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She sucked in another breath and soldiered on. She’d had ten years to get ready for this. Why the hell wasn’t she much better prepared? Winging it had become her forte on the show, but never in her private life.
Then she remembered what Luke had said. The nerves didn’t show on screen.
Come on, Halle, you can do this.
‘But he decided he didn’t want to be a father. Even though he was one. That was his decision, because he’s a selfish immature man, and it’s his loss, because you are such a terrific kid. And he’ll never know how terrific.’
She braced for more questions, ones that might be impossible to answer. But Aldo sat for a moment without speaking, clearly contemplating everything she’d said, then he shrugged. ‘OK.’
‘OK?’ She’d been terrified of having this conversation for ten years. Could it really be that painless? ‘Are you sure?’
‘Well, my dad sounds like a dickhead. But Trey said he never met his dad and he was glad, because he thinks his dad was probably a dickhead.’
Perfectly put, Trey. Why didn’t I think of that?
‘Trey’s right,’ she agreed. Apparently, she had even more to thank Aldo’s au pair for than she’d realised. Whatever had been going on between Lizzie and him on the couch, she hoped Lizzie had managed to contact him. ‘“Dickhead” sums up Claudio perfectly,’ she added.
‘You said “dickhead”.’ Aldo sniggered, both scandalised and excited.
‘I know, but sometimes you just have to call a dickhead, a dickhead.’
He giggled some more, clearly delighted with his mother’s newly acquired Tourette’s. The uninhibited chuckle reminded Halle of when he was a baby and Lizzie would blow on his tummy to hear that distinctive belly laugh.
Maybe her children hadn’t changed nearly as much as she’d thought.
‘I love you to bits.’ She tousled his hair and planted a smacking kiss on his cheek. ‘You do know that, right?’
‘Yuck.’ He backhanded his face, wiping away her kiss as if he’d just been slimed by a ten-foot slug. Then rolled his eyes dramatically, a picture of ten-year-old mortification.
‘Duh, Mum. Of course I know that.’
Chapter 23
‘Any luck contacting Trey?’ Halle asked as she closed Lizzie’s bedroom door behind her.
Her daughter shook her head, her expression hopeless, as she threw her phone down on the bed. ‘No, his mobile keeps going to voicemail.’
Halle sat down on the bed beside her daughter and patted her knee. ‘How about you, Aldo and I go round to see him?’
Lizzie’s eyes lit with gratitude and she hugged Halle round the waist. ‘Can we? Really?’ She paused, then peered up at Halle. ‘So you’re not mad at us?’
‘Why would I be mad?’
‘Because we were snogging on the couch.’
Hmm, well, there is that.
‘I’m not mad, but …’ She pushed Lizzie’s hair behind her ear, waited for her daughter to sit up. ‘I’d like to know exactly what is going on between you two. Have you been sleeping together?’
The blush fired up Lizzie’s neck and she scowled. ‘God, Mum!’ she whined, sounding more like the teenager Halle remembered.
‘Honey, I’m entitled to ask. I just wanted to know if we have to take another trip down to the family planning clinic.’ And if she had to have some serious words with them both.
Lizzie jumped o
ff the bed, looking horrified now. ‘Mum, stop it. You’re embarrassing me.’
‘Then you really shouldn’t neck on the kitchen couch.’ She smiled at her daughter’s mortification, deciding to take the blazing red cheeks as a no. ‘First thing on a Thursday morning. Where your father and I can find you. Frankly, I was a little embarrassed, too. What you were doing looked rather—’ she hesitated, deciding to spare Lizzie’s blushes, despite her amusement ‘—involved.’
