Page 73 of Plot Twist

‘How are things?’ I asked.

‘Where’s Mammy?’ Ivy asked at the same time.

Riley smiled at Ivy. ‘I’m going to bring you over to see Mammy now. If that’s OK with you, Becca.’

‘With me? Why would it not be OK with me? It’s absolutely nothing to do with me, when Ivy sees her mum,’ I said. ‘So of course.’

Why could I not stop bloody talking?

‘Go and get your bag, Ivy,’ Riley urged, and Ivy fled gleefully from the room, ready to pack up and see her mum again.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he said, as soon as she left.

He moved slowly towards me. I kept my hands in my pockets.

‘It’s fine.’ I shrugged, trying to offer a smile. ‘Of course it is. It’s not your fault. It’s not like you planned it.’

He stood in front of me and looked straight into my eyes. I shifted uncomfortably.

‘I need to let Ivy see Jackie now. It’s just a really. . . delicate situation. But Ivy has the right to see her mum and I guess I’ve got to let that happen.’

‘It’s fine. I’m fine. You don’t need to explain. Of course you need to go and see her.’

No he didn’t! Exes are exes for a reason. That’s what Riley said before we’d even met, when I said Drew had been at Rae’s funeral. Back in the good old days when Riley was just my friend, before I even realised he was a six-foot-something drop-dead gorgeous guy. One who kissed me in a way that felt like I’d never been kissed before, or would be again.

‘Where are Bridget and Ellie, by the way?’ he said, interrupting my thoughts.

‘Oh, didn’t they tell you? They have a meeting with the adoption people this morning. They got a call last night to say they might have found a match.’

Riley’s mouth fell open. ‘No way! That’s brilliant news!’

‘It is.’ I smiled. ‘It really is.’

I shuffled from one foot to the other, suddenly unsure what to say.

‘You can come back to Bellinder Cottage with us, if you’d like?’

‘No, no. I’ll leave you to it,’ I said.

He leaned towards me, lowering his voice. I could almost taste him and held my breath as he edged towards me.

‘Becca, yesterday was—’

‘Daddy!! Becca and me made pancakes for Auntie Bridget and Auntie Ellie this morning and a good luck card. They’re going to get a cousin for me!’

‘I know, it’s very exciting. But it’s Becca and I,’ Riley corrected her grammar.

‘That’s what I said,’ Ivy retorted.

Riley rolled his eyes and kissed Ivy on the cheek as they turned to leave.

‘I’m sorry, Becca. Can we talk later?’ he asked, throwing me a quick glance over his shoulder.

‘Of course,’ I replied.

I could hear Ivy’s chattering all the way along the path as they walked through the garden.

‘So now all my dreams are coming true,’ was the last thing I heard Ivy proclaim before they were out of earshot.