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“What have you got there?” I asked her, leaning towards her.
She held up the book and showed me the cover;There’s a Monster Under my Bed Who Farts. I smiled.
“That looks good.”
She nodded. “It’s my favourite. Miss Buckley lets me take it out of the class library on the weekends.”
I grinned. “That’s pretty neat. Who do you read it with? Grandma?” I smiled up at Carmen.
“Uncie Roman usually,” she answered and my eyes snapped back to her in surprise. “He always does the funny voices, too.”
God, her little smile was so infectious. It managed to fight off whatever weird feeling I got at hearing Roman read with her. The times we’d babysat, I’d read to her. Maddy had sat snuggled up to me on one side and Roman had had his arm around me from my other.
“That’s great. Hey, maybe after cartwheels on the weekend we can read it together?” I asked.
Her eyes did that thing where she looked ecstatically surprised again and she nodded so enthusiastically I thought her head might fall off. “Can we?” She looked up at Carmen.
Carmen gave me a wry smile as she opened the back door of the car. “If Piper hasn’t got anything better to do, sure.”
Maddy grinned and started climbing into the car. Halfway, she stopped and ran back to throw her arms around my waist. “Bye, Piper!”
“Bye, Maddy!” I replied as she clambered into the car.
Carmen shut the door and smile at me warmly.
“You don’t have to dote on her so.” She said it the way people do when they think the world of you for something, hope you’ll keep doing it, but also don’t want to be putting you out.
I shrugged. “It’s not like it’s a hardship.”
Carmen hugged me.
“Mum, I thought you guys had left?” came a hard, angry voice from behind me.
Carmen pulled away and looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze to see a mightily pissed off Roman walking towards us. He was straightening his blazer collar like he’d just haphazardly thrown the offending garment on.
“Yes! We’re leaving now!” Carmen chuckled and I felt like maybe she was forcing some of that joviality. She patted me on the arm and went to her side of the car. “Oh, Roman. Wednesday. Are you free?”
His gaze narrowed. “Why…?”
“I have a meeting and need you to look after Maddy.”
He nodded slowly. “Sure…”
“Great. Thank you, love. Bye, Piper!” She swung into the car and started the engine.
“Bye, Uncie Roman!” came a very muffled scream accompanied by a thump on the window from inside the car.
I watched as Roman looked at Maddy and his face softened. He waved at her and gave her a nod. “I’ll see you tonight, trouble!” He kept waving as Carmen pulled away, then turned a significant frown on me. “What are you doing?”
I blinked. “What do you mean what am I doing?”
He sighed and ran a hand over his unusually stubbled face. “Nothing. Just. Fucking. Nothing. Come on. We’re already late.”
“I didn’t think you cared,” I answered, walking to the passenger door.
He followed me and opened the door for me like he always did. “I don’t. But, you do.”
“What’s up?” I pleaded, needing to know what I could do to pull him out of whatever funk he was in.
