Present day
‘So give me the details again.’ Glenda sipped her tea. ‘He just walks past, asks you about your picture and you end up spending the afternoon with him?’
‘Yes, that’s about the sum of it.’ Lilly put the milk back in the fridge.
‘Well, I’m not sure what I think about that.’ Her friend pulled the face of disapproval she’d been pulling for the last fifty years or more.
‘You don’t have to think anything about it, Glen. I’m a grown-up. I made a decision and went for it, trusted my gut, and it was only a drink – we didn’t elope!’
‘Yes, but you don’t know the first thing about him! He could be an axe murderer!’
‘Why is that always the first place people go? Why don’t they think he could be a scammer or a strangler or a con artist or a knife-wielding maniac? Why do we always go for axe murderer?’
‘I don’t know, Lil.’ Her friend took another gulp of tea.
‘I mean, how many murders are actually committed by axe? I’m guessing not many.’
‘I know you’re being funny, so I’m just going to ignore you.’ It made Lilly smile. ‘So was it a date?’ Glenda asked as she reached for a Hobnob, snapped it and placed one half in her mouth so the pointy angles stuck out in her cheek.
‘I feel daft saying date – I’m seventy!’ Lilly then giggled in a way that was girlish and giddy and all the things she most definitely was not.
‘But if pressed, would you say it was?’ Glenda persisted.
‘I suppose, if pressed.’ She smiled.
‘And you’re seeing him again tonight?’ her friend asked with the unmistakeable undertone of disapproval.
‘Yes.’
‘Bit keen, isn’t it?’ Glenda crunched her biscuit.
‘I suppose it is.’ She sighed, secretly thrilled at the idea of his keenness. ‘We’ve arranged to go out for supper, the Gordon Ramsay place in Battersea.’
‘Ooh, very nice. Hardly sharing a bag of chips, is it? That’ll cost a few bob.’
‘Yep.’ It was then she decided not to share the words ‘fortune’ and ‘farm’, knowing how Glenda could be about money.
‘You should have a look at the menu online and see what you fancy before you go.’
‘That’s a good idea!’
‘Norm always does it, in case a place is only vegan or vegetarian and he can pop a sausage roll in the glovebox for on the way home. Makes the kids laugh. Our Bradley’s vegan now.’
‘Oh, I didn’t know. Alfie is a pescatarian, so just fish.’
‘Pescatarian? What’s that all about!’ Glenda scoffed. ‘I mean, is it any less cruel to eat something that’s had a hook through its arse than it is to eat something that’s had a bolt through its head?’
‘Hmmm, that’s a very good question, Glen, and one I shall be sure to raise with him.’
There was a knock at the front door, and Lilly went to open it.
‘Clodagh! Hello, love. Glenda and I were just having a cuppa. Would you like one?’
‘Yes, please.’
Lilly noted the way the young woman avoided eye contact and had clearly been crying. She placed her hand on her narrow back the moment she walked inside.
‘Apollo not with you?’ It was strange to see her alone outside of school hours.
Clodagh shook her head.
‘Are you all right, darling?’
‘Not really, no.’ This was enough for a fresh batch of tears to fall down her face.
‘Come through, come on.’
Lilly guided her to the kitchen, where Glenda thankfully budged up at the table.
‘Oh no. What’s the matter, love?’ Her friend was as moved as Lilly to see her young neighbour in such distress.
The two women watched as Clodagh placed her arms in a cradle on the tabletop and put her head on them, crying heartily now as her shoulders shook and she sniffed and snuffled.
Glenda pulled a wad of tissues from her handbag and placed them on the young woman’s arm.
‘There, there, my love. Nothing is as bad as it seems at first.’
Lilly was thankful for her friend’s wisdom and kindness. Glenda might be a funny old soul at times, but this was at her core.
Clodagh’s fingers snaked out and pulled the tissues inside the dark confines of her table cave, and she blew her nose and wiped her eyes before sitting up. Her skin was blotchy, her eyes were red and her mouth was quivering.
‘Apollo’s . . .’ She paused. Lilly felt the stutter of her heartbeat, waiting to see what came out of Clodagh’s mouth next. Apollo was what? Hurt, ill, lost? All the terrible possibilities ran through her mind. ‘He’s with his dad, Sab.’
Lilly exhaled, unaware she’d been holding her breath. This relief was instantly replaced with new concerns: why did Sab have him, how had he got him?
‘Well, if he’s anything like my Norman, they’ll be having a lovely time. Nothing to cry about, love.’
She knew Glenda meant well, taping clichés over the direst of wounds in the hope that it might make things feel better.
‘He’s not seen him for a long time, and he just turned up at school.’ Clodagh gave Glenda the potted version.
‘How did he know where you were?’ Lilly, of course, knew the backstory.
