31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2)

by C. J. Fallowfield

  ‘Brooke, will you come and help me put him down for the night?’ I asked.

  ‘What, you still haven’t learned how to do it on your own?’ she laughed.

  ‘There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, in private,’ I raised my eyebrows at her and flicked my head to the stairs.

  ‘If you think you’re swapping Maisie for Megan, dream on.’

  ‘Will you just come upstairs?’ I ordered.

  ‘Ok, what’s going on?’ asked Molly.

  ‘That’s what I’d like to know,’ nodded Brooke.

  ‘Nothing, ok? Nothing’s going on. Forget it, why don’t you all head to the lounge and make yourselves comfortable and I’ll be down when he’s nodded off,’ I sighed as I headed up. I was in the middle of changing his nappy when Dan appeared.

  ‘Is everything ok?’ he frowned.

  ‘It’s fine, it’s just ... close the door will you,’ I asked and he did as he was told. ‘Brooke’s bought Molly an engagement ring and was planning on booking a champagne ride on the London Eye to ask her and I said I’d have a think about something more romantic than that. I want to pay for them to go to Paris, as a thank you for helping me out and for bringing you back into my life, but I need to discuss it with her first in secret.’

  ‘I’ll send her up.’

  ‘Yeah, like she’ll listen to you,’ I laughed, he just gave me a look.

  ‘She’ll be up in a moment, I’ll make my plane at your disposal for when you arrange it and let me foot the bill.’

  ‘No,’ I gasped, ‘this is my thank you, I can afford it.’

  ‘As you wish,’ he replied and disappeared as I flung a clean nappy at him. I still hated that phrase. I’d just finished putting Oliver in his sleep suit when Brooke came bounding in.

  ‘So, what’s the dealio?’ she asked with her hands on her hips.

  ‘Great, you ignore my request to come up and then rush up the minute Dan asked you to?’

  ‘He’s scarier than you,’ she nodded.

  ‘Shut the door will you,’ I asked, as I kissed Oliver and lay him down in his cot.

  ‘What’s going on? Are you really upset about Megan?’

  ‘No,’ I laughed. ‘I love that he’s so generous and you totally deserve her for what you did for us, but I have a gift for you as well.’

  ‘You do? Wow, can this day get any better? I get a spanky new car, to meet the infamous Dan at last, by the way LOVE him, can see why you had it so bad, and now another gift?’

  ‘You really like him?’ I looked around at her as I bit my lip. Her opinion was so important to me.

  ‘I do, besides I can see how in love you guys are, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy. But money aside, he’s a great guy.’

  ‘Thanks.’ I let out a sigh of relief. Brooke was pretty good at sussing people out and I’d have died if she had negative things to say about him.

  ‘So, why was this gift something you needed to drag me up here in private for?’

  ‘Because it’s to do with your engagement. I said I’d think of something to do and I’ve come up with you taking her to Paris and proposing there.’

  ‘Wow, I mean yes, who wouldn’t want to go to Paris to do it there, but I don’t have the spare cash.’

  ‘And that’s where I come in. I’m going to pay for you to take her for either a week, or a long weekend if you both can’t get the time off work. So fix up the dates and I’ll choose you a nice hotel and sort it all out ok?’

  ‘Ellie, seriously?’ She looked at me with tears in her eyes. She’d always talked about going to Paris, but had never been.

  ‘Seriously. I owe you and Molly so much for what you did for me. For me, Oliver and Dan. It’s the least I can do and you get to propose somewhere seriously romantic and save your money towards a wedding.’

  ‘I don’t know what to say,’ she moaned.

  ‘How about, thanks Ellie, you absolutely rock?’ I grinned. She ran over and grabbed me into a tight hug.

  ‘What you said, you do. I love you, Ellie Baxter.’

  ‘I love you too, Brooke Hanson,’ I confirmed as I kissed her hair.

  ‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ she sighed.

  ‘It’s Scotland not Australia,’ I reminded her, though at the moment it sort of felt that far.

  ‘It’s still miles.’

  ‘Dan’s offered to have his plane on standby anytime you want to come to stay, so it’s less than an hour’s flight, with an hour’s drive. See, not that far.’

  ‘I could drive in my new car,’ she nodded against my shoulder, still holding me in her tight embrace.

  ‘That would take you about ten hours, each way.’

  ‘Ok, he can send the plane, as long as I get free peanuts and a sick bag. A flight’s not a real flight without those.’

