Page 51 of Don't Believe A Word

‘But where do I tell him to go?’

‘To hell would be a start.’

Mia glared at her.

‘Get him to take you for a drive so you can talk.’

‘He’s just come from London …’

‘For God’s sake, stop finding excuses. Come up with solutions. We can’t let him see Sadie when we haven’t worked out …’

Mia swung round as Edwin pushed open the door and waltzed into the hall as if he came every day and was welcome. ‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’ he sang out as he spotted them. ‘And here I find my two favourite ladies all in rush to see me. How blessed I am.’

‘Jesus, Edwin,’ Lottie snorted, ‘try reading the room for once.’

His laugh was more of a bray, at least to Lottie’s ears. ‘Mia, my angel, I’ve missed you terribly and you’ve hardly been returning my calls. It’s why I had to come. Slumming it for the summer was already a step too far for me, but now I’m worried you’re keeping a secret love from me. Please say it’s not true.’

‘Excuse me while I go and throw up,’ Lottie sneered, and turning away she almost collided with Sadie coming out of the kitchen.

‘Well, well, well,’ Edwin drawled in amazement, ‘and who do we have here?’

Mia and Lottie exchanged frantic glances.

‘You’re a pretty little thing, aren’t you?’ he said to Sadie. ‘Where did you come from, eh?’

Sadie regarded him with wide, wary eyes, thumb in mouth, teddy under arm.

‘Will you tell me your name?’ he asked gently.

She hung back, pressing herself into Lottie’s legs.

Scooping her up, Lottie said to Mia, ‘You know what you have to do,’ and folding Sadie in tightly she carried her into the sitting room.

As the door closed behind them, Mia turned to Edwin, nervous,appalled, and trying to summon the determination to prove to herself, and to Lottie, that she could do this.

‘So who is she?’ Edwin wanted to know, closing the front door and leaning his back against it. His tone, his whole attitude, exuded more derision and scepticism than she could stand.

Blurting the first words that came into her head, Mia said, ‘We’re taking care of her, for some friends. She’s very young and you bursting in here like this … You’ve scared her and I … I think you should leave before you do any more damage.’

His eyebrows rose in disdainful surprise. ‘Which friends?’ he challenged. ‘You don’t know anyone with a child that age …’

‘You’ve got no idea who we do and don’t know. Just as I have no idea which of your girlfriends you’ve currently got living in my house. Well, it has to stop, Edwin. You need to find a place of your own and I have decided I want … I want to be free of you.’

He treated her to such an incredulous up and down sweep of his eyes that she almost withered. ‘Have you now?’ he responded smoothly.

‘Please go,’ she said through her teeth. ‘You’ll hear from my solicitor …’

‘I’m not going anywhere until I’ve got to the bottom of what you girls are up to here. And there’s something, I can tell that just by looking at you.’

‘You don’t know anything. You’re just …’

‘Who’s the child, Mia? Where did you get her?’

Shocked, Mia cried, ‘We didn’t get her anywhere. She was brought to us, by her parents, who’ve asked us to take care of her while they travel … overseas.’

Clearly not believing a word, he said, ‘What are their names? These parents.’

‘It’s none of your business,’ Lottie snapped, coming back into the hall and closing the sitting room door against the noise of the TV. ‘Now, do as Mia says and leave. You are not welcome here, and we’ve already had as much as we’re prepared to take of you …’