‘Let’s not go there.’ Jack shut off the conversation. ‘I wanted to show you some stills that Ava has taken for our new website.’
‘Oh!’ Ava was unprepared for that. ‘I don’t have my laptop.’
‘But you have your phone.’ Jack got out his. ‘And I have mine. There are lots on there. I just wanted to give Charlie a taste of your talent.’
‘I don’t know about that!’ Ava’s cheeks burned again. But this time it was with embarrassment. She’d seen what Charlie was capable of, and his were mostly drawings, not the quick snap of a lens.
‘Let me be the judge of that.’
She left the men to peruse her photos and had a wander round. Charlie was so skilled. She noticed he took photos, too, and she studied one of a young girl sitting on the jetty deep in thought, her legs over the edge. He’d caught her just before she’d turned her head, she suspected. The action had been deliberate, and perfect.
‘These are really good,’ Charlie said, as he and Jack rejoined her. ‘Jack was telling me you were helping with the design of his new book covers. Will you be putting them together as well?’
‘I doubt it.’ Ava shook her head. ‘I’ve been sharing my images for a while with the agency, but they mostly send them off to a cover designer.’
‘I’ve been thinking about that,’ Jack said. ‘Would you like to do them for me?’
‘Well, yes, but?—’
‘Consider it done. I’ll sort it with your boss. That would be you, if you went freelance.’
‘It’s not that. I meant I’m not sure I have the know-how.’
‘Of course you do!’ Charlie flicked back to one photo in particular, the lake just before dusk set in. It had been taken yesterday, after she had shared another walk with Jack and Graham. ‘You could easily use this one, add some thin fonts in bright yellow to complement the deep blue.’
‘I could, couldn’t I? I can have a go next week, if you like?’ Ava suggested to Jack.
‘Deal.’ Jack held out his hand for her to shake. ‘And on that note, let’s go and search out everyone. Millie might be ready to go back for hot chocolate.’
‘You mean you, really, don’t you?’ Ava grinned.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Once they’d corralled the kids and got them home, to Jack’s mind, the best part of the evening began. Hot chocolate was made, marshmallows shared out, and he threw in a packet of custard creams, too. After all the tasting at the lakeside event, he’d been fit to burst but had managed his drink and a few biscuits, much to Ava’s amusement.
Now, they were all seated around the TV. Ava sat next to him. On his other side, Millie was trying desperately not to fall asleep.
Jack glanced around the room, for once feeling content. Brooke and Tom were sitting on the settee, legs out in front, heads together as they giggled about something on Tom’s phone.
It was good to see that the cousins got on. It had been hard for them for a while, both families disintegrating at more or less the same time. On the odd occasions Katrina did bump into Alison, they were friendly but guarded with each other.
For that reason, it helped that he and Katrina were living separately so that Katrina wasn’t around as much as she was before.
Millie’s eyes had closed. It was way past her bedtime, and she’d done well to stay up until eleven.
‘I think it’s time for someone to go to bed.’ Jack gave the little girl a nudge. He glanced over at Brooke, raising his eyebrows questioningly.
Brooke got the message. ‘I’ll take her, Dad.’
‘Thanks, love.’
Ava yawned, too. ‘Time for me to make a move.’
‘I’ll walk you back, take Graham for his final stroll.’
After saying their goodbyes, Ava and Jack went out into the night. The air was so cold it made Ava gasp.
‘Brrr. I hope I get a few slightly warmer days before I leave,’ she said. ‘It would be nice not to have to wrap up so warm.’
