Love Redesigned (19 page)

‘Are we nearly there yet?’ Harry piped up from the back seat. Holly was driving Harry over to Daniel’s for something of an afternoon play date before the engagement party. Her plan was to drop him off, as she needed to go shopping for something to wear. With all the demands of her new business venture, she’d been even more time-pressed than usual, and she still didn’t own anything remotely suitable for the type of parties Daniel and Miranda threw. She wanted to make a good impression, particularly now that she was in constant business development mode. She never knew where she might meet her next client.

‘Nearly, sweetheart. Are you excited to see your daddy again?’ Holly asked, conscious that they were running late and fighting the urge to speed.

‘Yes, but is that lady going to be there?’ His voice was bordering on a whine.

‘Yes, Harry,’ she said, more sharply than she’d intended. ‘We’ve already talked about this. Your daddy is going to marry Miranda, so this is a party to celebrate that.’

‘Okay,’ he replied. Holly looked at him in her rearview mirror and saw how his little body sagged. Her heart ached for him, but what could be done? She’d signed the divorce papers, Daniel had apparently moved on with Miranda, and she was attempting to do the same thing. She was trying to be a mature adult by attending Daniel’s engagement party, even though she knew she was going to have to turn in an Oscar-winning acting performance. It was hard. It was hard knowing Daniel wanted to spend the rest of his life with Miranda, but it was also something she knew would get easier. In time.

Act like everything was fine, and eventually everything would be fine. What was the point in dwelling on her true feelings for Daniel? She’d been there, done that, and she was clearly not what Daniel wanted. Why else would he be moving ahead with his wedding plans?

Jake had proved to be a welcome distraction from her hurt, and from her unrequited feelings for her ex-husband. Whilst he wasn’t the sweep-you-off-your-feet and set-your-panties-on-fire type of guy romance novels were traditionally made of, he was kind and thoughtful. And malleable. So much so that he had agreed to be her date for Daniel’s party. Holly hadn’t particularly fancied attending another one of Daniel’s party’s flying solo, so she’d asked Jake, and to her surprise, he’d said yes.

As they drove up Daniel’s driveway, Holly could see a figure pacing around on the doorstep. It was Daniel. Holly fought the butterflies that suddenly decided to wake up inside her tummy. The butterflies that continued to flutter every time she saw him, despite her best efforts.

‘You’re late,’ Daniel said abruptly, as Holly wound down the window of her little car. No electric window mechanisms in her steady little motor.

‘Better late than never,’ she quipped back good-naturedly. If he was angling for a fight, there was no way she was going to make it easy for him. She got out of the car and went to help Harry out. Daniel went to the boot and collected Harry’s overnight bag. Holly’s sleeping arrangements hadn’t been discussed, but Holly had organised everything with Stephanie: Stephanie would take care of Harry when it got too late, and then Holly would pick him up in the morning.

‘Is this all you’ve brought?’ Daniel asked bluntly, looking between Harry’s
Bob the Builder
backpack and Holly.

‘Yes,’ Holly replied. ‘I assumed it was Harry you’d invited for a sleepover.’

‘I thought you’d want to stay as well. Like last time. Chaperone him.’

‘I think Harry’s ready for a big-boy sleepover,’ Holly said, smiling down at Harry, who was kicking the gravel around. ‘Plus, I didn’t want to intrude on you. You don’t want your ex-wife knocking around, spoiling the mood,’ she added, forcing a wide smile. No point in mentioning that her alternative sleeping plans were at Jake’s house, which was a convenient ten-minute taxi ride away.

‘Suit yourself,’ Daniel replied moodily as he grabbed Harry’s hand and began marching into the house. ‘Well, aren’t you coming in?’ Daniel turned and snapped at her when she didn’t follow.

‘Well, actually, no. I was just going to drop him off. I need to pop into town and buy a dress.’

‘Oh. Are you sure there’s nothing here?’ Daniel asked, unashamedly looking her up and down.

‘If you’re referring to my old dresses, then no,’ Holly answered, giving him a stern look.

‘We should check, anyway. You want your mum to stay, don’t you?’ Daniel said, looking down at Harry. Invoking the Harry card was cheating, as far as Holly was concerned. Little did Daniel know that Harry had been talking about spending time with his daddy—just him and his daddy—for the past week. Holly felt sure Harry wouldn’t give that up without a fight.