  ‘I’m sure it can be arranged. Just for you.’

  ‘Damn,’ she groaned.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I’m so excited I just peed myself again.’

  ‘Well I don’t think Oliver’s nappies will fit you, but you really need to be doing more kegel exercises if you’re suffering from bladder incontinence at your age. Anyway, we’ve agreed that we’ll come back to London the last week of every month on a Wednesday night, so I can spend the day in the office at the partners meeting, see clients if required on the Friday and we’ll return on the Sunday night. So even if you can’t come up in between I’ll be back.’

  ‘Like the Terdinator?’ she giggled as she let go of me.

  ‘I’ll cross countries to find you, Brooke Hanson,’ I replied in my best Arnie voice.

  ‘“Talk to the hand,”’ she replied as she shoved hers in my face, making me laugh.

  ‘If you really need me you call me, on the landline, as the mobile signal’s crap. I’m sure Dan could get me back the same day.’

  ‘He’d better,’ she moaned, as she looked up at me and the smile left her face. ‘It’s the end of an era.’

  ‘Not quite, but I appreciate the sentiment,’ I smiled. I opened my arms again as fat tears started to roll down her face, which set me off and we held onto each other tightly as we cried together.

  Day Twenty Two

  Monday 10th August ~ Year Two

  Ellie

  ‘I’ll stay here with Luiza, you and Daniel go today,’ I smiled at Dan.

  ‘Are you sure?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m sure. I’ll cook for when you both get back, ok?’ I gave him a kiss and Luiza and I waved them off from our seats on the decking. His parents were staying in the boathouse, having come to visit us for a long weekend on Friday, but they were heading home tonight. Dan and I seemed to have settled into living together quite well, he wasn’t overly impressed that I hadn’t been with him on Friday to visit Moira, but packing up Oliver and all his things and the car journey every day was getting too much. Besides I couldn’t afford the time out now I was back at work and call me insensitive, but a daily visit to see his comatose wife wasn’t really in my list of priorities every day for the rest of my life.

  ‘So, how are you really?’ Luiza asked as she reached over and covered my hand with hers. ‘He’s not here now, you can be honest with me. He can be very moody and bossy at times.’

  ‘Yes, he can,’ I laughed, as I gave her hand a squeeze in return. ‘I’m great, really great. Oliver’s doing so well,’ I smiled as I looked down at him on his teddy play mat with a shade to protect him from the sun. He was spark out, letting out the cutest little snore every now and again.

  ‘Well I can see that. He’s big, strong and happy. I was asking about you.’

  ‘We’re doing really well, though I think he expects me to go with him every day to see her and he’s still showing no signs of being ready to let go, despite speaking to the therapist twice a week.’

  ‘How’s that going? He never talks to me about it.’

  ‘Me neither. I take Oliver out for a walk in the harness when Dan’s on the phone, to give him some privacy. But he’s
always very quiet when we get back and it takes him a few hours to shake it off. I’ve learned to just leave him in peace and busy myself with preparing dinner.’

  ‘You learn fast,’ Luiza laughed. ‘Even now I don’t know when to let sleeping lions lie.’

  ‘It’s sleeping dogs,’ I smiled. She’d asked me to correct her if ever she still said something wrong. She slapped her forehead and groaned.

  ‘Thirty eight years I have lived here, you would think I would know the language by now, even if I haven’t lost my accent.’

  ‘Please don’t ever lose your accent, it’s wonderful,’ I reassured her. ‘So you were with Daniel for four years when you got pregnant?’

  ‘Yes,’ she smiled. ‘I had a very difficult pregnancy and birth, he was a bigger baby than Oliver. Sadly I had complications and had to have a hysterectomy soon after, so I never got to have any more children. I’d have loved a daughter.’ Her face took on a sad expression as she let out a sigh.

  ‘Me too,’ I nodded, as I rubbed her back.

  ‘But you are still young and healthy, there is plenty of time for you to have more babies.’

  ‘Try telling your son that,’ I replied with a wry smile. ‘I mentioned the fact that I’d love another one someday and his exact words were “over my dead body” and that was the end of all conversation for the rest of that evening. He’s not going to be pressured on it and I’m not sure he’ll ever change his mind,’ I advised. She threw her hands up in the air and went off on a tirade of Portuguese before blowing out a calming breath and grabbing my hand again.

