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Ostracised by his family for his lifestyle a few years back was hard for Dylan, but when his mum died, he pretended St Davids didn’t exist anymore. “Yeah, I know the stories, Sky. I’m just surprised that’s all. I’m also surprised to see you with him.”
Sky tucks hair behind an ear, the white plastic bag in her hand rustling as she does. Are the pair together again? I’m cautiously happy for Dylan and a voice in my head says ‘see, relationships can work with people outside of our lifestyle’.
“You’re good for him,” I say.
Something else takes Sky’s attention and blood drains from my head as Cerys approaches.
“Did you find anything?” she asks then pauses and glances between Sky and me.
Sky attempts to hide her surprise. She knows I’m engaged to Honey, but not that the situation is now ‘was’ engaged to Honey. The rest of the world doesn’t know yet and I’m not ready for them to think the worst about me and another woman. My stupidity at wandering around with Cerys in public hits. My comfort with being back in my past has disengaged my brain.
Cerys steps away from me, and her attempt to show we’re not together probably confirms everything Sky is thinking. Cerys shifts her look to me and the panic clear in her face.
“Sky, this is Cerys.”
The two women eye each other. “Dylan’s Sky?”
“Uncle Liam, did you find the chocolates?” pipes up Ella. Holy crap, I’d forgotten about her. Newspaper headlines about Liam Oliver and his secret love child flash across my vision.
“Oh, you’re Liam’s sister!” Sky’s face brightens in relief.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Me and Cerys look at each other, probably reinforcing further the dodginess of the situation.
“No, she’s not. She’s a friend,” I say.
Cerys’s hands tremble as she reaches into her bag and pulls out her purse. “I’ll pay for those, Liam.” She takes the Christmas wrapping paper from my hands and heads for the checkout.
“Don’t say anything to Dylan,” I say to Sky the moment Cerys is out of earshot.
“This is none of my business, Liam.”
I bloody hope so. “She’s a friend,” I repeat.
“That’s fine. You don’t need to justify yourself to me. It’s your life.”
Cerys returns with her purchase and I hastily excuse myself, telling Sky to say hello to Dylan. I can’t get out of the situation fast enough.
I head down the street towards the car park, striding ahead of Cerys.
“Liam! Wait up!” she calls, “I can’t walk fast with Ella!”
I halt and turn to her. “I have to get home.”
“Is this because of Sky? We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“No. But I feel like I am. I’m stupid. What if the press gets hold of this?”
“Of what?”
I guide Cerys by the arm so we’re out of the flow of people. “I am... was engaged to Honey, and now I’m in Wales with a woman and a little girl. What story do you think will break about who the little girl is?”
Her brow creases with confusion and I watch the realisation hit. “You’re not Ella’s dad, that’s ridiculous.”
I snort. “We’re talking about the media here, Cerys. What if you get pulled into this? Shit!”
“Liam, language around Ella,” she urges.
“Sorry, I’m stressed. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I rub my neck. “Let’s go back to the house.”