‘Oh yeah, please please stay, Mum. You can be referee,’ Harry said, looking up at Holly with his best puppy-dog eyes.
Traitor
, Holly thought to herself. The little rat bag knew perfectly well that she had to go shopping.

‘Alright. We can check the dresses, but if there’s nothing to wear, then I’m going shopping,’ Holly conceded, feeling beaten into submission.

Daniel led them to the spare bedroom they’d stayed in previously. He opened the wardrobe dramatically to reveal all Holly’s old clothes. It was different to last time though. Now it was absolutely jam-packed with everything Holly had owned in a past life. Shoes, bags, jeans, dresses, coats. Everything.

‘Why’ve you kept it all?’ Holly asked incredulously.

‘It’s yours. I thought you might want it back someday,’ he said simply.

‘But, none of it will fit me anymore.’ Holly laughed as she began to rifle through the clothes.

‘That’s a load of rubbish. You’re exactly the same size as you’ve ever been, just a bit more… cold,’ Daniel answered—using their new code word for the chest department, seeing as Harry was in the room. Holly rolled her eyes at him.

‘It’s good of you to have stored all this, but it’s not all in fashion,’ she said, pulling out a pair of faded denim cut-offs covered in rhinestones.

‘Well, I’m not sure some of it was ever in fashion,’ he joked.

‘Oi,’ Holly replied in mock offense, giving him a gentle shove on the shoulder. Their eyes locked for a fraction of a second, and for Holly there was definitely… a moment. But probably not for him, she quickly realised, removing her hand and turning back to the wall of clothes. She was keen to prove that there really was nothing suitable in there, so she’d have to leave the boys to their fun whilst she went shopping. This was not what she’d planned, and she wasn’t too comfortable with having her plans commandeered by Daniel.

Holly sighed loudly as she began pulling dresses off the rail and tossing them onto the bed. The bed on which Daniel and Harry were lying next to each other, whispering conspiratorially backwards and forwards. Both of them were watching her. Holly saw them out of the corner of her eye and shook her head slightly. This wasn’t normal family time for a broken family. This was just normal family time. Without the broken home bit.

‘Okay. This one, this one, or this one,’ Holly said, pointing at three little black dresses crumpled up at the foot of the bed.

‘How about the gold one, Mum?’ Harry said, pulling out a dress from the discard pile. ‘You’d look like a fairy in this.’

‘Maybe Mummy doesn’t want to look like a fairy, darling,’ Holly said, willing her patience to last.

‘I think you should try it on,’ Daniel said, his eyes suddenly lighting up.

‘Hmm,’ Holly said, trying to ignore them both as she grabbed the dress in question and looked at it more closely. The label was still on, and she couldn’t even remember buying it. She looked at the price tag and blanched. The dress was more than her monthly mortgage, and she’d just tossed it aside like it was a dishrag.

‘Are you sure this isn’t one of Miranda’s that got mixed up?’ Holly asked, studying the cut. It looked to be indecently short.
Way
too short for a mum to be seen in.

‘It’s not,’ Daniel said. There was an authority in his voice that put an end to that line of questioning.

‘Try it on, Mum. That way you can know if it fits or if you’re getting fat,’ Harry said with the innocence of a five-year-old.

‘Alright boss,’ she replied, feeling cornered again. ‘But I’m not showing you if it
doesn’t
fit,’ she called over her shoulder as she headed off to the ensuite. It
was
a lovely dress, and she was curious to see what it would look like on.

A few minutes later Holly came out of the bathroom, standing on her tiptoes and tugging her hem down slightly. ‘Too much?’

‘Bloody hell!’ Daniel exclaimed, his eyes going wide. Holly shot him a disapproving look at his choice of words in front of Harry, which prompted Daniel to cup Harry’s ears with his hands, rather belatedly.

‘Wow!’ Harry shouted, shrugging off Daniel’s ineffective earmuffs. ‘You
do
look like a fairy and you’re not
that
fat.’

‘Why, thank you, Harry,’ Holly said flatly, scrutinising herself in the full-length mirror. She didn’t look like the complete mutton-dressed-as-lamb fairy godmother that she’d expected to see. She looked alright. The frock was perhaps a couple of inches shorter than she would have liked, but it wasn’t hideous on her.

‘My legs…’ Holly trailed off as she studied her lower half.

‘…Look amazing,’ Daniel finished for her. He hadn’t moved a muscle from his reclined position on the bed, with Harry nestled up close to him.

‘Mum,’ Harry called.

