‘Eli!’ Sofia stood up, her face creased with concern. ‘Let’s get you into the kitchen and find something to eat.’
Moses shook his head. ‘It’s fine, darling. I can sort it. I just wanted to let you know Eli will be staying with us for a few days.’
‘Does his dad know?’
Moses nodded, his face grim. ‘Yes.’
‘Okay. The spare bed is made up.’ Sofia stepped forwards to give Eli a side-hug, speaking softly. ‘You’re welcome here for as long as you need, you know that, right?’
‘Yes, Pastor.’
‘If you’re living under my roof, you need to stick to the rules, Eli. And the first rule is that you call me Sofia. Got it?’
The boy nodded, sheepishly, before allowing Moses to herd him into the kitchen. Sofia yanked Moses back again briefly. ‘When are you going to start giving me some warning before you do these things?’ she hissed.
‘Babe, I had no choice, you should have been there,’ he whispered back.
‘No. I shouldn’t. I had the day off.’ Sofia folded her arms. ‘You know I don’t mind Eli being here if he needs a place to stay, but you have to start discussing these things with me first!’
‘But if I know you won’t mind, why do I need to discuss it?’
Sofia shook her head in frustration. ‘Just go and get him something to eat.’
Knowing better than to ask for details, Orla, Bridget and I quickly finished our drinks and left our amazing sister and her husband, so bereft by their childlessness, to take on the role of surrogate parents yet again.
6
Cooper
After a laughable excuse for an interview, Cooper had been offered the job he’d turned down four years ago. Only this time, because Professor Cole had driven away yet another lab technician, leaving a fully funded research project half finished, he’d been offered a significantly higher salary, and his own office, on the basis that he completed the work.
It was a third of what he’d been earning a few months ago, where he’d had his own lab to go along with the office. Even so, he could think of only one rational reason not to take it.
And this reason was exactly the same reason he knew he’d end up taking it.
Professor Cole wanted Bridget to have a co-worker overseeing this crazy marriage project, to provide a ‘steadier male influence’. And as long as he was prepared to spend a day a week making sure Bridget didn’t get carried away on a wave of girlish romance, plus pull something out of the bag with the abandoned research, he could do what he liked the rest of the time. If the rest of the time consisted of running a project to blow the Walberg study out of the window, he wouldn’t be getting any complaints from his new boss.
He snuck onto Bridget’s Instagram account, looking for friends from uni who might still live in Nottingham, and found Ben Baxter. He’d shared a house with Ben, Bridget and a couple of other girls in their third year. Ben had bordered on being a genuine friend. He was a decent enough bloke, but viciously cynical about long-term relationships thanks to his parents acquiring numerous marriages between them, so was unlikely to be living with a partner.
Cooper messaged asking if he wanted to meet for a beer.
Four days later, after a curt phone call from the prof strongly suggesting that if he didn’t get back to him with an answer by the end of the day, the offer would be revoked, Cooper met Ben for lunch in Annie’s Burger Shack, a favourite hangout back in their student days.
‘So, where’ve you been, man? I don’t think we’ve seen you since graduation.’
Cooper shrugged, pretending to be absorbed in the menu, despite knowing he’d order a Sloppy Joe as always. ‘I’ve been locked away in a lab in Cardiff doing brain experiments, remember?’
‘Right.’ Ben nodded, as if suddenly remembering. ‘And they don’t have trains in Cardiff. Or the Internet.’
‘So, what, you’ve stayed in touch with everyone?’
Ben grinned. ‘No. But I’ve done better than you. Did you even know Bridget finally got engaged?’
He watched Cooper carefully over the top of his beer glass. Cooper had never outright told Ben, or anyone, how he felt about Bridget. But Ben had eyes, and a brain, so it had probably taken him a matter of days to figure it out.
‘Yeah. I saw her, a couple of weeks ago at an awards dinner.’
‘Nice. Was her delightful boss there?’
