I groan. “Brilliant. Can’t wait for the full family interrogation.”
“Just giving you a heads-up.” He pats me on the shoulder, far too amused for my liking. “I’ll leave you to sit with your totally non-existent feelings in peace.”
I shake my head as he grabs his jacket and heads for the door.
Just before he steps out, he pauses. “For what it’s worth, you do seem lighter these days.”
I frown. “Lighter?”
He shrugs. “Less weighed down. Whatever it is, whoever it is—I’m glad you got some joy back in your life… aside from Lucy of course. You’ve been alone for too long.”
Before I can figure out a response, he’s gone, leaving me alone in my mostly clean living room.
I stare at the door for a moment, then exhale, shaking my head. Geoff and Jasper are reading too much into things. Ivy’s a friend. That’s it. And I’m fine with that.
Lucy and I are waiting outside the coffee shop, soaking in the late morning sun. Lu is practically buzzing with excitement, her little hands gripping the ends of her jumper sleeves as she rocks on her heels.
“She’s coming, right?” she asks, tilting her head up at me.Here we go again.
“She said she would,” I reply, though I barely get the words out before the upstairs flat door swings open.
Ivy steps out, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, her hair slightly tousled like she’s just woken up.
Lucy gasps, as if Ivy appearing is the most shocking and exciting thing to ever happen. “Ivy!”
Ivy grins. “Morning—no, wait. Almost afternoon. Timeis fake.”
Lucy giggles. “You’re silly.”
Ivy smirks. “Silly is good, right?”
Lucy waves a hand. “The best.”
I nudge Lucy forward so we actually start walking. “Come on, we’ll be late if you start getting sidetracked.”
We set off at an easy pace, the early summer sun feeling nice on my skin.
For all of two seconds, there’s peace. Then Lucy turns to Ivy, her eyes wide and sparkling with that particular kind of joy that tells me we’re about to hear the full retelling of a major event.
“Guess what we did on Saturday?” she asks, not waiting for an answer. “We played dress-up with Uncle Geoff, and he wore my princess dress!”
Ivy’s eyebrows lift. “Wait—your dress?”
Lucy nods, looking absolutely delighted. “It was so funny! It was way too small for him, and his arms were too big, and it almost broke!”
Ivy lets out a snort. “Oh, I would pay to have seen that.”
Lucy sighs dramatically. “Next time.”
Ivy grins. “Looking forward to it.”
“Oh! And then we had pizza, and I picked the toppings, but Uncle Geoff said pineapple was wrong.”
Ivy gasps in mock horror. “Did he now?”
Lucy nods gravely. “He doesn’t understand the truth.”
I glance at Ivy, who’s barely holding in a laugh. “Sounds like I missed an eventful evening.”
