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“I choose my battles a little more carefully now,” she replies.
“Shame.” I fake a sigh. “I really miss fighting with you.” I throw her a wink and her cheeks colour a little which really makes me grin.
“Shut up,” she groans.
I glance in the rear-view mirror and notice that although silent, Phoenix is giving us her full attention and hanging on our every word.
We drive in companionable silence, my phone connecting automatically and playing quietly in the background. After a while Raven begins to sing along in a low, hushed tone. I don’t think she knows she’s doing it, but I love to listen to her sing, so I don’t say anything.
“Mummy!” Phoenix cries when the song finishes, “you have the voice of an angel.”
Raven laughs and blushes a little more, but thanks her daughter for the compliment. I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with Phoenix on that one; everything about Raven is angelic.
Well, almost everything.
We arrive at the indoor play place which sells ice cream, horrifically named after some abysmal play on words, and I just know that I’m going to be entering the seventh circle of hell for the afternoon. Still, it’ll be worth it to put a smile on Phoenix’s face, and to get some alone time to chat with her mum.
As predicted, Phoenix is hyped to be here, having never been before. We queue, pay and enter, and before we’ve even settled at a table she’s torn her shoes off and raced off to play.
“I should go after her,” Raven worries.
“Stay. We’ve got eyes on her, she knows where we are, the place is secure…besides I want to talk to you a little while she’s gone.”
“Okay,” she drags out the vowel in uncertainty, nibbling on her bottom lip like days of old. My cock stirs at the sight but I mentally chastise myself; now is definitely not the time nor the place.
“Do you know anyone with a dark coloured van? Navy or black maybe? A Ford?”
“No, why?” I hear the apprehension in her voice. She’s not lying to me, but she is worried.
“It’s probably nothing, I just noticed it hanging around your place quite a bit lately. Usually late at night, but I saw it again today.”
She blanches, gripping the tabletop for support.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, or Phoenix,” I promise her. “But do you have any idea who it might be?”
“My first thought was maybe…” she seems embarrassed, “bailiffs. But not late at night surely?”
“I thought so too, we’ll see. Do me a favour okay? Well, two actually…” I wait until she nods. “Don’t let Phoenix open the door anymore.”
“I won’t.” She's vehement.
“And promise me you’ll call me if anything happens, anything at all, no matter what time of day or night it is,” I finish.
She hesitates, as I knew she would. Time to play dirty.
“For Phoenix’s sake?”
“I promise,” she whispers.
“Good. I’m gonna go scope out the ice cream choices ready for when Phoenix gets bored. You want anything?”
“I’m good,” she murmurs, wrapped in her own thoughts.
As I walk away, I think about how much I hate that I’ve put a dampener on today and inadvertently wiped the smile from her face. But I have to tell myself that needs must; their safety is my number one concern now.
Once I've grabbed the ice cream menu and ordered a couple of bottles of Coke, I head back to the table and sit opposite Raven.
"So, are you ready to talk? Will you tell me what happened with Cordelia?" I probe.
