Chapter Five
‘How did it go?’
Sitting in her van, Lisa read Dom’s message and typed:‘All good. Doc McFluffins was a gent. I still have ten fingers. You can stand down.’
‘Not with the rabbit but good to know you won’t need my medical services. I meant with Nathan,’ came the reply.
Lisa bit her lip. She had known what Dom was asking, but despite the fact it had been a few days,she didn’t have anything to report. She sighed flatly and decided to go for honesty:‘It hasn’t, or didn’t. A bit of an odd story involving an almost naked woman and the fact my boyfriend delivered her baby!’
‘What? On Sunday night?’
‘Yes to the naked woman. No to the delivery – that was before.’
With that her phone rang, and Dom’s name flashed on to the screen. Lisa answered straightaway.
‘Are you being deliberately obscure? What’s going on?’
Lisa welcomed his call and the concern in his voice. She explained about how she had discovered Sam wrapped in a towel in Nathan’s flat and about what Sam had said about Nathan delivering her son.
When she finished, Dom let out a breath and an expletive before readopting his concerned tone. ‘And what did Nathan say aboutthat?’
‘I told you her boiler was broken.’
‘No, about delivering her baby.’
‘I didn’t ask him about it. I figured if he wanted to tell me, he would.’
‘It’s not an easy thing to just bring up, though, is it? “By the way, that woman you just found naked in my flat, I delivered her son.” Telling your other half you’ve seen someone else’s foof is never an easy conversation.’
‘Foof?’Lisa laughed.
‘Yes, foof. No matter what the circumstances of seeing it, partners don’t respond well. Believe me.’
‘Maybe that’s because you called it a foof?’ Lisa giggled, grateful that Dom was able to make her smile about the situation.
‘Really? Do you think that’s why I never truly hit it off with women?’
‘That and the fact you never found one to match up to your Leonardo DiCapriocrush.’ Lisa laughed.
‘Good point.’ Dom paused before making his tone more serious. ‘Don’t use what that woman, Sam, said as an excuse not to have your conversation though, will you? Make sure you say what you need to say.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Won’t use it as an excuse, or won’t say what you need to say?’
‘Ha, I won’t use it as an excuse.’
‘Oh well, that was a noncommittal tone ifever I heard one.’
Lisa coughed, deepening her voice. ‘Seriously, I won’t use it as an excuse.’
Dom copied her tone. ‘Good, so I’ll ring again to check tomorrow—’
‘But—’
‘Do it, Rose, you know it makes sense.’
Lisa softened at the mention of Dom’s nickname for her. He called her Rose partly because she was repeatedly calling for Jack – his gran’s Labrador – when they firstmet; but also, as Lisa liked to point out to him, because he had a far greater knowledge of the filmTitanicthan was appropriate for a thirty-two-year-old, single man.
