Epilogue
“W hat exactly am I supposed to do with this?” Sophie said, looking down at the writhing bundle that Tilly had passed her.
“He’s my god-son, not a this,” Tilly said.
“But I don’t know anything about babies,” Sophie wailed.
“You know about as much as I do,” said Tilly. “Besides, look how small he is. It’s not like he can be that much trouble. It’s for, what, a couple of hours tops?”
Sophie looked at Art. His face was smooth and small, his eyes were closed now, and he appeared to be falling back to sleep. “Alright, if you think so,” she said doubtfully.
“I could put him in a baby seat in the back of the police car?” offered Tilly. “Max does it all the time.”
A pungent odor began to rise from the baby. “Mmm, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. What do I do with him now?”
Tilly choked back a laugh. “Change him, I’m guessing. There’s nappies in the bag over there, there’s bottles in the cool bag. Max’s mum had to catch the first train this morning, his dad’s had a fall. Nothing major, but she needs to get home. So we’re on duty.”
“Until you meet the plane,” Sophie said, reminding Tilly for the umpteenth time.
“I’m not going to forget them,” said Tilly, putting on her uniform cap. “Max and Mila’s plane gets in at eleven thirty. I’ll be at the airport to pick them up. Easy peasy.”
“Max and Mila’s plane gets in at eleven,” said Sophie.
Tilly grinned and dropped a kiss on Sophie’s cheek. “I was kidding.” She walked toward the door and Sophie followed, redolent Art still in her arms.
“I thought babymoons were supposed to happen before the baby was born.”
“Technically, I think they are,” agreed Tilly. “But then, little Art came so fast. And you can’t fly when you’re heavily pregnant. Plus, I mean, Mila obviously needed the break now. With three kids around the house, I’m thinking a weekend away was just what she needed.”
Sophie stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Oh my god, where are the other two?”
Tilly laughed. “At school, where they’re supposed to be. I dropped them off on my way back here. Will you stop worrying?”
She was leaning against the doorframe, relaxed and confident in her uniform, and so beautiful that Sophie still couldn’t believe she was allowed to touch her. Even after a year together.
They’d been lucky getting the small cottage on the outskirts of Whitebridge, and luckier still that Tilly’s next assignment had left her within commuting distance. At the time, Sophie had been worried. But as Tilly said, there wasn’t really room in Whitebridge for two police officers.
“It’s going to be fine,” Tilly said again.
“It had better be,” said Sophie. “The house is almost finished, dad’s over there doing a final look-around and Gio’s wandering around with a paint can getting the last patches. The builders have collected their stuff, so unless the entire extension falls down immediately, I think we should be alright.”
“Do you think Mila knows it’s going to be finished?” Tilly asked.
Sophie laughed this time. “Knowing Max, probably. I mean, it was practically done before they left, and I know he wanted it to be a surprise that it was done a week early, but you know what he’s like. I really don’t think he can keep a secret.”
“I can keep secrets,” Tilly said with a broad wink. She tipped her cap until it was rakishly over one eye.
Sophie’s breath left her body for a second. “As long as you don’t keep them from me,” she said. Then she glimpsed the clock by the door. “And as long as you don’t miss that damn plane.”
“Alright, alright,” Tilly said. She took a step toward Sophie and kissed her cheek. Then changed her mind and kissed her lips.
Sophie felt the familiar warmth running through her veins at Tilly’s touch. She shivered.
“Sorry,” Tilly said. “But you have to change the baby. He’s not going to smell any better. I’d help but…”
“You’ve got a plane to meet,” Sophie said, holding Art with one hand and pushing Tilly toward the door with the other.
???
Tilly pulled the car onto the motorway and relaxed a little. She liked driving. It was calming. More calming than home had been recently, anyway. What with Gio dropping by at least once a day, and Paul coming almost as often, with Mila visiting with the baby and the kids running around, it was sort of nice to get a moment to herself.
Not that she begrudged a moment that she spent living with Sophie. She loved her to death. But now that she was about to take over the garage, she was on edge and worried all the time. Which was odd, because Tilly knew she could handle it. She’d been practically running the place for years. And it wasn’t like Paul was going to leave her to run it alone. He was bound to be in there every day for a few hours.
The phone rang and Tilly touched the hands-free button. “Ware.”
“It’s me,” Sophie said. Tilly could hear the cries of the baby in the background. “He won’t drink the milk.”
“Did you warm it?”
“Did you tell me to warm it?”
“Maybe?” hazarded Tilly. “Max’s mum said you’re supposed to put it in a cup of hot water for a few minutes and then pour some milk on the back of your hand to make sure it’s not too hot.”
