‘No, really,’ Libby started to protest, shooting Dan a nervous glance and letting go of Jamie’s sleeve. ‘We’ll be fine. Let’s do it another day.’ She reached down to Rosie and tried to extract her from Beauty’s huge body. ‘Come on now, Little Louse. We’d better go.’ Rosie stood and Libby breathed a sigh of relief until she noticed the little girl’s stance: feet planted wide apart, hands on hips and fierce expression on her small face.
‘Jamiesaidwe could go on his boat,’ she shouted, her whole body shaking with rage. ‘You pwomised!’ The dropping of the rs was a bad sign. Libby squatted down in front of her.
‘I know, baby, but we’ll go and do something fun, just you and me, okay? We can go to the park or the beach, we can get ice creams.’ She leaned her forehead against Rosie’s and put her hands on either side of her face, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘Please, Rosie-Pose. Please. We can come back another day.’
Rosie must have sensed the desperation in her mother’s voice because instead of the all-out tantrum Libby was expecting she just sniffed and nodded her head, two tears coursing down her cheeks. ‘Good girl,’ Libby muttered, brushing the tears away with her thumbs and then kissing Rosie on the forehead.
‘Right,’ she said, allowing Rosie to give Beauty one final cuddle before picking her up and securing her on her hip. ‘We’ll leave you to it.’ They’d have to get the train back to London which would be a stretch, but there was no way she was hanging around here. When she looked over at Dr Grantham she took a small step back. He was staring at his brother; his face was dark with anger.
‘Rosie,’ he said in a tight voice. ‘Play with Seb a minute, gorgeous. I thought I saw a couple of woodlice and maybe a worm over by the lifejackets. Amy, Libby, would you stay with the children a moment. Dan, I’d like a word.’ With that he spun on his heel and stormed off to the far edge of the pontoon.
Rosie scrambled down from her position on Libby’s hip as soon as she heard the possibility of fresh woodlice-acquisition opportunities. Libby made a grab for her but she was too fast and ran off to where Seb was crouched down by the lifejackets.
Dan sighed but followed after him, and Libby watched with Amy as the men formed a tight huddle and started talking.
‘What on earth?’ Amy muttered, moving forward to go over there; but Libby caught her arm.
‘Could you keep an eye on Rosie? I’ll be back in a second,’ she said to Amy, and rushed forward before Amy had time to reply.
‘What is wrong with you?’ she heard Dan whisper-shout at his brother as she drew near. ‘You spend your entire thirty three years with the most boring, perfectly-put-together birds on the planet and then decide to … hook up with a stripper? Are you insane? And you time this rebellion just when it will get me in the shit?’
‘I’ll point out that you weren’t even fucking invited on the boat today, you prick,’ Jamie retorted.
‘Fine, we’ll bugger off then,’ Dan said, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at Jamie. ‘Last thing I need is for Amy or Will to find out she’s a – ’
‘It’s okay,’ Libby said. ‘I’m the one who should … bugger off.’
Both men started and looked over at her as she drew alongside them. Dan had the good grace to flush with embarrassment. ‘Look, I’m really sorry. No judgement here. Each to their own and all that. I’m just worried about confusing Will, and I – ’
‘Confusing Will about what?’ Amy asked from a foot away. Libby glanced back over to the harbourside to see that Will was with the children.
‘Nothing, hun. Get the kids packed up; we’re going home,’ Dan told her, his expression now more than a little panicked. Baby Rufus chose that moment to start waking up, emitting some snuffling sounds and wriggling on Dan’s chest. Amy reached forward and efficiently unhooked the straps of the baby carrier to extract the now grumpy-looking Rufus and cuddle him to her. She raised her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at her husband.
‘What has crawled up your arse today? You’re acting like a total git,’ she said, pressing one of Baby Rufus’s ears to her chest and covering the other with her hand when she said the word ‘git’. ‘Why are you being so weird?’
‘Amy, baby. Please just get the kids and our stuff together. I’ll be two seconds.’ Amy’s face flushed red and her small mouth set in a firm line.
‘Don’t youbabyme.Youcan go where you like,’ she told him. ‘The children and I are staying and we’re all going to have a nice day on the boat together. You’re going to remove whatever stick you’ve shoved where the sun don’t shine and we’re going to have a good time.’
‘Mum!’ Seb shouted from across the habour. ‘Can we take home a dead frog?’
‘Seb,’ Amy cried as she looked over at the now dirt-covered little boy. ‘Don’t touch that! You don’t know how long its been there.’ She trotted over towards the kids and Dan turned back to Jamie and Libby.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ said Dan. ‘We’ll go. I didn’t know that … I just can’t …’ He trailed off and looked down at his shoes. ‘Amy would go crazy if she knew I went to one of those clubs again. I – ’
‘What?’ Amy asked in a low dangerous voice. All three pairs of eyes flashed to her.
‘Argh!’ Dan squealed, his voice just that little bit too high to fall into the manly category, and his hand clasped to his chest in an almost comical display of fear. ‘You’re like an assassin with your small silent ninja feet.’ She raised her eyebrows.
‘Why are you talking aboutthose clubs?’ Amy looked between the three of them as she spoke in a low, dangerous voice and Libby started backing away; she had no interest in other people’s marital disputes.
‘Look, honey, it was for Jonty’s stag. I wasn’t drunk, I swear. It was all in fun – nothing like when …’ He trailed of again and visibly swallowed as he eyed his wife, who was a small volcano of simmering rage.
‘I think we can discuss this later,’ Amy said in a tightly controlled voice, shooting Libby an embarrassed look. ‘Let’s not air our dirty laundry in front of Jamie’s new girlfr – ’
‘Aims, she’s astripper,’ Dan blurted out, and Amy blinked.
‘What?’ she asked in confusion. ‘Who’s a stripper?’