  ‘He must see reason. You have had a beautiful boy and you are both strong and healthy. There is no reason for you to not get pregnant again.’

  ‘Except for your stubborn son refusing to allow it to happen.’

  ‘I do not accept this’ she uttered with a mad gesticulation in the air. ‘Oliver will need a sibling growing up, especially living out here where he will not have so many friends. This is not London where he will be in big school with friends down the road to come over for sleep overs like we did with my Oliver. Leave this to me, I will find the appropriate time to bring this up tonight.’

  ‘O Luiza, it’s early days, maybe in time he’ll come around. He was adamant he wasn’t going to have a relationship while Moira was still on life support and look at us, living together as a family. Let’s not antagonise him on your last night.’

  ‘Sometimes he needs a clip around the ear and a stern talking to.’

  ‘Well I won’t argue on that point,’ I laughed and we both looked down towards the boathouse, as we heard the roar of the boat engine start.

  ‘He is wasting four hours a day of his life on someone who is dead, instead of spending it with the living,’ she said quietly. ‘Why can he not see that?’

  ‘He never will until he forgives himself, which, even if only for his own sake, I hope happens sooner than later.’

  ‘You speak wise words, Ellie. I am so glad you found each other, he is a much happier man since he met you.’

  ‘That goes both ways,’ I smiled as I kissed her cheek and stood up. ‘Let me top up that wine of yours.’

  Dan had relented and put the pool table in storage until the extension was built, so we could have a proper dining table. It was a twelve seater, with the option for another two seats at each end. He’d insisted it was too large, I’d insisted it was too small as I wanted to invite Brooke, Molly, John, Edward, Luiza, Daniel, Mr. and Mrs. McAdams, Magda, his best friend Logan, and Pete and his wife over for Christmas, to thank them all for helping us. I hadn’t met Logan yet, but by all accounts he’d kicked Dan’s arse when he’d walked away from me, so I liked him already, in spite of his rather colourful occupation as a male escort. Dan insisted that James wouldn’t want to come, as he had a number of children and grandchildren that he was close to and they always had large family Christmas’s themselves. We’d ended up buying a study bed for the cinema room, so it could be used as an office and bedroom as well. Dan had relocated down there, needing the peace and quiet when he was on audio visual conferences, without Oliver crying in the background in his own room, so I’d taken over his old office with the wonderful view and hoped I may find the inspiration to write a second book.

  I was off to New York next week with John, for my meeting with the publisher to discuss the offer and contracts. Dan had insisted I wasn’t going anywhere without him, so he’d chartered his larger plane for us to go, with Oliver too and Magda as a built in nanny. She’d never been to New York so was thrilled for the opportunity. For Christmas, she’d offered to sleep on an inflatable bed in Oliver’s room, Luiza and Daniel in the cinema room, Brooke and Molly in the boathouse with John, Edward and Logan getting free rooms at the hotel. I couldn’t wait, Dan had rolled his eyes in despair when I suggested it, remembering how excited I’d got that Christmas I was here with him, but he assured me that he hadn’t thrown out the Christmas decorations, even though he hadn’t been able to bring himself to put any up in the house last year.

  I set the table for the four of us while Luiza entertained Oliver with a story. He seemed to love being read to, I’d got him into a new routine every night with a bath, then a story and if he hadn’t fallen asleep by then, he went into his cot and I’d sing to him. Dan had tried the singing, but had been most insulted when I burst out laughing as Oliver looked at him wide eyed with a look of shock on his face, then burst into tears. I don’t think Dan’s deep baritone booming singing voice was ideal, but his reading voice was another matter. Oliver loved listening to his dad talking and often fell asleep faster if Dan put him to bed. I went to get on with my preparation for dinner. I was doing scallops with bacon to start, then a seafood pasta with the velvety lobster bisque as the main. One of the bonuses of living up here was that we weren’t too far from a large town with fresh fish, crabs, lobsters and scallops, which were a dream to cook with. Salmon fillets were now a regular feature on my menus. Mrs. McAdams had taught me how to make Clootie dumplings, but I wanted to save those for Christmas and instead I’d done another Scottish traditional dessert of Cranachan, fresh raspberries, cream, toasted oats, honey and a dash of whiskey, which I figured would be lighter after pasta.

