‘Not that it’s any of your business, but no. You probably put me off men for life.’
‘No, don’t say that. That’d be such a shame. You always were a great fuck, Lou.’
She swallowed hard, gritting her teeth. She just wanted him out of the house. It felt like he was poisoning it just by being here.
‘Where’s the kid?’
‘Jack– that’s his name, in case you’ve forgotten it – is at school.’
Rob glanced at his watch. ‘Well, I’ve got another hour or so before I have to get the bus. If you fancy scratching that itch.’
‘Look, if you’ve just come here looking for a quick shag while you’re in the neighbourhood, forget it. You can leave now or tell me whatever it was you came here to talk about.’
‘Fine, if you’re going to be such a bore about it. I just thought we could have a bit of fun first.’ He took a gulp of wine and leaned back in his chair. ‘I want to be Jack’s legal guardian.’
Lou narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Why?’
He gave a harsh hoot of laughter. ‘Because he’s my son. For fuck’s sake, Lou! Isn’t that reason enough?’
‘It hasn’t been so far. You’ve never shown the slightest interest before in being his guardian – or even his dad.’
He sighed and hung his head in a pantomime of contrition. ‘Look, I know I haven’t been a good father.’ He raised his head and held his hands up. ‘I can’t deny it. But I’ve changed and I want to make it up to him – to both of you.’ He made eye contact with her, oozing sincerity.
Lou wished she could believe him. If she really thought he wanted to be a proper dad to Jack, she’d welcome it with open arms. But she knew Rob too well to be taken in by this show of remorse.
‘You can be a dad to Jack any time you want. I’m not stopping you.’
‘But you won’t agree to making me his guardian?’
‘No, I won’t. Why do you even want that? You can see him as much as you like.’
‘Not when you’ve dragged him off to the wilds of Kerry, I can’t.’
‘So if we moved back to Dublin, you wouldn’t care about being a guardian?’ She was just calling his bluff – she figured she already knew the answer.
‘No, I’d still want to be his guardian.’
‘Why? You could be the fun dad – all the good times with none of the responsibility.’
‘Maybe I want the responsibility. I’m his father, and fathers have rights too, you know.’
‘I know. But you gave up your right to guardianship when you bailed on us a month after Jack was born.’ She’d looked this up and knew she was on firm ground.
‘I can still be made a guardian with your agreement.’
‘Which you don’t have.’
‘Why are you so against it, Lou? Don’t you think it would be better for Jack to have backup if anything happened to you?’
‘He already has. Karen is his legal guardian.’
‘That bitch!’ Rob’s jaw tightened and he shook his head. ‘You’d prefer her to his own father?—’
‘Yes, I would. Karen’s been in Jack’s life since he was born. He trusts her, he loves her, he feels safe with her. She’s been to all his birthday parties. She’s babysat him and looked after him when he was sick. More than can be said for you.’
Rob sighed. ‘Well, if you won’t agree, there is another way. I can take you to court.’
‘Really?’ Lou huffed a derisive laugh. ‘I’d like to see you try.’ There was nothing she’d like less, but she didn’t believe for a minute that Rob would make good on the threat. He liked things to fall into his lap and by the time he got back to Dublin, he’d have decided it would be too much trouble and given up on the idea. This was just a stab in the dark and if she didn’t give in, this would be the last she’d see of Rob. Unless he really had changed…
