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‘Oh, is Abe going?’ Naomi asked, oh, so casually.
‘Apparently. They’re meeting at the office beforehand and then heading from there to dinner. I’m so glad that I’m not expected to join them. Ava and I shall be watching the movie channel.’
Naomi laughed.
From all Naomi could glean, Abe had stood firm and refused to give in to demands, although construction had not ceased, as had been threatened by Khalid.
‘Youcanleave her with me,’ Naomi reminded Merida, while mentally crossing her fingers that Merida wouldn’t because, determined not to dwell on Abe, she had made plans for tonight. Still, she would cancel her plans if need be, but thankfully Merida declined.
‘I know you’ll have her, but I really want to see how I go without back-up,’ Merida said with a smile. ‘You’re welcome to come. Ethan can book you a room...’
‘I amnotcoming on your date night,’ Naomi said.
‘It’s hardly a date night. I just hope Ethan can smooth things over with Khalid. Abe’s just about jeopardised the whole project,’ Merida said. ‘He should have discussed this with Ethan at the time rather than shutting down talks.’
‘Oh, so he should have popped his head around the door while you were giving birth?’ Naomi didn’t really have a clue what the issues were but she couldn’t help but jump to Abe’s defence.
‘I guess.’ Merida rolled her eyes. ‘You won’t come?’
‘No.’
‘So, what are you going to do tonight? You’ll have the place to yourself as it’s the staff Christmas dinner.’
‘I know...’ Naomi hesitated, wondering if she should broach the subject of just how worried the staff all were about Jobe, but she knew it didn’t come down to Merida to tell them, and so she carried on chatting instead. ‘Barb asked if I wanted to go with them, but I thought I might take in a Broadway show.’
‘Do you know what you want to see? I can sort out tickets...’
As an actressanda Devereux, no doubt Merida wouldn’t have a problem securing plum seats even this close to Christmas, but Naomi had already sorted it out, though she was hesitant to admit it, worried that it might upset Merida. ‘I’ve already got a ticket.’
‘For what?’ Merida asked, then must have seen Naomi blush. ‘You’re going to seeNight Forest, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, it’s just I’ve heard so much from you about it that I wanted to see it for myself. I didn’t think I had a hope of getting a ticket, but it would seem one ticket is easier to get at the last minute. You’re not upset?’ Naomi checked, because she knew it had broken Merida’s heart to step away from playing Belladonna.
‘I would have been upset a short while ago,’ Merida admitted. ‘Not that you were going, more at the very mention of its name. But not now.’ She did up the last of the poppers on Ava’s outfit and scooped her up for a kiss. ‘Ava more than makes up for it. And, anyway, it doesn’t have to spell the end of my career. Ethan and I have spoken and I’m going to see if I can go back when Ava’s a little bit older. Maybe as an understudy.’
‘Part time?’
Merida nodded. ‘It’s far too soon to be thinking of it now, but it’s nice that Ethan’s been so encouraging.’
It was odd, but it was at moments like this that Naomi felt lonely.
And it wasn’t about Merida and Ethan being happy, or pining for Abe—in fact, it had nothing to do with coupledom. It was about families, and having support and someone completely in your corner.
It was all the things that Naomi had missed.
Not that she showed it, or said anything. Instead, it was Merida who spoke. ‘I’m actually pleased that you’re going to see it. Sabine, my old understudy, is now Belladonna. I’d love to hear what you think. Ethan has been twice and so far only gotten to see one half of it...’ The first time Ethan had gone had been opening night when, thanks to her absence on stage, he had found out that Merida was pregnant.
The second time had been when he’d taken Merida and she had gone into labour.
‘Well,’ Naomi said, ‘I intend to see the whole thing and I’ll let you know what I think tomorrow.’
* * *
The day passed in a blur and if Naomi had been in any doubt as to the status of Ethan and Merida’s relationship when she’d first arrived, it was completely put to rest when Ethan unexpectedly arrived home to take his wife and daughter on their first night out.
He was so gorgeous to both Merida and little Ava that it made Naomi’s heart twist to see the little family so happy as they headed off for their first trip away.
Even though Naomi wasn’t a new mother, she ran on the same timeline as one. Worse, because she’d spent most of the afternoon helping Merida get ready, there was little time to do the same for herself. So by the time Merida had gone there wasn’t time for Naomi to wash her hair so she just had a quick shower and then tackled her limited wardrobe.
