Dad goes to stand by the sofa and places his hand on Pete’s shoulder. ‘Pete has been crafting my emails to Scott. Well, Scott has just emailed to say he’s transferred a sum of money to my bank account.’
‘Scott told me he never had any money.’
Pete nods. ‘He might not have any money, but the point is it wasn’t fair for your father to pick up the costs when Scott was the one who caused the cancellation.’
Dad positions his glasses on his nose and stares at his phone. ‘The money is in my account.’
‘Does it help with the loan, Dad?’
He nods. ‘It’s a sizeable amount and yes it does help. His mother stepped in to help him out. I want to transfer some to you, Alice.’
‘Why?’
‘You lost money too, thanks to Scott. I am sending you some now.’ He points to the pile of rental brochures on the coffee table. The properties are all within a stone’s throw from Pete’s house. ‘It’s enough for a rental deposit on a flat or a cottage.’
Pete rises and puts his arm around Dad. ‘Brian, I am so pleased.’
Dad beams. ‘I can’t thank you enough, Pete.’
Once Pete goes home, I make tea for Lucas and Dad. As I put Dad’s plate down in front of him, he looks up at me. ‘Pete is a good man, Alice. He told me he wants you and Lucas to be a family again.’
Every muscle in my body tightens. ‘Dad, I don’t love Pete.’
My father shakes his head with disapproval. ‘That upsets me, Alice.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
It’s the day of Donna and Jon’s wedding reception. I have come to the café early to decorate. My head is crammed full of thoughts from last night, Pete’s admission that he disliked Noah for taking me away from him; Pete helping Dad to get money from Scott; and Dad’s face when I told him I didn’t love Pete. After tea Lucas and I went upstairs as I didn’t feel comfortable sat downstairs with Dad.
Ava knocks on the café door and I look up with surprise. ‘Your shift doesn’t start for another hour.’
She grins and comes in. ‘I thought you’d need a hand, so I set my alarm for early.’
‘Okay, well do you want to pump up the gold balloons?’ Ava nods and heads toward the balloon pump.
‘How are you, Ava?’
‘Good, even though we were all out last night.’ She giggles. ‘It got a bit messy, and we all ended up on the beach after drinking too much cider.’
‘I remember those days,’ I say, with a knowing smile. ‘Do you not have a hangover?’
Ava shook her head. ‘I feel fine.’
I look at her face which is glowing, her two bright eyes and her hair which is neatly styled into two plaits. She’s wearing a smart white shirt which has been ironed and a black skirt. I recall how rough I felt the day after drinks at Phoebe’s. ‘You wait till you’re older. The other night I had some wine with friends. I felt so rough the next day and the day after. It wasn’t helped by my little boy having a tummy bug at the same time.’
Ava’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. ‘I’m so glad I am seventeen and don’t have kids.’
We both laugh. ‘Listen, how are you and Will now?’
Ava grins. ‘On Tuesday we came out of our respective friendship zones.’
‘That’s great – so are you together now?’
She playfully rolls her eyes. ‘Alice, it’s so uncool to say things like, “Are you together now?” No one likes a label. Will and I have gone back to our friendship zones for now. We might wander out of them again on Saturday.’
‘That sounds stressful.’
Ava laughs. ‘It’s very chill. Becoming boyfriend and girlfriend is way more stressful.’
