Don't Want To Miss A Thing (18 page)

How was she still able to drive? Somehow the automatic reflexes continued to function. Right now, reaching Amber was her number one priority; whatever it took, she would do it.

Frankie followed the satnav’s instructions and reached the park in Tetbury. It was eight thirty, getting dark now. Getting chilly too. But there was the pond, there were the wooden benches
between the flower beds and there was her daughter sitting where she’d said she’d be. With the boy beside her.

Joe’s other child.

His son
.

She pulled up, leaving the car’s engine running and the headlights on. Twenty metres away, Amber rose to her feet and said something to the boy. He stood up too, heading off in the opposite direction and melting into the darkness.

Climbing out of the car, Frankie held out her arms and hugged Amber tightly to her.

‘Oh Mum . . .’

‘I know, I know. Sshh.’ Stroking the wild aubergine curls, Frankie felt as if her heart would break on her daughter’s behalf. Her own feelings were currently on hold. Amber, who had always idolised Joe, was her priority now.

‘Shaun wanted to say sorry,’ Amber mumbled into her neck. ‘But I told him not to. He says it’s his fault and I think it’s mine.’

‘Sweetheart, don’t say that. It’s not your fault.’ Frankie’s throat tightened. ‘Or his.’

‘Or yours either.’ Her daughter stepped back. ‘It’s Dad’s. Where is he?’

‘At home, packing some things. He’ll be gone by the time we get back.’
Would that upset her even more
?

‘Good, because I hate him. I really do,’ Amber said vehemently. ‘I can’t believe he’s done this to us. I never want to see him again,
ever
.’

Dex rubbed the back of his neck and surveyed the scene before him. OK, this wasn’t working out. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. He’d wanted to escape, hadn’t he? Leave the tedium of childcare behind for the night, meet up with his old friends, get laid, feel normal again?

That had been the plan, anyway. It was what he’d been desperate for, more desperate than he’d let on even to Molly. She had no idea how close to the edge he’d been feeling, and how guilty as a result. That couple at the table next to theirs had—

‘Come on, keep up! Get that one down you and have another drink!’ Rob and Kenny were back from the bar, voices raised to be heard over the music. The club was an old favourite; they used to come here all the time. But tonight Dex just felt wrong, out of place, as if something was missing.

Or someone.

‘Drink.’ Rob gave him a nudge.

Oh well. It had always worked in the past, hadn’t it? Dex knocked back his beer, then the whisky chaser, shuddering slightly as the heat of the whisky hit his stomach.

‘Pretty girls heading our way.’ Kenny’s eyes lit up. ‘I wouldn’t say no to the one in the red dress.’

Rob snorted. ‘You wouldn’t say no to anything in any kind of dress. You’ll get what you’re given.’ He surveyed them as they approached. ‘Bet you any money Dex goes for that one anyway. She’s right up his street.’

The girl in the red dress was a stunning willowy brunette, but Dex’s attention had been caught by her shorter blonder friend; if you blurred your vision and just took a quick look, she bore a passing resemblance to Molly.

Oh God, what was happening to him?

‘Hiyaa!’ The girl with the passing resemblance to Molly didn’t sound like her at all; she had a voice like an overexcited budgie. ‘Saw you looking at me! D’you come here often?’

‘Not any more, no.’ How many drinks had he had? Quite a few, if you added them all up.

‘Me neither! So that’s cool, isn’t it? We’re both here on the
same night. That’s, like,
fate
. I’m Stacey, by the way. Call me Stace.’ She beamed up at him expectantly.

‘Hello, Stace. Nice to meet you.’ Dex took his car keys out of his jacket pocket and flashed her an apologetic smile. ‘Have a great evening, OK? I’m off.’

Molly jolted awake, her heart leaping like a salmon. She’d definitely just heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs. Was it burglars? Oh God, not tonight of all nights.

It was pitch black outside, still the middle of the night. OK, now what? Run out and confront the intruder? Pretend to be asleep? But what about Delphi in her cot in the nursery across the landing?

The next second there was a tap on her door, which either meant it was an extremely polite burglar, or—

‘Molly? It’s me. Are you awake?’

And
breathe
. The frantic panic evaporated in an instant. She exhaled and collapsed back against the pillows.

‘I’m awake. What are you doing back?’

The door opened and Dex came into the room. ‘Can I come in?’