“Ooo-kay… Right, yes, alright, I can do that.”
“Relax, you’re doing a good job,” said Tilly encouragingly. “You’ll be fine.”
“I’m not so sure about that. He keeps crying. Just… just get that plane, okay?”
“I’m on my way,” Tilly said, ending the call.
So much stress. She sighed and settled back in to driving. With Paul retiring, she’d bought up the idea of retiring to her own father. He’d laughed at her and told her he’d die on the beat, which she hoped he didn’t mean literally.
She had persuaded him to start dating again, which was progress. She’d been pretty happy with herself for that, up until her dad had announced that he now had a girlfriend. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Not a real, serious girlfriend. But Becca had proven nice, sensible, and a fellow police officer.
She’d be moving into Tilly’s childhood home next month, something that Tilly knew she should be happy for, but also made her a little nervous. She couldn’t control her dad’s life. She could just hope that everything went well.
So many changes. So much was going to be different. Life just kept moving onward, and she knew that it had to, but she worried sometimes that she didn’t have time to enjoy things before they were gone.
She was so busy thinking about this that when the silver car jetted past her, she reached up and switched on the lights and siren without really thinking about it. And then she had to chase it down. She had no choice.
???
Sophie bounced the baby in one arm. He gurgled, and she smiled. “See? It’s not so bad, is it?”
He gave another gurgle and then spat up what seemed like half the milk he’d drunk.
“Crap.” She grabbed a tea towel and cleaned him up before checking the time. “You know what, why don’t we go and see Uncle Gio?” she asked.
Her dad would be there. He was well-versed in babies. And they were supposed to be at the house for the house-warming party in an hour or so anyway. That part was a secret. Even Max didn’t know about it. It had been her idea, and she was proud of it. A welcome home present for Max and Mila, and a chance to christen the new part of their house.
She bundled Art back into his pram, picked up everything that had come with him, and got out of the house. Babies seemed to come with a lot of accessories, she hoped that she hadn’t forgotten anything.
???
Tilly looked from the data on her in-car computer to the man handcuffed by the side of the car to the clock on the dashboard. Damn it all. She hadn’t intended for this to happen. He’d been speeding. It should have been a ticket and a stern talking to, and that was it.
How was she supposed to know that he had an outstanding warrant? She gritted her teeth as she called it in.
“Back up on its way,” growled the dispatcher.
Tilly eyed the clock again. She could still make it on time if she left in the next ten minutes.
???
“Aw, look at him,” Gio said, peering into the pram. “He looks like Winston Churchill.”
“All babies look like Churchill,” said their father.
Art took this personally and started to grumble and then cry. Sophie looked at her father in desperation.
“Here we go,” Paul said, lifting the boy up and cradling him over his shoulder. Art stopped crying immediately. “See? Easy.”
Sophie sighed. Everyone seemed to think that everything was easy nowadays. She wasn’t so sure. For a start, as of next week, she’d be the official owner of the garage. “What about that mold in the toilet?” she asked, remembering that she’d meant to ask about it the day before and forgotten.
Her dad rolled his eyes. “Use some mold cleaner to clean it up. Easy.”
There was that word again.
“Hello, dear,” Sylv said, bustling through into the new extension. “We’re almost all set up here. People will start arriving soon and then we’ll just be waiting for the guests of honor.”
“Right, Tilly’s on that,” said Sophie, checking her watch. Or at least she hoped Tilly was.
???
Tilly breathed out through her nose and in through her mouth, trying to calm herself down as she checked the rear-view mirror. No sign of another police car. There was a disgruntled-looking man in her back seat, but he was safely cuffed.
A lot safer than she’d be when Sophie found out that there was no chance of her making that plane now. She groaned out loud.
“What’s wrong?”
She eyed the mirror again. “Nothing for you to concern yourself with.”
He pulled a face. “No, go on, we’ve got to sit here, anyway. What’s wrong? You look like you’ve sat on a pile of thorns.”
“Charming,” said Tilly. “If you must know, I was supposed to pick someone up at the airport and I’m going to be late.”
He thought about this for a second. “You could always let me go,” he suggested.
“Ha ha. Not going to happen.”
“Be like that then. Anyway, whoever it is will wait for you,” he said.
“Yeah, but my girlfriend will kill me. She’s always worried that I put the job first,” Tilly said, without really thinking about who she was speaking to.
The man in the back seat shrugged. “Then arrange for someone else to do the pickup from the airport. I’m married myself. You just have to make sure that your responsibilities are taken care of, even if it’s someone else doing them.”
She looked into the rear-view again. Huh. That made sense. That way, she could do her job and Sophie would still be happy. She grinned. “Cheers.”
