Chapter Twenty-Nine
The next afternoon, Jessica was sitting on the floor playing cars with Lexi. Catriona had dug out the old play rug, complete with printed roads and roundabouts, that she and Murray played with as kids.
‘You’ve still got it, Mum?’ said Murray in delight as Catriona unrolled it on the lounge floor at Primrose Cottage.
‘I thought it might come in handy one of these days,’ she said, setting down a plastic box of cars beside it.
‘Come on, Lexi, let’s play cars,’ said Jessica in delight. She helped Lexi prise the lid off the box and Lexi pulled out a small blue car and an orange van. Lexi had been very shy with Jessica until now and she hoped that this would help them to bond.
‘Okay,’ she said, dipping her hand in and pulling out a motorbike and a small sports car. ‘Where are we driving to, Lexi?’
‘Hmm. Beach.’
‘Okay, let’s go to the beach.’ There was no beach on the mat but Jessica quickly improvised and pulled off her yellow scarf and crumpled it up at the end of the mat. ‘That’s the sand, okay?’
Lexi giggled. ‘Otay.’
Catriona disappeared into the kitchen to check again that they had enough supplies — despite them having enough to last them until Easter — and Jessica and Lexi became absorbed in the game. They were so engrossed that they didn’t notice Murray stepping past them to open the front door.
‘Hey, stranger,’ he said.
Jessica looked up and blinked. She hadn’t even heard a knock at the door and was surprised to see Reuben walk in, looking as gorgeous as ever. She was really trying not to look at him in that way, but it was extremely difficult when he looked the way he did.
‘Hey, Muz,’ he said grabbing Murray for a hug.
Jessica smiled at the sight of them being reunited. ‘It’s like a proper bromance,’ she said sarcastically.
‘Hi, Jessica,’ he said crisply, before looking away.
Ouch. What was with his tone? He definitely was being offhand and weird, and she felt slightly hurt. ‘Hi, Reuben.’ She could play it cool too. Lexi climbed on her lap and snuggled in and Jessica put her arms around her protectively.
‘Hello, Lexi,’ said Reuben, crouching down. ‘I’m your daddy’s friend, Reuben.’
Lexi, clearly overwhelmed with shyness, shoved her thumb in her mouth and buried her head in Jessica’s shoulder.
At that moment, she felt a wave of utter love for her little niece.
She glanced up at Reuben, who looked at her briefly.
But she could see confusion and hurt in his eyes. Then he stood up.
Murray grinned. ‘It’s so good to see you, mate. Carolyn is having a nap. The jet lag has caught up with her. She’ll be down soon, though. You know Jess, obviously. And Mum is in the kitchen. She’ll be through in a second, I’m sure, to take your tea order.’
Reuben laughed. Just at that moment, Catriona stuck her head around the door. ‘Oh, Reuben, I’m glad you’re here. We missed you yesterday. Great timing. I’m just boiling the kettle.’
‘Thanks,’ he said and took a seat on the sofa.
While he and Murray chatted, Lexi climbed back onto the floor and started playing with the cars again. Jessica followed her lead as she went to and from the pretend beach making ‘beep beep’ and ‘toot toot’ noises. Then she stood up and tugged at her trousers. ‘Daddy.’
Murray jumped up. ‘Do you need to go to the loo?’
She nodded.
‘Come on then,’ he said, holding out his hand and leading her to the cloakroom off the hallway.
There was an awkward silence as Jessica and Reuben were left alone.
‘How are you?’ she said evenly.
‘Fine thanks. You?’
She sighed in exasperation. Why was he being so weird? ‘Yup. Fine thanks. By the way, I spoke to my lawyer contact about Belinda’s situation.’
He nodded. ‘Thanks.’
‘She said he’s got a reputation for it. But if Belinda can hang on and wait, then it looks like there might be something in the offing.’
‘Right. I’ll let her know when I speak to her. Not that she was keen to do anything about it. It was just me trying to be helpful.’
At that moment, Jessica wished she hadn’t bothered trying to help. He clearly didn’t appreciate it and, for whatever reason, was now behaving like a dick and barely looking at her.
‘Here you go,’ said Catriona, arriving with a tray of tea and a plate of Stollen bites.
Jessica caught the puzzled look on her mum’s face, almost as though she detected some kind of tension between them.
‘Tell me,’ said Catriona to Reuben. ‘Does this feel weird now, us all being in your house?’
He shook his head. ‘It makes a nice change from me always sitting in your house, Catriona. Although shouldn’t I be making the tea rather than you?’
‘Not at all,’ she said gaily.
Murray and Lexi appeared and he walked over to the Christmas tree, looking up at the twinkling lights in wonder. ‘Did you do this, Reuben, or was it Mum?’
Catriona chuckled. ‘Both Reuben and your sister went to choose it at the tree farm.’
Murray raised his eyebrows at them. ‘How did you manage that, Reuben?’ he joked. ‘You two couldn’t even be left in the same room when we were kids.’
‘That’s because he annoyed me,’ said Jessica. ‘And still does,’ she muttered under her breath. She was aware that her brother was now looking at her quizzically. She knew he would interrogate her later.
‘Look, Daddy,’ said Lexi, pulling at his trouser leg. ‘See angel.’ She pointed to the top of the tree.
Murray bent down to pick her up so she could get a better view of it and Jessica couldn’t help but smile at them. She really hoped Lexi would have a magical Christmas here. She could feel Reuben’s eyes on her but she stubbornly refused to look at him.
‘Isn’t this great?’ said Catriona. ‘It’s wonderful to have you all back together.
Which reminds me, Reuben . . . please remember you are very welcome to join us for Christmas dinner.
I don’t want you to feel you have to stay out the way because Murray is here in your house.
You are always welcome to stay with us any time. There’s a sofa bed in the love room.’
Murray caught Jessica’s glance and she had to stifle a giggle.
‘Mum, I wish you wouldn’t call it that. It sounds so dodgy,’ said Murray.
‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous. You know what I mean,’ said Catriona, matter-of-factly. ‘Anyway, Reuben, the offer is there. You are very welcome. Any time.’
‘Thanks. That’s very kind,’ he said. ‘I’m still unsure of my plans but I will, of course, let you know.’
Despite everything, Jessica felt a flicker of disappointment that he was being vague. In her mind it sounded like he had better things to do. Murray must have sensed the disappointed expression on her face as he looked at her and gave her a kind, understanding smile.