  I’d never felt so happy, the Moira and second baby issue aside. I’d always loved taking care of people and entertaining, so having my own family and our extended family, just filled me with joy. I thought about what my life might have been if I’d not gone home that afternoon and caught Zac in bed with those prostitutes. I shivered and thanked my lucky stars it wasn’t something I ever had to worry about anymore. I knew it was early days with Dan, ironic given we had a baby, but I’d never felt more sure of anything, other than my friendship with Brooke. I just felt deep down that he was my soul mate and I was his, that no matter what the obstacle we’d overcome them together. I heard the boat coming into moor and quickly lit the frying pan and got the starter underway.

  Oliver was fast asleep and I was sitting in the lounge reading when I heard the noise of the boat heading back. Dan was back from dropping his parents off at the airport. I smiled and quickly checked under my shirt again. I’d dressed in a sexy green Basque, with ribbons and lace, under my jeans and shirt, determined I was going to seduce him for once. I’d toyed with the idea of lying waiting for him in just the Basque, given green was his favourite colour on me, let alone sexy lingerie, but thought it would be even more tantalising if I stripped off slowly, so I tried to position myself sexily on the sofa and fluffed my hair out. My heart was beating fast at the thought of it. We were having sex two or three times a day, but my desire for him wasn’t lessening, the opposite in fact. I even craved him when we were close but not physically touching each other. I heard his boots on the gravel, then on the decking and saw him appear through the open door.

  ‘Hi, baby,’ I murmured in my sexiest tone.

  ‘Hi,’ he retorted in a none too pleasant tone, as he strode straight past me into his new office and slammed the door behind hi
m, making me jump. I looked around surprised, headed over and knocked on the door. ‘What?’ he snapped. I stepped inside and saw him sitting at his desk with his head in his hands.

  ‘Hey, what’s wrong? Did they get off ok?’

  ‘Fine,’ he responded without moving.

  ‘Then what is it?’ I asked as I walked over and ran my hand up his spine. I heard him take a sharp breath and felt him stiffen under my hand.

  ‘I’m all talked out for one night thanks,’ he bit.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I pulled my hand away feeling hurt, he’d not had one of his proper moods since he’d come back to London for me.

  ‘Exactly how it sounded. I have work to do,’ he replied, as he straightened up and started flicking on his bank of wall mounted monitors, without so much as a glance in my direction.

  ‘You don’t have five minutes to tell me what’s wrong so I can try and help?’

  ‘No,’ he shot back as he fixed his ear piece.

  ‘Ok, well when Stan’s gone back into whatever hole he just crawled out of, your girlfriend, the one you promised to share things with, to not hide things from, will be patiently sitting in the lounge to listen to whatever has got your knickers in such a twist,’ I huffed as I spun on my heels and slammed the door myself. I ran upstairs as I heard a cry down the baby monitor. Damn it, we’d probably woken him up with two sets of door slams. I crept into his room and he was lying on his back looking up at me with sleepy eyes. ‘Hey baby, I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to wake you up. Daddy’s not in the best of moods, but it has nothing to do with you my angel.’ I reached down and stroked his thick dark hair and he yawned but showed no signs of closing his eyes again, so I picked him up and sat back in the nursery chair, holding him to my chest as I gently rocked backwards and forwards trying to imagine what had happened that could piss Dan off so much. Oliver let out a stream of nonsense which made me smile.

  ‘I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me, baby,’ I replied with a kiss to his head. ‘But don’t you worry about slamming doors. Mummy and Daddy love you so much and no little argument is ever going to stop that from happening. He’s very stubborn and doesn’t like to talk about his feelings, which makes me infuriated, as I don’t know how to help him if he won’t talk about it. I think it’s a man thing, but I’m going to teach you all about women and how to handle them, so you don’t make the same mistakes. They think it’s all about gifts and romantic surprises, when sometimes all a woman wants is someone to hug her, kiss her, tell her she looks beautiful when she’s made an effort and to share when they’re feeling up or down. Being fantastic and selfless in bed goes unstated, women love a man who’s like that, just as much as we love seeing them with babies like you. It melts our hearts to see a strong man being all soft with a child and the thought of him with one in each arm, boy that just slays us.’ I smiled to see he was nodding off again and talked him through our upcoming flight to New York, until he let out a soft snore. I carefully stood up and lay him down in the cot and tiptoed out, closing the door behind me. I headed down the stairs to find Dan standing with his hands on his hips and a thunderous look on his face. ‘What now?’ I sighed. He grabbed my hand and hauled me outside, shutting the front door behind us and forcing me down into one of the chairs as he remained towering above me.