26
November announced itself in dramatic fashion with pelting rain, and winds that merited a weather warning. Lou held Jack’s hand tightly as they splashed their way to Aidan’s house on Saturday afternoon for Bo’s party. There were colourful balloons tied to the door of the private entrance next to the restaurant, and the sound of children’s laughter drifted out as Lou rang the bell.
Aidan opened the door, with Bo close behind him.
‘Hi!’ He beamed at them both with his wide smile. ‘Come in, come in.’ He waved them into a small hallway with a staircase to the side and shut the door quickly.
‘Happy Birthday, Bo! You look very pretty.’ She was wearing a gorgeous pink dress, with a long-sleeved jersey top and a sparkly mesh skirt.
‘Thanks.’
Lou pushed back the hood of her jacket and dug out the brightly wrapped present she’d put in her bag to keep it dry. She handed it to Jack.
‘Come on up, then.’
She followed Aidan up the staircase to the side, curious to see the private living space above the restaurant, while Jack and Bo bounded ahead.
At the top there was a landing with a storage space, where they hung their coats and took off their shoes. Then Aidan led them down a long, narrow corridor into a large open-plan space with warm hardwood floors, big sash windows with navy blue shutters, and a bright, airy feel.
‘This is lovely,’ she said to Aidan.
‘Thanks.’
The room was decorated with balloons and streamers, and a long table under the window was laid with a birthday-themed tablecloth and set with colourful paper plates and cups. At one end, the adults had congregated in the kitchen area, which was divided off from the living space by an island. At the other, a horde of excited children were running around, shrieking with laughter as Cara and Finn orchestrated games. Lou smoothed her rain-damp hair as she joined the group in the kitchen. Some were perched on the stools that surrounded the granite-topped island while others leaned against worktops, wine glasses in hand, as they chatted, occasionally calling out to their wayward offspring. Abbie and Sheena weaved around among them, topping up glasses and preparing food.
Lou smiled and waved hello to everyone.
‘Glass of wine?’ Sheena asked her as Aidan was called away by another ring at the door.
‘Yes, please.’
‘Red or white?’
‘Red, thanks.’
‘Ugh, what a day out there,’ Victoria said as Lou joined her at the island. ‘Did you get soaked?’
‘Yeah, a bit. But at least we got a dry night last night.’
‘God, yeah, I would not have wanted to be roaming the streets trick-or-treating in that.’ Victoria tilted her head to the rain hammering the window.
‘We heard what happened with Bo the other day,’ Sheena said, handing Lou a glass. ‘Thank goodness you were there and knew what to do. I can’t bear to think what might have happened.’
It turned out everyone had heard about the choking incident and Lou was taken aback to find herself the centre of attention, being hailed as a hero.
‘I’ve been feeding Ben circles of sausages for ages,’ Victoria said. ‘I had no idea. I feel awful about that now.’
‘Well, you got away with it, that’s all that matters. There’s no point in beating yourself up about it.’
‘You poor thing, though,’ Trina said to Lou. ‘You must have been terrified.’
‘Yeah, it was scary.’ It was also a lot more physical than Lou had realised. She’d ached all over the next day.
‘I hope Bo’s fully recovered from the fright?’ she said to Sheena.
‘Oh, she’s delighted with herself,’ Sheena said smiling. ‘She can’t stop talking about it. She’ll be dining out on that story until she’s in her dotage.’
‘But not on sausages,’ Aidan said, returning to the kitchen with Erin as Cillian joined the party at the far end of the room.
