‘Just go. I’ll deal with it,’ Aidan said.
‘I’ll stay and help,’ Shane offered.
‘Me too,’ Con the KP said.
Several others joined in, but Aidan waved away all their offers of help. ‘Thanks, but this is my mess and I’ll be the one to clean it up.’
Lou got the sense he wasn’t just talking about the dinner plates and cutlery.
‘Congratulations again on your new job,’ Shane said, hugging Lou on his way out. ‘I think it’s going to be very interesting having you in the kitchen.’ He glanced at Aidan as he said it, and Lou wondered if Shane saw some attraction between them. She felt it was mutual sometimes, when she caught Aidan’s eye, but then she wondered if she was just imagining it. She tried to dismiss the flush of pleasure it gave her to think Shane saw it too.
She yawned as the last of the staff trailed off and Aidan locked the door behind them. ‘I’ll call you guys a cab,’ he said to her.
‘Don’t be daft. It’s not far. We can walk home.’
‘Maybe you can, but he definitely can’t.’ He nodded to Jack who was slumped in a chair fast asleep. ‘It may not be far but it’s a long way to carry him.’
‘Gosh, I hadn’t realised he’d nodded off. Okay, thanks – a cab would be great. But I’ll stay and help you clear up a bit first.’
Aidan shook his head firmly. ‘I meant what I said. I’ll take care of it.’
When the cab arrived, Aidan carried Jack out to it and got him settled on Lou’s lap.
‘Thanks. And thank you for such a lovely dinner.’
‘Thankyou.’
He shut the cab door and Lou sailed home holding onto Jack and basking in the warm fuzzy feelings the evening had left her with.
‘That was fun, wasn’t it?’ Aidan said to Bo as he tucked her into bed.
She nodded. ‘So fun.’
‘How was school today?’
‘Good.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Um… reading, drawing…’ She picked absently at the duvet. ‘We did about animals and we had to pick one to be.’
‘And what were you?’
‘Cat.’ She licked one of her hands to demonstrate. ‘Jack was a penguin.’ She giggled. ‘It was so funny.’
‘You like Jack a lot, don’t you?’
‘He’s my best friend,’ Bo said matter-of-factly, as if Aidan already knew this.
‘Is he? I thought Grace was your best friend.’
‘Well, now Jack is. He likes playing restaurants, same as me.’
‘Really? Who’s the chef?’
‘Sometimes me, sometimes Jack. We have turns.’
‘That’s good. But what about Grace? Are you not friends with her any more? That’s sad.’
