Madison smiled and trotted out of the room.
“Who’s Madison?” Mari hissed as she swung toward Amira. Denny’s little body was a dead weight, and she realized he’d fallen asleep on her shoulder.
“Ah, now he sleeps. Typical. And he cried all morning, asking for you. It’s not much fun, you know, Marianne.” Amira’s cheeks were flushed, and Mari wondered how long they’d been knocking back the sherry, leaving Denny in the charge of some stranger.
Her mum stood and took Denny very gently from her arms. “Why don’t you two go and talk in private, and Zeynap and I will catch up?”
Marianne blinked at the unexpectedly selfless offer. She nodded her thanks and shook herself into action.
“Come on, Amira. It’s a beautiful day, let’s get some air.”And hopefully no one will hear our shouting.
Amira pushed herself wearily out of the chair. “If you insist.”
“Don’t forget. The party starts in half an hour.” Zeynap’s call followed them out through the French doors.
“Who the fuck is Madison?” The words rushed out as soon as they were alone.
“A friend. I met her in rehab. You don’t have a right to be informed about every visitor to this house, Marianne.”
“I do if she’s spending time with my child.” Marianne forced herself to take a long breath.
“That’s rich. All Denny wanted to talk about, when he wasn’t crying for you, was fucking Joey. Joey the lobster supplier? Is there something you need to tellme?”
“Joey’s a good friend. They’ve been helping look after Denny since I was left penniless with a small child. Remember?”
“A friend? Right. They were always hanging around, asking if you were free. I should’ve seen it then.” Amira sniggered.
Marianne straightened her shoulders. It wasn’t right to diminish what she had with Joey, even if there was no future in it. “You’re right. They’re so much more than a friend. I’m completely in love with them in a way that never happened with us.” It felt good to finally say it, even if Amira wasn’t the person she should be telling.
Amira’s eyes opened wide.
“But it can’t work, because I don’t just have me to think about. Our son needs to live somewhere he can spend time with both parents. If you have any interest in being a parent, that is.”
Amira’s lack of reaction made her stop in her tracks. Her expression was unreadable.
“There is…something I wanted to talk to you about. While you’re here.” She led the way to a bench at the far end of the garden.
Marianne sat. She didn’t want to, but she had to hear Amira out.
Amira played with a ringlet of hair before she turned fully to face Marianne. “I’m moving to the U.S. soon.” She held up a hand against all the questions in Marianne’s head trying to spill out. “Please let me finish.”
She nodded, though her neck felt like it might snap with tension.
“I need to get out of here. My mum’s controlling nature was what drove me to gambling in the first place. It’s not a good environment for me.”
She suspected Amira would always find someone to blame for her gambling addiction. “But why America? How will you see Denny?”
“I’ve got an opportunity with Maddy. Her parents are funding a new venture for her in California. She’ll give me a job, and we’ll see how things go.”
“Are you even allowed to live in the U.S. just like that?” Things were moving too fast. All Marianne had wanted was to find a way for Denny to be reared by both his parents. Now, one of them was taking off to live thousands of miles away.
“Well, that’s the thing. We’ve decided it’ll be much easier if we get married before we leave. You’ve been efficient making the divorce happen so quickly there’ll be nothing to stop us in a few weeks.”
Marianne stared. “You’re going to marry that young woman? How long have you known her?”
A bark of laughter rang through the garden. “Long enough. How long have you known Joey the lobster fisher as more than a supplier?”
She wasn’t going to be diverted from the issue. “So, you’re going to head off to another continent and abandon your child?”
