“Your mother’s property.” Alex gave a short laugh. “I wonder if she’ll press charges when the police explain to her that I’m the father of her grandchild.”
“Mummy?” Edwin said.
I knocked Alex’s elbow as I pushed past him, a towel in my hand.
“Hey,” I said to Edwin, draping the towel around his shoulders. “Shall we get some ice cream and watch a video?”
“But I want to play here.” His bottom lip protruded.
“We can put chocolate sauce on it,” I said. He slid his handinto mine. Ruth continued to glare at Alex. I took Edwin straight through to the day nursery and settled him in front of the television, his trunks spreading a damp patch onto the sofa.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told him. “I’ll put lots of chocolate sauce and sprinkles on. Just stay here, okay?”
Straight from the freezer, the ice cream was too solid to scoop out. I placed two bowls on the countertop, then hovered by the kitchen table, watching Ruth and Alex through the open doors. Ruth still stood on the patio, her hands held protectively over her bump, while Alex was several meters back on the lawn, his feet apart and his hands in his pockets.
“You haven’t told him, have you?” Alex was saying. “I can’t believe you’re this close to your due date and you haven’t told him yet.”
“I’m not due for another five weeks,” Ruth said coldly. “And it’s not yours.”
Alex tilted his head back and squinted at the sky. “For God’s sake. If you won’t talk to him, I will. I know this is going to be hard for you. But the baby is mine.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’m the father. I’m not going to let you cut me out.”
“I’ll tell Dominic you’re threatening me. You’re making it up. You’re deluded.”
Alex shook his head. “I’m not the deluded one, Ruth.”
She stepped off the patio and advanced on him, one finger jabbing toward his chest. Her voice dropped, and I crept closer to the doorway, holding my breath.
“If you don’t leave right now,” she said, “I will take myself and my baby to a place you will never find us.”
Her finger was an inch from his shirt. He stepped back, raising one hand slightly as if to ward her off.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
He stared at her. “No, Ruth. I don’t.”
She made a shrill sound, almost a laugh, and stepped to the side, moving around him, swiveling to keep her finger pointed at him. “It’s your choice, Alex. You can accept that this is nothing to do with you. Watch this baby grow up like you’ve watched Edwin, as a family friend. But if you push me—if you threaten me—I will go. And I’ll take my baby with me.”
She swung round then, as fast as her distended abdomen would let her, and set off for the end of the garden with a rolling gait.
“What do you mean?” Alex called after her. “Ruth? Where are you going?”
Her mouth twisted into a distorted smile as she looked back at him over her shoulder. “To the cliffs,” she shouted.
Something clattered at my feet, and I looked down, my heart racing. A black-handled knife spun on the tiles, knocked from the draining board.
Alex took two steps toward Ruth’s retreating figure then stopped. He raked his fingers through his hair.
I stumbled over to the ice cream container, and scooped out two portions with trembling hands. When I got back to the day nursery, Edwin was absorbed in his cartoon and didn’t look up. I fumbled as I placed the sauce bottle on the nursery table, and the sprinkles pot went flying, sending hundreds and thousands of multicolored sprinkles skittering across the floor. Had Ruth really just threatened to kill herself and her unborn child? Perhaps I had misunderstood. Perhaps her words had meant something different to Alex. A column of scalding acid rose in my chest, and I bent over the table, gripping the edges.
“Laura?”
I swung round, trying to straighten but failing. Alex stoodin the day nursery doorway, a hand on each side of the doorframe as if it was holding him up. Sweat shone on his forehead, and his face had a grayish tinge.
