Page 75 of Friend of the Family

‘Amy, don’t—’

‘Please. I want to be on my own.’

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds.

‘Tomorrow . . . do you want me to go to my parents’? Settle Tilly in?’

Amy imagined what he would say to them. Stuart and Rosemary Parker were good people; decent, respectful. Both retired, they helped out as much as they could with Tilly; if they had ever noticed that she was being brought up by a nanny, they had never said so, and had always treated Amy like a daughter, stepping up their role when her own parents had passed away in quick succession. But Stuart and Rosemary weren’t just kind; they were smart too. Amy knew that they would wonder why David wanted to stay over at their house with Tilly. She knew how upset they would be if they suspected their son’s marriage was in trouble. But right now, it felt as if there was no alternative.

‘I’ll call them now,’ said David. ‘I think they’ve been in Dorset, but they should be back.’

A Greek chorus in her head told her to stop being so stubborn, but it was as if a thread had been picked and she was helpless to stop it unravelling.

‘Fine,’ she said quickly, blinking back tears. She wanted him to say something that would finally convince her that nothing had happened between him and Josie, do something to turn back the clock and make everything okay again. But it was as if the space between them was getting bigger and bigger, as if they were in space. She couldn’t even breathe, could barely see him through the cloud of emotion in front of her eyes.

Chapter 22

‘Daddy says we’re going to Disneyland,’ said Tilly, flying down the stairs, almost bumping down the bottom two steps in her haste.

‘You’re going to Grandma and Grandad’s, and maybe, if you’re very lucky, you can go to Disneyland at the end of the week.’

‘I really want to go,’ she said, her eyes wide. ‘Sophie Jones has been and she said you can dress up as a princess and have breakfast with Elsa.’

‘It’s sorted,’ said David, putting on his jacket. ‘They’re going Wednesday, coming back Friday night.’

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‘Really?’ squealed Tilly, jumping in the air and skidding on her socks as she landed.

‘Only if you’re really good for Grandma, okay?’

Tilly looked up at Amy with a puzzled expression, her brows knitting together in a frown. ‘Why aren’t you coming, Mummy?’

‘I’m going to be at work.’

‘As usual,’ said Tilly, rolling her eyes.

‘Tilly . . .’

‘Are you coming to Grandma’s later?’

‘Maybe, but I think Daddy wants to hang out with you there for a bit.’

‘Just us?’

‘Grandma and Grandad are his mummy and daddy, remember. Sometimes it’s nice to just hang out together and have fun.’

‘Good idea,’ said Tilly, as if she was thinking it through. ‘But what about when Daddy goes to Hong Kong?’

‘Then I’ll pick you up from Grandma’s after work and maybe we can go to Biscuiteers and decorate some cookies, or perhaps Pizza Express for dough balls.’

‘I love dough balls.’

‘I know. And now they do chocolate-filled ones that I bet are absolutely yummy,’ Amy said, tickling her daughter on the tummy.

She looked at David’s neat silver case in the hall next to Tilly’s rabbit-shaped Trunki and felt a wave of emotion. She turned to him, trying to pull herself together.

‘I spoke to Claudia last night. She’s got a hospital appointment on Thursday. If everything’s healing well, she might be back by the time I go to New York.’