They arrived safely. Do you know when they’re going back? They are refusing to answer the question and Mum is talking about being here for Christmas. Pray for me.

I laughed. There was no way she’d put up with them for that long. As I drove out of the office car park I decided to stop at the supermarket on my way home for alcoholic reinforcements. I’d changed my mind about staying off the drink; if I was going to work there, I’d need something to help me, at least on weekends. Next to the supermarket was a pizza takeaway and I couldn’t resist paying them a visit.

I drove back to my flat, my car smelling of pepperoni and cheese, and couldn’t wait until I got inside and could relax. I was facing two days away from those women and I planned to enjoy every moment.

As I scrambled out of the car I struggled to keep my leather shoulder bag away from the greasy box and the bottle of chilled white wine away from the pizza, too. I really wasn’t looking where I was going and as I put my key in the front-door lock, I froze.

Someone was behind me.

And then I heard, “Hello, Ruby,” and I turned quickly.

It was Tom’s son, Josh.

CHAPTER 42

Ruby

Josh?” I wanted to kiss him. I always kissed him when I saw him, but my hands were full and he didn’t look as though he wanted me near him. “Hi! It’s lovely to see you.”

“I got your message,” he said. “So this is where you live?”

I could see from his face as he looked at the bare dangling lightbulb in the entrance that he wasn’t impressed. “Take these, will you?” I handed him the pizza and wine and pushed the front door wide open. “Coming in?”

He grunted and followed me upstairs. “Just dump them in the kitchen,” I said. “What can I get you to drink?”

“A large Scotch.” He’d been saying that same old joke since I first met him.

I winked at him. “You’re not eighteen yet. Fancy a Coke?”

“Yeah, great, thanks. I couldn’t have a drink anyway,” he added casually. “I’m driving now.”

I stopped in my tracks. “Driving? When did you take your test?”

“Just last week. Tuesday. There was a cancellation.” He looked at me then and grinned. “Someone had crashed their car so they couldn’t take their test.”

I laughed.

“Dad bought me a car to celebrate.”

“Oh, I wish I’d been there.” I was upset at the thought of missing this stage in his life. He’d been working toward his driving test for months; I used to test him on road signs and the rules of the road when he came to our house. “What kind of car have you got?”