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The Cartwrights have set up camp beneath an old oak tree. Tina has spread out a motley collection of rugs and is laying food out on plastic plates when we arrive. She abandons her task readily, scooping Max in her arms, holding him to her ample bosom.
“Oh, my goodness he's grown, I can't believe it. He looks so much like his daddy.” She's always said he's the spitting image of Alex, but I've never really seen it until now. In the last few weeks his downy baby hair has been replaced by, thicker, darker strands. Add that to the way his face is starting to take shape and I'm beginning to see what Tina means.
“He's losing some baby fat. I miss his chubby cheeks.” I give a mock pout.
“He's beautiful. Aren't you, gorgeous?”
While Tina occupies Max, I glance over at the other blanket. Amy is here, accompanied by Luke, her on-again, off-again boyfriend. Those two have had more breakups than I've had hot dinners. They first started going out at school, when Amy was fifteen, and their relationship has been volatile, to say the least. Luke is a typical wide boy, swaggering about, flashing the cash he earns from his electrician business, treating Amy as if she's some kind of doormat.
Needless to say, Alex can't stand him. I'm guessing the only reason Luke's even here is because Alex isn't. He rarely shows his face when his girlfriend’s big brother is around.
“Hi Amy, Luke.” I join them on the lilac checked blanket. “Is Andrea coming?”
“She's gone to pick up some booze,” Amy replies. “Luke forgot to bring the champagne.”
Her pointed look is totally wasted on him. He has his head bent over his phone, his fingers tapping furiously. He doesn't even look up to say hello.
Yeah. I don’t like him much either.
“How are the applications going?” I ask, remembering our last conversation. “Have you found an internship yet?”
Her face lights up. “Yeah, actually. I've been offered a position at Richards and Morgan.”
“That's amazing. Congratulations.” I lean across and hug her. Everybody who's worked in the city have heard of Richards and Morgan. They're one of the top management consultants in London. All shiny buildings, tailored suits and massive expense accounts. Landing an internship there is a huge coup. “Isn't that great, Luke?”
“Uh?” Finally, he looks up from his iPhone.
“Amy's job. It's good news, isn't it?”
He holds my gaze for less than a second. “Whatever.” Shrugging, he starts tapping away again. I flash a sympathetic smile at Amy.
Seriously, she's a beautiful girl. Long, black hair that glistens in the midday sun. Warm chocolate eyes as big as dish plates. She could do so much better than Mr Charisma.
“When do you start?” I decide to ignore him, turning my attention back on Amy. She glances at Luke and her lip trembles.
“September. My induction day's on the fourth.”
“You'll do really well with your brains. They'll be lucky to have you.”
I want to hug her again. In all my time with Alex, not once has he made me feel worthless. Angry, maybe. Definitely frustrated. But never has he treated me the way Luke treats Amy. I want to shake some sense into her, can’t she see what he’s like?
She must sense my mood, because she hurriedly changes the subject. “Have you heard from Alex?”
From the corner of my eye I see Tina put Max onto the picnic rug. He immediately turns over onto his belly, putting his hands out to push himself up. “Yeah, every now and again. He forgot to set up data roaming so he has to call me on a borrowed phone. Half the time I can't work out what city they're in.”
“I've been following them on Facebook,” Amy says. “Did you see the pictures from Seattle?”
“On Facebook?”
“Yeah, their band has a page.” She looks surprised that I don't know this. But Alex has never used Facebook, reckons it's a huge time waster. I'm guessing Stuart or Alfie has decided to bring the band kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century.
To be honest, I'm a little embarrassed Alex never told me. All this time I've been wondering what they're up to, and all I had to do was log on. It seems like their fans know more about my husband than I do.
“I'll have to take a look when I get home.”
A gurgle comes from behind me. Max has managed to manoeuvre himself onto all fours. Though he looks a bit wobbly, there's a big grin on his face, as if he can't believe his luck.
“Look at him,” Tina calls out, as delighted as her grandson. “He's going to start crawling on my birthday.”
