God, she felt terrible. And pathetic. And don’t forget downright mean.
‘Sandy said Luke was due at work,’ Elle glanced down at her watch, ‘five minutes ago.’
‘So?’
‘So, he’ll now know you’re here. Why wouldn’t he pop in and say hello?’
‘Because I didn’t tell him you were coming, okay?’
‘Oh.’ Elle paused, which Mia was grateful for, because it meant whatever came next wouldn’t be the unfiltered why the bloody hell not? she’d have received if they were by themselves. ‘I’m sure you had your reasons.’
‘I did.’
Elle raised an eyebrow. ‘Just out of interest, how are you feeling about these reasons now?’
‘Pretty shitty, if you must know.’
Elle smirked. ‘Thought so.’ Again she paused, only this time she nodded towards the door, and the huge window next to it. ‘And if you take a look outside now?’
‘Shit.’
Both her parents turned to face her.
‘Mia Jessica Abbott,’ her mum scolded. ‘Young ears are listening.’
Ignoring her mum’s disapproving look, and Elle’s attempt to muffle her laughter, Mia stared out of the window at Luke, who was chatting to Dave. And, oh my God, now he was holding Jacob in those big muscular arms, easing him so he was face down across his forearm, his hand supporting Jacob’s belly. Swaying him gently.
‘That is seriously hot.’ Elle pretended to fan herself. ‘I mean, I love Dave with all my heart, but he does not look as sexy holding Jacob as that guy outside does.’ She gave Mia a sideways glance. ‘I presume that’s Luke?’
Mia cleared her throat so she could speak. ‘Yes.’
The conversation caught her mum’s attention. ‘Is that the friend you made, Mia? The one you told us about who’s been showing you the city?’
‘He’s been showing her more than that,’ Elle murmured.
Mia glared at her but it was too late. She now had the full focus of both her parents.
‘He’s your boyfriend?’ Her mum looked hurt. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? You kept saying he was just a friend.’
‘He was just a friend.’ Mia couldn’t take her eyes off Luke. The way he was holding baby Jacob so naturally. Of course he is, he’s been in Dave’s shoes. On one level she knew that, yet seeing it with her own eyes was huge. No longer was she looking at a sexy charmer, a player. She was looking at a dad. A guy who’d been there for his daughter through sleepless nights, changing her nappy, calming her like he was doing to Jacob. No doubt he’d had to handle toddler tantrums, the nerves of starting school.
Just then he turned to look into the café, and their gazes collided. Mia couldn’t describe the jolt she felt, how much it turned her inside out.
‘Mia?’
Her mum’s voice broke through her trance. Shaking herself, Mia turned to her parents. ‘Sorry.’ She swallowed. ‘Would you like to meet Luke?’
‘If he’s important to you, of course we would.’
Mia swallowed again, trying to ease the tightening in her throat. ‘He is important to me.’ With that she stood and, heart in her mouth, walked towards the door.
When she stepped outside, both Dave and Luke turned to look at her.
‘Hey Mia.’ Dave smiled. ‘I’ve been chatting to Luke. He says he knows you.’
She raised her eyes to Luke’s. ‘He does.’
‘I told him I own the bar round the corner,’ Luke supplied, his gaze not leaving hers.
A ball of emotion rushed into her throat as she realised what Luke was doing. Pretending they were casual acquaintances.
Clearly oblivious to the undercurrent between them, Dave carried on talking. ‘I don’t know what owning a bar is like, but if you ever fancy a change of jobs you’re a bloody marvel at calming tetchy babies.’
Luke smiled, and it was only because Mia knew him so well that she could tell it was strained. ‘I’ve had one of my own. Tried every trick in the book.’ He glanced down to where Jacob was now fast asleep, nestled in his arms. ‘Grace would only settle when I held her like this and rubbed her tummy.’
‘Ah, how old is your daughter now?’
‘She’s sixteen.’ Mia could see Dave’s dawning shock as he worked the ages out in his head. ‘I was a young dad,’ Luke supplied with a wry smile. ‘Though thanks for the look of surprise. It’s a killer when people don’t bat an eyelid and assume I’m forty-odd.’
