Beckett couldn’t help a bark of laughter. ‘Are you serious? Did you miss the tiny hearts flying around my head? Was it only me who heard the orchestra? At the very least, you must have seen my goofy grin.’
‘So… you don’t regret it?’ she asked quietly.
‘Um.’ Beckett tried to come up with a response that didn’t include blurting how he’d been wanting to do it for weeks. Recently, to the point where he’d barely been able to think about anything else. ‘Only if you do. If I misread the situation, or you thought it was awful…’
Mary leaned forwards and gently poked his shoulder. ‘Maybe I didn’t see your grin because I was still dazzled by the fireworks. Or did you not spot those?’
Beckett’s insides dissolved into mush.
‘I haven’t messed up our friendship?’
‘You’ve totally messed it up. There’s no way we can stay friends after a kiss like that,’ Mary said, incredulous. ‘If you’ve no intention of performing more non-friendly gestures, I’m going to be extremely cheesed off.’
He resisted the urge to pull over right there in the middle of the woods and perform a non-friendly gesture. A baby was present, after all.
He settled for a corny ‘Duly noted’, and they drove for a few minutes in silence, before resuming a conversation about the rehearsal, Beckett’s half-hearted attempts to find an independent carer, and Gramps’ more recent nightly escapades. Attraction hummed through every word.
They’d agreed that Beckett would drop Mary and Bob off and head straight home, but Beckett’s heart began thumping wildly as they approached Mary’s drive. He’d obviously be walking her to the door, carrying Bob inside. She’d been very clear how she felt about a kiss goodnight.
Only then, he saw another car parked in the driveway. A black Lexus.
He sensed Mary stiffen behind him. Glancing in the mirror as he slowed to a stop, he caught her mouth dropping open in shock, eyes fixed on the shadowy figure of a man leaning against the car.
‘Are you okay?’ he asked. ‘Do you know this person?’
Mary was already clambering out of the door.
Beckett hastily unclipped Bob’s seat and followed her over to the other car.
‘What are you doing here?’ Mary asked, her tone brittle.
‘You blocked me. I was worried about you. We knew the baby must be born by now. I had to know whether you were okay. Both of you.’
‘Really?’ Mary stuck her hands in the pockets of her fake-fur coat. ‘You weren’t that bothered back in April, when you called my son an irresponsible mistake.’
‘You had a boy?’ the man said, his voice full of emotion.
‘Yes,’ Mary snapped, but it was a half-hearted retort and Beckett could see her shoulders dropping as her initial anger drained away. ‘He’s got your eyes.’
The man jerked his head back. Mary couldn’t look at him.
And then he stepped forwards, wrapped his arms around her and she fell against him, both of them sobbing how sorry they were.
Beckett carefully walked over to the cottage and placed the car seat containing Bob in the porch.
He had no idea how he got back to the car. It felt as though the earth had tilted on its side. Everything was wrong and he had no centre of gravity any more.
Mary had become his centre of gravity.
And now he’d lost her, a mere moment after they’d begun.
29
MARY
I led Kieran into the cottage. What else could I do?
Well, the part of me still bitter and broken from what had happened argued. You could have told him to get lost, instead of embracing him as if all is forgiven.