‘Apparently, Milar’s mum works with his sister and mentioned that she knew me from nursery, she told her about Apollo, and I guess they put two and two together.’
‘Oh God.’ She could only imagine the consequences of this coincidence.
‘I was so shocked, I didn’t do anything, didn’t say anything, I just stared at him.
He’s got a flash car now, and of course Apollo went nuts when he saw him.
He ran into his arms, and Sab was crying, and it was like this wonderful reunion for everyone, apart from me.
I felt like I’d been shot. I was rooted to the spot, and Sab asked if he could take Apollo to the park and I didn’t know what to say.
What I wanted to say was no, no way, but I wasn’t sure if I could or should.
Then Apollo starts jumping up and down, so excited to be going in his dad’s car, and so I just nodded and told him to be back in an hour and a half and gave him our address.
He’s going to drop him off here, and that means I have to see him again, and it means he now knows where we are, and I think, legally, he might be able to see Apollo, even if I don’t want him to.
I don’t know what’s happening!’ She cried again.
‘Okay, okay.’ Lilly spoke as softly and calmly as she was able, feeling an anxious soup of concern slosh in her stomach. ‘We are going to take this one step at a time. The first thing is to sit tight until Apollo is home safely.’
‘You think he won’t come home safely?’ Clodagh asked with a rising note of hysteria.
‘No! No, of course he will!’ Lilly hoped she sounded more confident than she felt. ‘Then after a good night’s sleep we will look at all the options. You have rights.’
‘But he does too!’
‘Yes, but he hasn’t seen the boy for a long time, and he lied to you, and there are other things at play. I’m no lawyer, but we can get advice, Clodagh. You are not to worry yourself over things that might not happen. Okay? No worrying until you absolutely have to.’
‘Lilly’s right,’ Glenda chimed.
‘Good Lord, did you hear that?’ Lilly elbowed Clodagh, softly. ‘Glenda just said I was right. That’s a first!’
‘Cheeky mare! She’s only being cocky because she’s got a date tonight!’ Glenda’s eyes lit up, thrilled to share such gossip.
‘A date? Who with?’ Clodagh sniffed and wiped her eyes, this the perfect diversion, something for the three of them to get their teeth into.
‘Well, his name is Alfred – Alfie.’
‘He’s a pescatarian and can’t be short of a bob or two, he’s taking her to that Gordon Ramsay place in Battersea.’ Glenda filled in the gaps.
‘Wow! You dark horse, Lilly! I’m just glad one of us is getting some action in the romance department.’
‘Speak for yourself!’ Glenda tutted. ‘My Norm is quite the romantic. He always saves the end of the bread for me because he knows I like a knob, and he lies on my side of the bed on a cold night so that when I get in my bit of the mattress is warm.’
Clodagh covered her face as her shoulders shook.
‘Oh, don’t cry, love! Please don’t cry!’ Lilly wondered what had set the girl off. It was only when Clodagh removed her hands that it became apparent she was in fact laughing, not a tear in sight.
‘I’m sorry!’ It seemed once Clodagh had started, it was almost impossible to stop.
‘What’s so funny?’ Glenda asked Lilly, as if she’d missed the joke.
‘You said . . .’ Clodagh wheezed as she banged the tabletop, trying to get a grip, ‘you said that Norm knows you like a knob and I wondered where you were going with that!’
‘For the love of God!’ Glenda tried to sound stern, but pretty soon all three were chuckling away until they were breathless and more than a little giddy.
Their laughter was brought to a halt by a knock on the door.
‘It’s like Piccadilly bloody Circus in here today!’ Glenda shouted as Lilly went to open it, and the three laughed again, as you did when you got the giggles.
Lilly’s smile faded as she came face to face with Joshua Vaughan.
‘Mr Vaughan! To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘Can I come in?’ He pointed over her shoulder.
‘Oh, why not!’ She sighed. ‘Come through! It’s not as if anything you may or may not have to say won’t reach the ears of these two anyway. Cup of tea?’
‘Yes, please!’ He looked more than a little delighted to have been asked.
‘Who’s this, then?’ Glenda eyed the young man suspiciously.
‘This is Mr Vaughan, from the company who want to knock down my home.’
‘And you let him in?’ Her friend narrowed her eyes at him.
‘Hello!’ He lifted his hand to give Glenda a nervous wave, before turning his attentions to Clodagh. ‘Hi, Miss Newman.’
‘Hi.’ Clodagh wiped her face and sat up straight, finding a small smile as her cheeks bloomed.
There was something about the way he looked at the young woman that made Lilly do a double take.
A certain linger in his eye contact, a reluctance to look away, the slight flush to his neck, and the way he swallowed as if trying to contain words and feelings that might want to leap from his throat.
And for the first time she felt a rush of kindness towards the young man, who was clearly a very good judge of character, as Clodagh was entirely wonderful.