Mia could see Dave ready to ask another question so she cleared her throat. ‘Luke, have you got time to come inside?’ She made sure to catch his eye. ‘I’d love you to meet my sister Elle and my parents.’
Those bright green orbs widened, but still he didn’t smile. ‘Are you sure?’
She held his gaze steady with her own. ‘I’m sure.’
His face lit up, the joy so visible it made her curse that she’d made him doubt how important he was to her.
As Dave went to open the door, Luke shot her a dimpled grin. ‘What are we waiting for? I’ve always wanted to meet Papa Smurf.’
Mia burst out laughing and as she threaded her arm through his, happiness flowed through her. She hadn’t broken what they had. That fact that he’d come to confront her when he knew her family were here, rather than sulking, showed that he was open and straightforward. More than that though, it proved they’d built something over the last few months that could withstand lapses in judgement on either side.
For the first time, Mia started to believe the nerd and the cool kid might actually have a shot at making this thing work.
Chapter Thirty
Sat on a picnic blanket, his arms around Mia, Luke watched in contentment as little Caitlin chased Grace round the duck pond. On the other side of the blanket sat Elle and Dave, a gurgling Jacob flat on his back between them, arms and legs waggling in the air. Behind them, sitting on two deckchairs Luke had managed to find in the depths of his junk cupboard, Mia’s parents were shouting encouragement to Caitlin. Luke had found her dad quiet but with a ready twinkle in his eye. Her mum, on the other hand, was a riot. It wasn’t hard to see where the daughters got their forthright sense of humour from.
Yesterday he couldn’t have imagined this scene. When Sandy had practically shoved him over to the café to meet Mia’s family, he’d not had a clue what he was going to say. Or how she’d react.
Yet somehow it had all worked out. A fact Sandy had gloated over when he’d returned to the café and admitted he’d not only met Mia’s family, he was joining them for a picnic lunch the following day.
Oh and Mia had suggested he invite Grace, too, because his daughter might find it easier to meet her in a group when there was also a baby and a three-year-old to create distractions.
‘Grace is really good with her.’ From her position on the other side of the picnic blanket, Elle smiled over at him.
‘She doesn’t get to see tots too often. She’s enjoying playing with the squirt.’
Mia dug her elbow into his ribs. ‘You can’t call my niece that.’
‘She likes it.’
Elle laughed. ‘Yes, thanks for that. She spent the rest of yesterday going round saying I’m a squirt in a proud voice to everyone she met.’
Luke chuckled. ‘Grace was the same when she was that age. I used to call her a pickle and when people would say, “Grace, please come here,” or whatever, she’d turn around and say, “I’m not Grace, I’m a pickle.”’
The woman in his arms started to shake with laughter and he hugged her closer, resting his chin on Mia’s head, breathing her in. Enjoying her. ‘Is that why the rabbit’s called Pickles?’
‘Whoa.’ Elle put up a hand. ‘What rabbit?’
‘Pickles is a dwarf lop,’ he explained. ‘For her tenth birthday, Grace insisted she wanted a rabbit. Her mum wasn’t keen on the idea, thought rabbits should be outside, so I was the sucker who bought Grace one. She was the crazy person who called it Pickles.’
Elle cleared her throat. ‘Is this the part wh
ere I pretend I don’t know that Grace and her mum, who’s called Freya, live next door to you and instead ask if they live in a flat, too?’
Mia groaned. ‘Excuse my sister, she’s so embarrassing. But okay, as she’s so subtly pointed out, I will admit I tell her pretty much everything.’
Luke thought of his own relationship with Phil. ‘I’m the same with my brother. That’s what siblings are for.’
‘Don’t forget parents like to hear everything, too,’ Mia’s mum piped up, her attention temporarily diverted from her granddaughter. ‘I hope you’re better at keeping yours informed than Mia’s been recently.’
Luke’s stomach dropped as he searched for how to reply but thankfully Mia spoke into the silence. ‘That’s not fair. I know everything I say to Elle gets back to you, so there’s no point repeating myself.’
‘Umm, but now and again we like to hear what’s happening first hand. Especially if it’s important.’ Mia’s mum looked over at him. ‘Do your parents have to hear about your relationships from your brother?’