‘Yes,’ Holly said, looking back at him in the mirror. She fully expected him to ask her some impossible question about why girls smell, or when the dinosaurs were coming to visit.

‘Mum, can I have a cuddle?’

‘Of course,’ Holly said, turning around and walking towards his outstretched arms. Holly was surprised. Harry was growing more independent by the day, and lately he’d been going through a phase of needing to be cajoled and practically bribed to give her so much as a peck on the cheek, let alone
ask
her for a cuddle. The fact he hadn’t even called her Mummy for months hadn’t gone unnoticed, either.

‘Thanks, Mum,’ he replied as she bent over and squeezed him tight.

‘You’re welcome,’ Holly said, relishing this rare moment.

‘More,’ Harry said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto the bed with him. ‘Come on, Daddy. Mum needs a big cuddle.’

‘Your daddy doesn’t want to cuddle me,’ Holly said quickly, and then felt a bigger, stronger arm wrap around her and begin stroking her back slowly. They lay like that, the three of them in a Harry sandwich, for so long that Harry eventually dozed off. At last, aware of how uncomfortable she was, Holly gently extricated herself from the mass of limbs holding her in place. She gazed down at Harry and couldn’t help a smile from spreading across her lips. He may be growing up fast, but he was still her little boy. Even if he
did
persist in calling her Mum rather than Mummy.

Holly tiptoed her way back to the bathroom with the intention of getting changed back into her jeans and T-shirt. She was just closing the door when Daniel silently appeared—following her into the bathroom and closing the door quietly behind him. Holly just stood there, arms folded across her chest, looking at him. If he thought she was going to get changed in front of him, then he was seriously deluded.

‘So I guess you don’t need to go shopping now,’ he said calmly as he sat down on the edge of the bath.

‘I guess not,’ Holly replied curtly, annoyed that her privacy had been interrupted.

‘You really do look great in that dress, you know,’ Daniel said, giving her an appraising look—and lingering on her exposed legs a little longer than was comfortable.

‘Thanks. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to get changed now,’ Holly said firmly.

‘In a minute. First, I wanted to talk to you… alone,’ Daniel began. ‘I know what you’ve been doing.’

‘And what, pray tell, am I guilty of doing wrong now?’ Holly said with increasing annoyance.

‘I know you’ve set up a rival to Delamonte Developments. And I know that you’ve been poaching my staff.’ Daniel smiled, clearly pleased as punch that he had something on her.

‘It’s no secret,’ Holly said, although she didn’t know how he’d found out. She’d thought she’d kept everything under close wraps. Obviously not close enough.

‘I just wanted to assure you that there’s no hard feelings. There’s plenty of business out there for the both of us.’

‘That’s so very magnanimous of you, Daniel,’ Holly said. ‘Was there anything else?’

‘Since you ask, yes. I gather that you’re planning on bringing your guy candy to the party tonight.’

‘And what of it? Miranda said it was no problem,’ Holly said wearily.

‘I know you’re just doing it to make me jealous,’ Daniel said arrogantly.

‘Excuse me,’ Holly replied, astounded at his audacity. That
wasn’t
what she was doing. Much. Jake was coming to keep her company, that was all. She hadn’t dreamed of using Daniel’s party as an opportunity to flaunt her latest man around the place. If Daniel happened to clock how happy she looked in Jake’s company, then that was just an added bonus.

‘Come on, Holly. Why are you being like this?’

‘Like what?’ Holly replied, being deliberately obtuse.

‘Why can’t you make this easy for me?’ Daniel said, standing up and running a hand through his hair. Holly stood there, arms still folded, unwilling to give him an inch.

‘You’re so goddamned difficult, you know that,’ Daniel continued, stepping forward and cupping her face in his hands. ‘You know I still like you,’ he went on, and kissed her quickly before she could get a word of objection in. ‘So why are you rubbing my nose in it with this Jake guy?’ Holly pulled away and found herself backed up against the sink.

‘Rubbing your nose in it? Am I? Are you fucking kidding me?’ Holly said, fighting to keep her angry volume down so as not to wake Harry. ‘Whose fucking engagement party is it tonight? As far as I’m concerned—and according to the paperwork
you
asked me to sign—I’m a free agent. Which, in case you need further clarification, means I can see, kiss, and shag any guy I bloody well please.’

‘Don’t,’ he said grabbing her arm. ‘Just… don’t,’ he pleaded, and tried to kiss her again.