‘You already have. It’s fine,’ Molly added as he hesitated. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I need to talk to you.’ The bed creaked as he sat down. ‘You can’t imagine how I felt this afternoon. I really thought I couldn’t do it. I was all ready to call the social worker and tell her I wanted my old life back.’

‘You wouldn’t have done that.’ Dex wasn’t completely off his head but he’d had a fair amount to drink, that much was obvious. The haze of alcohol fumes surrounded him like a Ready Brek glow.

‘Wouldn’t I? It’s how I felt, I swear to God. All the baby stuff
was doing my head in. That pair of miserable old gits at the restaurant today? I wanted to tip them into the river. I was
this
close to telling them what I thought of them.’

‘So was I. But what did you do instead? Ended up paying for their meal. I wouldn’t have done that for them,’ Molly argued. ‘Not in a million years.’

‘You want to know why? Because I was ashamed,’ Dex said bluntly. ‘I used to
be
them. Before Delphi was born I bloody hated having my day ruined by other people’s kids. It got on my nerves. I can’t believe how horrible I used to be, but I was. All I cared about was me.’ He stopped and threw himself down alongside her, gazing up at the ceiling. ‘I know I said I could do this, but it doesn’t come naturally, putting someone else first when you’re not used to it. Giving up the life you used to lead. It’s bloody hard.’

‘Of course it is.’ Molly nodded. ‘You knew it wouldn’t be easy.’

‘And I was right about that. But guess what? Something weird happened tonight.’ Dex tilted his head in her direction and raked his fingers through his hair. ‘When I was back there, it felt all wrong. I missed Delphi. I didn’t want to be in that club with those girls. They were just . . . a waste of space. But one of them looked a bit like you and all of a sudden it made me realise . . . well, stuff.’ He gestured vaguely, searching for the right words and failing to find them. ‘And then I started thinking about that thing earlier when I was leaving here and we bumped heads and you got embarrassed and, God, I did too, and that’s
never
happened to me before . . . so I wondered if it had ever happened to you?’

The way he was looking at her and the tone of his voice was unsettling. He’d now rolled on to his side and was lying with his
head propped up on one elbow. Talk about a surreal situation. Her pulse racing, Molly said, ‘Lots of times. I’m very clumsy.’

Dex blinked, as if trying to work out if she’d deliberately ducked the question.

‘Well, it was a first for me. And I had to come home. Because you’re here. That was it, you see; I realised I’d rather be back here with you than in London with . . .
whoever
. Can I ask you something?’

‘You can ask.’ Oh help, was he drunker than she’d thought?

‘Do you like me?’

OK, definitely drunker. ‘Come on,’ said Molly. ‘If I hated you, I wouldn’t have offered to babysit.’

‘Because I like you,’ said Dex. ‘I mean,
really
like you.’

‘You don’t. Not in that way.’

‘I do.’ He was over-nodding now. ‘In every way.’

Well, this was a turn-up. He’d had way too much to drink and was saying embarrassing things. Prompted, presumably, by the fact that she’d helped him out today. Thanks to the amount he’d had to drink – and an attack of gratitude – he appeared to be intent on making an impulsive, alcohol-fuelled pass at her.

Oh dear.

‘Dex, go to bed,’ said Molly.

He broke into a grin; she could see his teeth gleaming white, his dark eyes glinting with mischief.

‘I’m pretty much already in this one. Can I kiss you?’

‘No.’

‘Please. To make up for the complete hash I made of it this afternoon.’ Frustratedly he added, ‘I can’t
believe
that went so wrong.’

Molly’s body was tingling; on the surface she was doing a good job of sounding sensible, but of course she found him attractive.
Because there was no getting away from it, he just
was
. Physically, he was pretty much faultless. And they got on well together. But taking it any further would be madness. They were friends, they were neighbours and Dex had already freely admitted that girlfriends were for Christmas rather than for life. He was an alpha male, a charmer, accustomed to bedding anyone who briefly took his fancy.

No way was she going to get involved, add herself to his list of conquests, become yet another victim of the inevitable subsequent brush-off.

Talk about catastrophic.

‘You’re not saying anything.’ Dex’s tone was playful, so convinced was he that she would give in.

Molly shook her head and said, ‘I am now. I’m saying no.’

‘What?’

‘You’re not my type. At all. Oh dear,’ she added. ‘After a meaningless quickie, were you? Bad luck. Looks like you should have stayed in London after all.’

Dex did a double take. ‘Do you really mean that?’

