Million Love Songs(83)

‘At work,’ he says calmly. ‘Where were you?’

She purses her lips at that and is rescued from making further comment by the appearance of the walking-wounded Tom.

‘Hi, Mum,’ he says and is instantly swept into Gina’s embrace.

‘My baby, my baby,’ she coos, then bursts into tears and cries all over him.

‘I’m OK.’ He tries to wriggle loose. ‘Just don’t hold me that tight, it hurts.’

She holds him away from her and exclaims, ‘I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. I came as soon as I could.’

Nobody points out that they’ve been trying to get hold of her for the last twelve hours or more, but it hangs in the air. Try as I might, I can’t imagine Joe being with this glamorous but brittle woman. He’s so down-to-earth and caring yet, even standing here with her broken son, she seems to want all the attention.

Not to be left out, Daisy goes and twines herself round her mother. ‘My darling,’ Gina purrs. ‘How I miss you both.’

Joe looks at me over her head and raises his eyebrows.

‘I should go,’ I say. ‘I’m in work later.’

Joe nods tightly.

How things change in an instant. It was all going so well and, despite me being the one who Tom turned to in his hour of need, I now definitely feel superfluous to requirements.

‘I’ll walk you to the door,’ Joe says, embarrassed.

I hold up a hand. ‘No need.’

‘I’ll call you later.’

Gina takes a moment from fussing over her son to shoot me another black look. Bitch.

Picking my bag up, I head to the door and close it softly behind me. I sit in the car in Joe’s drive, gripping the steering wheel and I could cry. It was all so lovely and then, as quick as a flash, I’m suddenly outside of this tight little unit and by myself.

And I realise with blinding clarity that this relationship is never going to be anything but difficult.





Chapter Seventy-Five





I work my shift, telling Charlie everything that happened last night and this morning in short snippets whenever we manage to cross at the bar.

‘She sounds like a bagful of trouble,’ is Charlie’s assessment and I fear she may be right.

‘We had such a great night,’ I whisper over my two plates of harissa lamb with minted couscous for table four. ‘Why did she have to come back and spoil it all?’

‘That’s the job of ex-wives,’ she says, sagely.

Joe hasn’t called me and that has my stomach in knots. I’m feeling mean-spirited and disgruntled. I really, really want to see Joe again. Preferably tonight, wrapped up in the warmth of his arms. Well, it looks like that’s not going to happen, is it? Sigh.

When I’ve finished moaning about Gina, Charlie tells me all about her dinner with Nice Paul and how they went back to the theatre and managed to catch The Barlow coming out. Her night, it seems, was more uniformly successful than mine.

We finish work a bit early as there aren’t many people eager to be in the Butcher’s Arms on a Monday night, which I’m grateful for. My feet are killing me and the lack of sleep from last night is definitely catching up with me.

Charlie is in a rush to leave. ‘I’ll catch you tomorrow, chick,’ she says and heads for the door. ‘I’ve got an appointment with a forum.’

‘Laters,’ I say and, as she’s leaving with more haste than usual, I wonder if Nice Paul is part of it.

While I’m getting my bag out of the staffroom, I hear a noise behind me which makes me jump. When I turn, Mason Soames is leaning on the door frame.

‘You look like shite, Brown,’ he says.

‘Your chat-up lines might need a bit of work, Mason. They’re slipping.’

‘What have you been up to?’ He pouts at me like a lost little boy. ‘I never see you now.’

‘I’m always here,’ I point out.

‘Drink wine with me. Tell me your troubles.’

‘You really don’t want to hear them,’ I say.

‘I can pour you a decent glass of red here or we could go back to my place where I have lots and lots of wine.’

‘This is a pub,’ I counter. ‘You can’t have more wine than here.’

‘Semantics,’ he bats back.

I’m not ready to go home alone, yet I know that I can’t go back to Mason’s place. I really want to be held tonight and I know that if I go with Mason it will involve so much more than that. Yet my stupid, tired and easily affected heart says, ‘Ooo, he’s handsome, let’s get cosy with him,’ while my brain says, ‘Stay out of trouble, Ruby. Whatever he says, go home now.’ I need to stay away from this man. It’s ridiculous, but he’s like catnip to me. I’m starting to care more about Joe and I don’t want to hurt him in the way that we’ve both been hurt before. This is the time to cut all ties with Mason. Except for our professional ones.

‘I can see you positively quivering with indecision.’ He comes towards me but I hold up a hand.

‘Don’t, Mason. I’m over-tired, my defences are weak and I definitely should be by myself.’

‘But I love it when your defences are weak,’ he protests which makes me laugh.