‘But I’d like a word. Can I come in?’
Oliver shrugged and stepped to one side, ushering him through. In the kitchen, he set about boiling the kettle and locating a pair of coffee mugs with the air of someone unfamiliar with such a domestic task.
Jake, waiting for the coffee to get made, leaned against the dresser with his arms crossed, surveying the kitchen. It was vast, almost as big as the entire ground floor of Snow Cottage, but there was a sense of sadness and neglect about the room. Their own kitchen might be minuscule by comparison and it might not boast a gleaming Neff oven, Smallbone of Devizes handcrafted units and a chrome espresso machine as big as a fridge, but Jake knew where he’d rather live.
It took a while, but finally the coffee was made. Jake stayed standing when Oliver handed him his mug, and guessed that Oliver would too. Sitting down at the table would give away his this-is-my-house advantage.
Jake guessed right.
‘So,’ Oliver said at last. ‘What’s this all about?’ As if he didn’t already have a pretty good idea.
‘Juliet. And Tiff. Juliet and I are a couple now. I love her,’ Jake said steadily, ‘and she loves me. I love Tiff as well. We’ve been like a family for years, even you must know that. But everything’s changed now. We’re going to live together.’
Oliver’s jaw tightened with annoyance. ‘How can you say you’ve been like a family for years? I may not always be around, but I hear about what goes on from Marcella and Estelle. You’ve never settled for one girl when half a dozen would do. You, stay faithful to Juliet? Don’t make me laugh.’ He gestured dismissively. ‘The pair of you wouldn’t last five minutes. First you’d break her heart, then you’d break Tiff’s. No, I’m sorry, I can’t allow that to happen.’
Jake raised his eyebrows. ‘You can’t allow it?’
‘You and Sophie aren’t moving into the flat above the shop,’ Oliver said bluntly. ‘Now, don’t take this personally, I’m just thinking of Tiff and what’s best for my son—’
‘Hang on, sorry, we’re talking at cross purposes here.’ Jake held up a hand to stop him. ‘I wasn’t asking your permission just then, I was telling you how things are going to be from now on. And no,’ he went on before Oliver could protest, ‘I’m not planning to move into Juliet’s flat. She and Tiff will be coming to live with us. At Snow Cottage.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Oliver exploded. ‘You can’t do that! What about your sister and that dippy barmaid friend of hers? Are you seriously planning to squeeze six of you, all together, into that ... that rabbit hutch?’
‘ Well, maybe we can come to some arrangement about that.’ Jake paused and took a mouthful of coffee; he was really enjoying himself now. ‘You see, Juliet tells me you bought the deli outright, so obviously what you decide to do with it is up to you. But she’d like to carry on working there, and so would Maddy. Which got us wondering,’ said Jake. ‘Actually it was Juliet’s idea. How would you feel about Maddy and Nuala moving into the flat?’ He watched Oliver, who was clearly wary of being outma noeuvred, mentally running through the list of pros and cons.
Finally Oliver said, ‘And if I say no?’
‘That’s absolutely OK. Before my parents moved into Snow Cottage, Cyrus Sharp’s family lived there. And they had nine children,’ said Jake. ‘So please don’t worry about us, because I promise you, we’ll be fine.’
Oliver was motionless, staring at him. He ran a finger round the inside of his shirt collar, loosening it.
Jake, waiting for his reaction, thought how silent the house was.
Until the tiny mobile phone on the kitchen table began to ring, causing Oliver to jump and glance down at the caller’s ID.
‘I’ll think it over.’ Oliver’s dismissive manner indicated that it was time for Jake to leave. ‘And let you know.’
Smiling, Jake left Oliver to deal with his phone call and let himself out of the house. It was actually really nice, feeling this sorry for a multi-millionaire.
‘Hey, this is cool.’ Tiff greatly approved of his new surroundings. Gazing around the brightly decorated children’s ward, nodding with satisfaction, he said for the hundredth time, ‘When will Sophie be here?’
Juliet’s eyes danced, picturing the Hollywood-style reunion. Any minute now, Jake and Sophie would appear through the swing doors. Yelling, ‘Oh Tiff, oh Tiff’ Sophie would break away from Jake and race, in Hollywood slow motion, the length of the ward before throwing herself ecstatically into Tiff’s arms.
It didn’t happen like that at all. Sophie, who had never lacked confidence in her life, found all the pre-reunion hype too much and experienced her first-ever bout of paralysing shyness. Refusing to let go of Jake’s hand, she remained glued to his side, staring fixedly at the artwork up on the wall. For a good five minutes their conversation was as stilted as that of two strangers in the waiting room of an STD
clinic.
Finally Sophie said, ‘What’s the food like?’
‘Gross.’
‘Oh.’ Pause. ‘What are the other kids like?’
Tiff shrugged. ‘Don’t know. I only just got here.’
‘Oh. So what are the nurses like?’
‘Don’t know. I only just got here.’
Longer pause.
At last Sophie said grudgingly, ‘I told Bean you were better and she wagged her tail.’
Tiff’s lip curled. ‘That’s because she’s a dog.’
‘Did you like my cards?’
‘They were all right.’
‘I won’t make any more then.’ Sophie bristled. ‘They took me ages.’
They were glaring mutinously at each other now, like Tom and Jerry.
‘You can have them back then,’ snarled Tiff.
‘Ugh, no thanks, with your germs on them.’
‘ Right.’ Jake seized Sophie’s hand. ‘If all you’re going to do is argue we’ll go home now and—’
‘No!’ bellowed Sophie and Tiff in unison.
Jake raised his eyebrows. ‘So if we stay, you think you can manage to be nice to one another?’
Tiff and Sophie exchanged glances, then both nodded vigorously.
Jake smiled across at Juliet and said, ‘OK.’
‘I should think so too.’ Juliet gave Tiff a behave-yourself look. ‘Getting stroppy with your first proper visitor really isn’t on. You’re supposed to be nice to people who—’
‘Sophie isn’t my first visitor,’ said Tiff. ‘Mr Taylor-Trent was here yesterday.’
Juliet stiffened. Of all the subjects to crop up. She’d spent the entire morning attempting to pluck up the courage to explain the necessary facts to Tiff, but the right moment simply hadn’t arisen.
Plus, of course, she was a big wimp. ‘Did he do you a card?’ Sophie’s tone was accusing. Tiff scowled. ‘No.’
‘Well then, he’s not as good as me, because I’ve done you six cards. Anyway, he doesn’t count as a proper visitor,’
‘he went on scornfully. ‘He only came here because he’s your father.’
Juliet felt all the blood drain from her face, although where it went she couldn’t imagine. Casting an anguished glance over at Jake, she willed someone, somewhere, to press the rewind button so the words could slither back into Sophie’s mouth. Unable to move, she looked across at Tiff.
‘What?’ Tiff was frowning. ‘Mr Taylor-Trent? How can he be my father?’
Sorry, Jake mouthed across at Juliet.
‘You remember, the seed thing. Carrie Carter from school told us about it.’ Sophie assumed an air of superiority. ‘It’s called mating.’