Damn, seemed he wasn’t going to escape this after all. ‘I’m afraid they do.’ He knew from the shocked expression on Mia’s mum’s face, the way Elle stilled, that he couldn’t leave it there. Still, this wasn’t an area of his life he wanted to discuss with the very people he wanted to impress. ‘We had a falling out a while ago. Phil’s still part of their lives but I’m…’ Not wanted, not liked. ‘I’m no longer in touch with them.’
‘Is this the part where I pretend I’m not interested and change the subject?’ Mia’s mum smiled gently at him as she repeated Elle’s words from earlier. ‘I hate to disappoint you but I’m nosey, so that’s not going to happen.’
He let out a choked sound, part laugh, part shock. ‘Noted.’
‘So what was the falling out about?’
Mia shifted so she was no longer sitting between his legs but facing him. ‘Mum’s nosey but you don’t have to reply. You can pretend your phone’s vibrating with an important call, or you need to take a pee, or—’
‘Or I can just answer the question,’ he cut in, smiling to let her know he appreciated her having his back. ‘I had Grace when I was eighteen. My parents are pretty rigid in their views and couldn’t deal with their son being a dad when he’d only just left school, and them having a granddaughter born out of wedlock.’ He’d wanted to make things right, wanted to man up to his responsibility. His parents hadn’t been able to see past his initial mistake.
‘So they, what, disowned you?’ Elle looked appalled.
‘Pretty much.’ He glanced over at Grace, who’d picked up the squirt and was now tickling her, leading to squeals of giggles from Caitlin. ‘They never got to see Grace growing up. Never got to see the amazing person my careless, irresponsible, shameful actions – their words –resulted in.’ He swallowed down the bitterness. ‘Their loss.’
‘Did Freya’s parents help out?’ Elle gave him a sheepish smile. ‘I’m my mother’s daughter when it comes to the nosey part.’
‘Freya lived with them in the beginning so yes, in a way, but they didn’t look after Grace, if that’s what you mean.’ He looked Elle straight in the eye, determined that at least one part of this story would leave the right impression. ‘I didn’t want them to. Grace was my daughter, I wanted to bring her up as much as I could.’
‘Then she’s a credit to you.’ Mia’s mum had a warm smile, just like her daughter, and right now Luke was humbled to find it directed at him.
‘She’s a credit to herself, mainly.’ Luke shrugged. ‘I’d like to take some of it, so would her mum, but truth is she’s making her own way in life.’
Mia, who’d been silent until now, reached for his hand. ‘You gave her a stable childhood. Her parents weren’t together in the traditional sense but she saw them as often, if not more, than most kids see theirs. Heck, you even bought flats next to each other so she can pop round whenever she wants. You were there for her, Luke. That’s to your credit. And it’s a shame your parents can’t see you now to realise it.’
Luke wasn’t sure, even if he knew what to say to that, that he’d actually be able say it.
Thankfully Grace chose that moment to bring the still giggling Caitlin over to them.
‘She’s worn me out.’ Grace dropped onto the blanket next to him and threw her arms around his shoulders in a gesture that always made his heart squeeze, no matter how often she’d done it over the years. Her face was flushed and her green eyes – yeah, he was going to take credit for those at least – danced.
‘Youngsters today, right bunch of snowflakes.’
She shoved at him. ‘Thanks Dad. Why don’t you try and keep up with her then?’
Maybe it was what he needed. A break so he could get his emotions back into line. Jumping to his feet, he looked down at the cute little tot with blonde curly hair and a cheeky smile. ‘So Squirt, want to go and talk to the ducks?’
‘Quack. Ducks go quack.’
He reached for her hand and hauled her up onto his shoulders as he used to do with Grace, much to her delight. ‘Sure they do. They also go hoot and squeak and hiss if you listen carefully enough.’
‘Hoot, hoot.’ She grabbed at his head, giggling.
Luke glanced over to Mia’s parents and smiled. ‘How about we ask Grandma and Grandpa if they want to come too? They can help us listen.’
He wasn’t sure what Caitlin’s reaction was, but Mia’s parents immediately got to their feet, so he guessed it was a good move asking them.
As Luke strolled off with a large part of Mia’s family, he marvelled at how relaxed the morning had been. Sitting in the sun with his arms around Mia, talking to her family, watching Grace enjoy herself. It had felt far easier than he’d expected.
