we meet at seven-ish to have a drink and grab a good table?’
‘Yeah, I think I’ll be able to manage that straight from work.’
‘In your elf costume? We might get extra points.’
‘No.Notin the elf costume. If you want extra points,youdress up.’
‘Spoilsport,’ he teased. ‘Sorry, angel, I have to go eat. See you tomorrow. Love you.’
‘Love you too.’
She slipped her phone into her coat pocket and noticed a little old lady struggling to reach the flea powder on the top shelf. She got one down for her, smiling when the lady thanked her. Ash waited patiently while she shuffled slowly off past the bags of dog food Ash needed to get to, scanning the shelves idly. Just beneath the flea powder there were a bunch of advent calendars that hadn’t sold out: ones with dog and cat treats in.
Why not? Nan would probably complain that it was all a stupid idea because Simon didn’t even know what Christmas was, but still, he’d appreciate the treat wouldn’t he?
She picked it up and smiled at the scene. A house with cute puppies leaning out of each of the windows, little Santa hats on their heads.
Maybe this Christmas was going to be different. It was almost like she could feel it, that way Dick Van Dyke did inMary Poppinswhen the wind changed or something. Thingswerechanging already. Beth was getting married. Romesh and James were hopefully going to become parents. And Olivier was back. Maybe her mum would come to visit too?
Christmas was the time when wishes were supposed to come true, after all.
