Noah rises to his feet. ‘Batman has hurt his arm. I was seeing whether I could mend it for him.’
‘Oh…’
Lucas holds aloft his plastic figure who now has what looks like a pink napkin sling. ‘Noah made Batman better.’
‘I made Batman a little sling.’ Noah smiles and sends a train of tingles shooting across my chest.
To my horror I catch sight of something sticking out of Lucas’s pocket. I can feel the blood drain from my face, It looks like a man’s brown leather wallet. Oh God, while Noah has been doing something lovely, my son has stolen his wallet. For goodness’ sake, I am raising a professional pick pocket. ‘Lucas,’ I hiss and gesture to the wallet.
Noah chuckles. ‘He’s keeping it safe for me. At one point he was more interested in my wallet than Batman.’
‘Lucas, give Noah his wallet back please,’ I say, before wiping a layer of sweat from my forehead and wishing Lucas liked other things, other than wallets and purses.
Noah and I lock up the café. Once we get outside, Lucas is tugging on my arm. ‘Can we go play on the beach, Mummy?’
I turn to Noah. ‘You’re not working tomorrow so I’ll see you Friday for the wedding party.’
‘Can I come to the beach with you both?’
Lucas cheers and I hold out my hand to Noah. ‘Come on then.’
We walk along the shore together and watch Lucas paddling in the sea. I untie and remove my trainers. My bare toes wiggle with joy as I liberate them. Golden rays of sunlight dance on the water before us.
Noah drapes his arm over my shoulders. ‘Do you remember the names we were going to call our kids?’
The memory of Noah and me cuddling on top of our rock after school discussing the names of our future children comes rushing back. As we both adored listening to his dad’s vinyl Elvis albums, it was a given that our children would carry on our love of the King of Rock and Roll. ‘Elvis and Priscilla.’
A wide smile spreads across Noah’s tanned face. ‘I didn’t think you would remember.’
‘Noah, I remember everything about us,’ I say in a quiet voice.
We cast our gaze out across the dark blue sea. He bends down to pick up a smooth pebble. ‘You are the only one I’ve met who appreciates Elvis and vinyl.’
I smile. ‘Everyone at school used to think we were weird listening to Elvis on your dad’s old record player.’
‘This is nice,’ he says, pulling me to a stop. We stand and face each other. He’s grinning at me.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I was jealous the day you were in the Snug with Rocco.’
I cast him a mischievous grin. ‘Were you?’
‘The next day when we had that argument in the café, the one where I asked whether you fancied him, I realised how much I still fancy you.’
‘Really?’
‘You had this sexy wild look on your face, and I wanted to shut you up with a kiss.’
I smile and he plants a kiss on the top of my head. ‘No one has ever come close to you, Alice.’
‘Really? I don’t believe you.’
‘No one has ever kissed me the way you do,’ he whispers, turning my face to his by placing a finger on my chin and placing his mouth over mine. This time he doesn’t break away abruptly. When we pull away, he smiles, and we carry on walking.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
I’ve been home half an hour when Pete and Lucas arrive. Dad’s gone to see an old friend, so I have the house to myself. The café had a steady flow of customers today, which was good. I was on my own as it was Noah’s day off. Even though I tried to put aside what Noah had said about him and Pete staying in touch after he left, I kept chewing it over in my mind.
