Page 113 of Just One Look

“Will you read the pony book?” Maddy asked.

“I will,” Angus said.

“With the funny voices?” she asked.

“Too right I will,” he said. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Lauren was on her feet, filling the electric jug, and Elizabeth jumped up and began clearing the table. Here, at least, she knew the etiquette.

“Never mind the washing-up, darling,” Lauren said. “I’ve got into the habit of doing it last thing, when it’s quiet. It’s relaxing, or maybe it’s just luxurious to feel tired and know I don’t have to get up early in the morning anymore. I’ve become quite the lazy princess in my middle age.”

Piper, who was getting mugs down from a cabinet, said, “I don’t call it lazy to take a rest at last, Mum. If Angus is good to you, you deserve it.”

Lauren reached for her and kissed her with the easy affection she’d always shown. “Thank you. And it’s true,” she told Elizabeth, pouring boiling water onto tea bags. “that Angus is lovely to me. You’re wondering, now that you’ve met him, whether I’ve had a thing for older men all this time. First your father, more than ten years older, and now Angus. That’s eighteen years, if you want to know.”

“I don’t want to know,” Elizabeth said. “It’s none of my business.”

“Of course it feels like your business,” Lauren said. “I was an important part of your life, growing up. Of course you’re trying to make sense of that now. The answer is—maybe. Or maybe I found in Angus what I was looking for in your dad. Self-assurance. Honesty. Kindness.”

“Clearly,” Elizabeth said, “you had to look behind Door Number Two for that last one.”

Lauren laughed. “I wouldn’t quite have said it, but you’re right. Come sit down. Angus is right, as usual. Nicer to be comfy.”

“Angus is something important,” Elizabeth guessed, when they’d sat. “Something in politics, maybe.”

Lauren laughed again, but it wasn’t unkind. “Oh, goodness, no. He’d tell you he wouldn’t last two days in Parliament before he was giving them all a right earbashing and sending them into the corner like whipped puppies. No, he’s in roadbuilding. Rough as guts, he’d say, and he still settles his deals with a handshake. The same man he’s always been, and it’s a good man. I finally found my soulmate. It took me three tries, but I got there in the end. Of course, it helps that he’s built us such beautiful houses.” Another smile. “And if you think you were a terrible stepdaughter … well, I’ve got three more stepchildren now, nearly as old as me, and they don’t like me a bit. Certain I’m in it for their inheritance, and never mind that Angus has shown them the trust, and they know it all goes back to them in the end. They’re positive I’ll find a way to do them out of their birthright. You wanted to love me. Youtriedto love me. You couldn’t quite do it, though, maybe because you didn’t think I could love you.”

“Wow,” Elizabeth said. “We reallyaretelling the truth. You’re probably right. I’m not … I’ve been told I’m emotionally stunted. It could be true.”

“Oh, no,” Lauren said. “Not stunted. The feelings are there. That’s why they hurt so much. You’ve buried them, that’s all, and who can blame you, all those years alone with your dad?” She smiled, and again, Piper didn’t.

Elizabeth said to Piper, “You haven’t told her.”

“Told me what?” Lauren asked.

“That I’m dating Luka Darkovic.”