‘Yes.’

He sounded taken aback. ‘I thought you liked me.’

‘Not in that way. And I don’t sleep around. Look, go to your own room now. Get some sleep.’

‘I can’t believe this.’ He was frowning, genuinely perplexed.

Which helped. A lot.

‘Sorry about that. It’s a shock, isn’t it, finding out you aren’t irresistible after all?’ This was getting much easier now; his utter certainty that she’d fall into his arms made Molly realise how right she’d been to resist his oh-so-generous offer.

‘But—’

‘Dex, give it a rest,
please
. Don’t expect me to be grateful for
a bit of attention. Don’t pester me any more, OK? Maybe in London you’re a superstar City-boy with girls falling at your feet, but down here in Briarwood . . .’ She paused. ‘Honestly? You just come across as a bit of a prat.’

Chapter 22

The beep of her mobile woke Molly the next morning. Not that she’d got a lot of sleep. The last few hours hadn’t exactly been restful; giving Dex a piece of her mind had been bothering her ever since. Had she been too brutal in order to deflect attention from the fact that she did – against her better judgement – secretly fancy him? The answer was probably yes.

It had worked, though. In response he’d sat up and stared at her for several seconds, then said, ‘Well, that tells me, doesn’t it? Thanks for letting me know.’ Before heading out of the bedroom and closing the door behind him without another word.

Molly flinched at the memory. Oh dear, and it had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Maybe she should apologise later.

Anyway. The beep had signalled the arrival of a text. Half wondering if it might be from Dex, she rolled over and retrieved her phone from the bedside table.

The time was ten past eight. And the text wasn’t from Dex, it was from Frankie: ‘Something’s happened. I’m coming over.’

What? What had happened? What did that mean and how could Frankie send a message like that without giving even a clue?
Flinging back the duvet, Molly jumped out of bed and headed for the window. It was a grey and rainy morning, the last daffodils were being buffeted by the wind . . . and there was Frankie, not wearing a coat, starting to make her way across the green.

At least she didn’t have long to wait to find out.

OK, better get home . . .

Molly threw on her clothes, peered around the door of the nursery and saw that Delphi was waking up. Scooping her up into her arms –
mmm
, so gorgeously warm and cuddly – she carried her along the landing. Then stopped in her tracks and turned to look out of the window again.

Any sense of remorse for the things she’d said last night to Dex promptly evaporated. What she saw made her want to punch him.

Without bothering to knock, Molly burst into the darkened bedroom and saw him lying fast asleep on his front. She gave his shoulder a shove and said, ‘I have to go. Here’s Delphi. And by the way, you disgust me. I can’t believe you did that last night. As far as I’m concerned you’re a repulsive human being and I’m
this
close to calling the police.’

‘Ow.’ His eyes still closed and his forehead creasing with the effort of waking up, Dex murmured, ‘What?’

‘You should be ashamed of yourself. I’m sure the social services would be interested to hear about it too. I thought you were a decent person.’ Molly plonked her charge down on the bed next to him and said, ‘Right, I’m off. So you’d better wake up and look after Delphi. She wants her bottle.’

‘What time is it?’ He sounded like a man with a headache.
Good
.

‘Time you took a good hard look at yourself in the mirror and realised how ridiculous you are.’

Dex was still frowning and massaging his temples. ‘Look, I’m sorry. Can you just—’

‘No,’ Molly cut in from the doorway. ‘You’re selfish. And pathetic. And you really need to sort yourself out.’

Molly reached her front door at the same time as Frankie.

‘What were you doing over at Gin Cottage?’ Frankie looked odd, her eyes wild, her face taut and pale grey.

‘Babysitting, that’s all. No funny business. Tell me what’s happened to you.’ Molly unlocked the front door and led the way into the kitchen.

‘Quite a lot of funny business. Except it’s not funny. Brace yourself,’ said Frankie. ‘Joe’s been seeing someone else.’

‘Oh God. Oh
no
.’

‘He’s left. I told him to get out of the house.’

Joe, of all people
. ‘And it’s definitely true? He admitted it?’

‘Under the circumstances he didn’t have much choice.’ Frankie had pulled out a chair, sat down at the kitchen table and was now playing with the contents of the sugar bowl. Eerily calm on the surface, she began spooning up granules then letting them cascade back into the silver bowl. Well, mainly into the bowl. A few grains scattered on to the tiled floor.