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Chapter Ten

The garden needed weeding and the lawn could do with a mow, but Caz kept the flowers looking nice and at the end of the day it was nice to be able to sit in the late summer warmth. Or it was when Hope wasn’t sitting opposite her ex-husband.

“Well,” she said. “You’re the one that wanted to talk. So go ahead and talk.”

Noah shuffled in his chair then gripped the armrests with his hands, a sure sign that he was trying to stop himself fidgeting. Whatever this was, it must be big. He knew how much fidgeting irritated Hope, so if he was consciously stopping himself then he was trying to make a good impression.

“It’s about Alice,” he said slowly.

“No shit,” Hope said, folding her arms and sitting back in her own deck-chair. “I wasn’t thinking it was about the cat.”

Noah gave a weak smile. “Right.”

If Hope looked closely, she could see Alice’s head bent over a coloring book at the kitchen table. Caz was keeping her busy, keeping her out of the way for this impromptu set of negotiations. “Go on then. What about Alice exactly?”

Noah scratched his nose. “It’s just, uh, you know, we really like having her around.”

“We?” Hope said. “We? As in you and your girlfriend?”

“Okay, I told Amelia this was a bad idea.”

“Did you? How strangely perceptive of you,” Hope said. She felt brittle, like her skin could break at any second and then all the anger would come pouring out.

“We just wanted to help.”

“Right.”

Noah held up his hands. “Listen, I’m Alice’s father.”

“And when have I ever tried to stop you seeing her?” Hope demanded.

“You haven’t,” said Noah. “And I’m just saying that maybe I’d like to see her more.”

“Maybe?”

“No, I would. We would. We’d like Alice to feel just as welcome and at home at our house as she does here.”

Hope blew out a breath. Jesus. “Listen, the agreement was every other weekend and half the holidays, plus one weekday evening as long as she’s back by seven. There’s a reason that we agreed to that. Alice needs stability.”

Noah rubbed at his eyes. “Are you sure that the reason isn’t that you want stability, Hope? Maybe it’s just you being controlling.”

“It’s me looking after Alice’s best interests.”

“And what do you think I’m doing?” asked Noah.

“If you’re suddenly so concerned about Alice’s best interests then…” Hope cut herself off. ‘Then you should have thought about that before you dumped me and our family for someone so skinny she might break in half at the next gust of wind,’ had been what she was planning on saying.

“It’s important that Alice feels comfortable at my place,” Noah said.

“It’s important that Alice has a regular schedule and knows what’s happening and when. Not to mention that she gets a good night’s sleep before school,” said Hope. She stood up, hoping that Noah would take the hint.

“Hey, there are rules at my place too, you know?” he said. “I don’t just let her run wild. I’m as good a parent as you are, Hope. Something that you seem to forget often enough.”

“Do I? What about that time you left her sitting in a petrol station as collateral against the wallet that you forgot?”

Noah rolled his eyes. “That again. How many times do I have to tell you, the Buxtons were there and keeping an eye on her. I popped home to get some money, I was gone all of ten minutes.”

Hope gritted her teeth.