As we start our descent, Felix puts his arm through mine. I think he can sense my sadness at not seeing Rory. Those three damn crosses won’t get out of mind either. ‘It’s going to be all right, Emily.’
As we make our way down a few steps there’s a noise from above. It’s Tom. Felix pulls us to a stop. Tom appears at the top of the stairs carrying a piece of paper. ‘Emily,’ he tries to get his breath. ‘Look what I said last night about Rory doing better than me on the challenge – well that was a lie.’
‘What do you mean?’
He holds up the chart. ‘Rory hasn’t…’ He stops, noticing Felix staring intently at him. ‘Rory hasn’t hadafternoon teawith anyone.’
‘What?’
Tom gestures at Felix.‘Afternoon tea.’
I am assuming that this is his code word for sex. He points to the crosses. ‘The crosses mean fail. Rory keeps calling the women he dates Emily. Every date he’s had has ended abruptly after he’s called them Emily.’
I gasp and stare up at the chart as fireworks shoot across my chest.
There are four crosses against Tom’s name too. ‘You also have crosses.’
Tom nods. ‘Every woman I meet seems to bump into Suzie, then listens to what she has to say about me. Rory and I are crap at dating. We can’t stop thinking about our ex-girlfriends.’
My brain reminds me of Beth and my excitement sinks. ‘I guess Beth was different.’
Tom screws up his face and stares at the chart.
‘Goodbye, Tom,’ I say, as he goes blurry. Felix, Baxter and I carry on making our way down the stairs.
CHAPTER34
FELIX
‘Mummy, it’s me again. I’m waiting for… Emily. She’s in the café behind me buying a coffee for her, sandwiches for us both, a bottle of water and an iced bun for me for the journey. We’ve just been into a clothes shop and she’s bought me a new jumper in case the train gets stuck in a snow drift.’ Flipping the camera on the phone he scans the thick layer of sparkling snow coating the pavements. ‘As you can see there is a lot of snow up here in Leeds. I’m not allowed to put Baxter down as Emily says he might sink into a snow drift. Last night Rory didn’t come home which has made us both sad. I don’t think my idea about coming to Leeds was a good one.’ He stares gloomily at the phone camera.
The peals of laughter from two children having fun with their mum in the snow across the road distracts him. He continues to talk but keeps his eyes on the children. ‘I have asked Emily whether I can call her Emily and not use theAuntyword. We talked last night. I told her my secret. Please don’t be cross, Mummy, about me telling Emily, Rory, and Amelie before you. I have been worried about what you’ll think. Emily was nice and told me she was proud of me. Last night she changed into the old Aunty Emily that I knew before you went to work on God’s newspaper in heaven. This morning we have laughed a lot and we had a play fight which I won. I hope the old Emily stays. I will tell you my secret when I am ready, Mummy.’
Gently, he presses Baxter’s face against the phone screen. ‘Baxter says hello. He liked Rory’s bedroom and chewed on one of Rory’s trainers. Emily says she will apologise to Rory when she sees him again.’ He sighs and kicks some snow. ‘Where is Rory, Mummy?’
Peering into the shop window to check where Emily is he spots her by the till. ‘She is still in the queue. I can talk for a bit longer. Jade emailed me again this morning to ask whether I want to be her boyfriend. I don’t know what to say to her. She doesn’t know about my secret, and she might not like me when I tell her. I might talk to Emily. Right, I need to go as Emily is coming back outside. Bye, Mummy.’
CHAPTER35
EMILY
Felix and I trudge through the snow towards the station. I’ve been worried about Baxter and the cold weather. When I came out of the café, I asked Felix what he thought about opening the top of his rucksack and making a little warm bed for Baxter. Felix’s face lit up. I’m now smiling at the sight of Felix walking beside me with Baxter, wrapped in a jumper, peering out of his rucksack throne.
I recall the conversation we had last night about the ballet classes Rory took him to every Saturday and Felix’s passion for dancing. ‘Thank you for telling me about your ballet secret last night.’
Felix smiles. ‘I love dancing.’
‘I hope you are going to dance more around the house, and not just in your bedroom.’
He looks up at me with such affection I can feel myself melting inside. ‘I will if that’s allowed?’
‘You have my approval to dance whenever you feel like it. Do all your friends know about your ballet secret?’
‘Only Amelie.’
‘Why only Amelie?’
He shrugs. ‘Ronnie would laugh at me and Sai would worry about me breaking my leg.’