“Don’t mention it,” said the man. He sniffed. “You gonna let me go now, then?”
“No,” said Tilly, picking up her mobile. “But you’ve got my thanks, if that counts for anything?”
???
“I can’t believe it’s finished,” Mila said, her eyes aglow. She turned to Max. “Did you arrange all this?”
He nodded and blushed as his wife kissed him.
“We helped with the party though,” Ag said, pushing through the little crowd in her conservatory uniform.
“That was Sophie’s idea,” said Dash, cake already smeared around his mouth.
“Thank you,” Mila said. “Um, not to be picky or anything, but I’m pretty sure I have three children now?”
Sophie laughed and nodded over to a corner where her father sat in a chair asleep, Art on his chest. “You might have found yourself a new babysitter,” she said. “He’s going to be bored now that he’s retiring. He’ll need something to do.”
“I could use the help,” said Mila. “I kept Ag and Dash under the counter at the shop, but Art hates it there. He wants to be up front and center where he can see people all the time.”
“Can’t blame him for that,” Tilly said, finally arriving.
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Strange, given that you were picking Max and Mila up, I sort of assumed that you’d be arriving at the same time as them?”
“Give her a break,” Gio said as he walked past. “I was glad of an excuse to drive the car on the motorway.”
“Thanks,” Tilly said. Gio gave her a high five and went off in search of a beer.
“Come on,” said Max, putting an arm around his wife. “Let’s go and get something to eat.”
“I’m sorry,” Tilly said as Max and Mila left. “I know I was supposed to pick them up. But there was a speeder, and I made an arrest and, well, it all got a bit out of hand.”
For a second, Sophie looked at her, then she smiled. “It’s fine. They got picked up, no one was injured in the process, I didn’t have to problem-solve to make up for you being stuck at work. It’s not a problem.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Sophie said. “Really.”
“That’s good,” said Tilly. She looked down at her feet. “Because, um, there’s something that I’ve been meaning to tell you.” She looked up again, face pink. “Remember before when I said that I could keep a secret?”
Sophie’s stomach dropped. “Yes.”
Tilly came closer, put her hand on Sophie’s arm. “I know you’re worried. You’re worried about taking over the garage, you’re worried that I’m commuting and we won’t have enough time together, and I just want you to know that you have nothing to worry about.”
She looked up into Tilly’s earnest blue eyes. “I don’t?”
Tilly shook her head. “Nope. You’re great at your job and you’ll be brilliant at running the business. I’ve got no worries about that at all. As for the other stuff, well…” She blushed even deeper. “I had to wait until it was all confirmed, but… I’m coming back to work in Whitebridge.”
Sophie stilled. “You are?”
“I am. The force is expanding our area and there are going to be three officers stationed here. And it’s coming with a promotion. Sergeant Ware.”
Sophie’s face split into a grin. “That’s brilliant, Till, well done.”
Tilly pulled her in close. “I know things are changing. Things will always be changing. But we’ll face the changes together, Soph. That’s what couples do. Just look at Max and Mila.”
Sophie looked over at where the couple were laughing with Paul, Max holding his new son on his shoulder as Mila ruffled Ag’s hair. Dash was playing with Gio on the floor. She smiled. “They’re a lovely family.”
“And so are we,” Tilly said. “Whatever that family ends up looking like, however big or small it becomes, as long as you and I are at the heart of it, then it will be perfect.”
Sophie pulled back a little. “Babies?” she asked.
Tilly snorted. “Only if you get a lot more practice. You weren’t exactly a natural with Art, you know?”
Sophie laughed. “Fair. I’m not sure about the whole baby thing.”
“Then we’ll adopt an older child. Or we’ll have cats or dogs or llamas instead.”
“Llamas?”
“Llamas,” Tilly confirmed.
Sophie let herself be pulled in close again, let herself feel Tilly’s scratchy uniform against her cheek, smell Tilly’s familiar smell, let herself feel Tilly’s heartbeat. “I love you.”
Tilly tilted her head. “I love you too,” she said, brushing Sophie’s lips with her own.
“Song, song!” shouted Sylv. Billy was already sitting at the piano in the corner, Ag perched on the bench with her.
“Fancy a sing?” Tilly asked.
“With you?” said Sophie. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Music curled into the air late into the night in a little town called Whitebridge. It wasn’t until after midnight that a newly minted sergeant led her soon-to-be garage owner girlfriend home by the hand. It took another year before they adopted a cat. Then a dog. And five years before Sophie finally decided that a baby might not be so bad. Especially if Tilly was the one having it. They sang in the choir and Sophie opened a car parts shop that ran alongside the garage. Tilly became a Chief Superintendent, just like her dad. They never did get a llama though...