Having spent the whole of his life not measuring up to what people expected of him – his parents, Freya … himself – yeah, having that in his head, he’d been shit scared of meeting Mia’s family. Not that he’d have ever admitted as much to Sandy. Now, though he didn’t know what they thought of what he did for a living or whether he was good enough to date their precious daughter, they were at least happy to walk by his side. And considering the conversation they’d just had, that was a pretty amazing result.
Not quite as amazing as the way Mia had come to his defence, though. For the first time in his life someone had told him he’d done something good, something to be proud of. Tears burned his eyelids and he had to force himself to focus back on Caitlin’s chatter before Mia’s parents were subjected to the embarrassing sight of their daughter’s boyfriend crying.
As soon as Luke and their parents were out of earshot, Elle turned to Mia. ‘Holy crap, that man is amazing with my kids. Please let me take him home with me.’ Dave cleared his throat and Elle giggled. ‘Just to keep the small people entertained, you muppet.’ Once again her sister’s gaze sought Mia’s. ‘Guess he’s not just a hot guy with a great body, huh?’
Mia glared at her, desperate for her to shut up because Grace was still with them. Luke’s daughter.
‘What?’ Elle gave her a quizzical look. ‘You’re the one who told me you used to ogle him while he worked out.’
While Mia turned a shade of tomato red, Grace burst out laughing. ‘Seriously? You can see Dad do his weights from your place?’
Once again Mia levelled a death glare at Elle before turning to Grace. ‘Excuse me later when I accidentally shove my sister into the pond.’ She rubbed at her face. ‘God, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation but yes, I may have noticed your dad when he did his workout every morning.’
‘At ten o’clock,’ Elle supplied unhelpfully.
Grace’s wide-eyed stare swivelled from Mia to Elle and back to Mia. ‘Is that how you started messaging each other?’
‘Well, we met at the bar first but yes, I guess he knew when he put a message up in his window I’d be able to see it.’
‘That’s so sick,’ she exclaimed. ‘Way cooler than using a phone.’
&nbs
p; ‘It was your dad who started it but yes, it’s been fun, if a bit weird considering I’m a tech person and writing notes on paper to stick into a window is about as untech as it gets. It’s also been challenging having to work out what he’s trying to say from his cryptic symbols.’
Grace laughed and Mia immediately saw the resemblance to Luke. Not just the sparkling green eyes or the dimpled smile but the same easy way he had. As if nothing else existed but now, and enjoying it to the full. ‘He told me about them. Sometimes he’d text me asking where to take you and what symbols to use in the message.’ She gave Mia a sly look. ‘He was trying to be dead clever so he’d impress you. The first one, the donut with the frost symbol, that was the best. I wouldn’t have got it.’
‘I nearly didn’t. I had to google it.’ She paused. ‘Thank you for joining us today. I hope it hasn’t been too weird. Aside from Elle and her big mouth, of course.’
Elle humphed. ‘Hey, it’s only fair Grace knows you think her dad’s hot.’
Grace sniggered. ‘Yeah, like that’s such a big deal. Loads of women think he’s hot. Sometimes when he lets me help out at the bar I have to look away ’cos it’s just too embarrassing, watching them trying to get his attention.’ She glanced at Mia. ‘You’re different though.’
‘Yeah? Not the first time I’ve been told that.’ She tugged at her blue-highlighted hair. ‘Your dad called me a Smurf when I had this dyed.’
Grace groaned and put her head in her hands. ‘He thinks he’s funny but some of his jokes are like, so bad.’
Mia smiled, enjoying not just the interaction with Luke’s daughter, but the glimpse of the other side of him. The embarrassing dad. It made him feel normal, a man she could see herself having a real relationship with. The hot bartender who had women fawning over him was too much of a stretch from who she was, but the man Grace was talking about. The one who told bad jokes and had such a grounded, loving relationship with his daughter. He was someone she could relate to.
‘Mum used to find him funny,’ Grace added, and immediately Mia felt a tightening across her chest at the mention of Freya. ‘But then she got too stressed with her job and started getting annoyed instead. She’d be like, not everything’s a joke. I mean it’s true, but he was only trying to cheer her up, you know?’
Mr Right Across the Street Page 24
