The doorbell rang again, and figuring it was Alice and Jack, Seb took the opportunity to escape. ‘I’ll go and answer that.’
Maggie watched as Paul followed Seb’s retreating body down the hallway.
‘He even answers your door for you?’
He’s Tabby and Penny’s father, she reminded herself yet again. Even if he is being an absolute prick. ‘He’s answering it because he knows it’s his sister.’ She regretted the explanation as soon as she’d uttered it. Why not let Paul believe she was having a fling with a man ten years younger? He clearly didn’t have an issue with an age gap, she thought bitterly, glancing at her replacement. Paul’s future wife. The girls’ future stepmother.
It was the latter that cooled Maggie’s anger. She wouldn’t antagonise the woman who’d be caring for her children when they saw their father. Even if it meant gritting her teeth, slapping on a smile and playing nice when inside she wanted to throw something.
‘Everyone has come to watch Strictly Come Dancing, so let’s have this conversation in the kitchen and leave them to it.’
Giving Alice, Jack and their kids a quick wave, and ignoring her friend’s shocked expression, Maggie led Paul and Isabelle into the kitchen where Hannah and Sarah were busy taking pizzas out of the oven. A task she’d totally forgotten about the moment she’d opened the door to her unexpected guests.
Sarah looked up with a start. ‘Oh, hi, Paul. I wasn’t expecting to see you.’
‘That makes two of us,’ Maggie added dryly. She made quick introductions to Isabelle and Hannah. ‘Thanks for doing my job and taking care of the food. I’ll join you in a bit.’
They both caught on to her unsubtle hint and hastily carried the pizza and plates out of the room.
‘So.’ Maggie turned to face Paul. ‘What did you come round for?’
He grimaced. ‘Do I need a reason to come and see my daughters?’
‘You do when you’ve not been here for—’
‘Two years,’ he interrupted her, holding up his hand. ‘Yes, I know. You’ve already pointed that out.’
The dig stung. It reminded her of the many slurs he’d thrown her way while he’d been explaining why he wanted out. You’re always nagging me. You’re like a snappy terrier who won’t let go of the damn bone.
Paul sighed, leaning against the kitchen worktop. He looks older, she thought, then realised he was probably thinking the very same thing about her. ‘I realise I’ve been poor at keeping in touch, and I want to make amends.’ He turned to Isabelle, giving her a tender smile. The sort of smile he’d once given her. ‘We’re getting married next spring and Isabelle would like the girls to be bridesmaids.’
‘Oh.’ She’d had three days to get used to the idea, so why did it hurt so much to hear him say it again? And to know there was a date. It was really going to happen.
‘We thought it would be good for them to get to know me before the day.’ Isabelle smiled at her tentatively. ‘If that’s okay?’
‘Of course it’s okay,’ Paul butted in. ‘I don’t need Maggie’s permission to see my children, Isabelle.’
Wow. Maggie felt a tug of sympathy for Isabelle, who was trying to be kind. And a wave of fresh anger at Paul for being a git to them both. ‘I’m not going to respond to that, as we both agreed we didn’t need lawyers to sort out our childcare arrangements.’ She gave Paul a cool look. ‘But don’t think I’m afraid to go down that route, if I feel it’s necessary.’ Turning back to Isabelle, she forced a smile. ‘Thank you for thinking of the girls. I’m sure when they get to know you, they’ll be delighted to come to the wedding.’ She deliberately kept it vague as she wasn’t sure about the bridesmaid part. ‘I’m sorry tonight has been a bit fraught. If Paul had phoned in advance, we could have arranged to meet at a less chaotic time.’
‘We were in the area.’ Paul shrugged. ‘I guessed you’d be in, as it was a Saturday night.’
Isabelle elbowed him. ‘That’s rude.’
‘What?’ He started to laugh. ‘Oh no, I don’t mean it like that. Maggie’s obsessed with Strictly Come Dancing. I knew she’d be watching it.’
There it was again, another dig. Because she enjoyed watching the progamme, did it really make her obsessed? It wasn’t like she was watching it alone. ‘We all enjoy watching it,’ she corrected. ‘Hannah, Sarah, Alice, Jack and the children.’
‘And Seb?’
Interesting. The presence of Seb had definitely irritated Paul, and for once, Maggie felt she had the upper hand. ‘Seb enjoys it too,’ she answered, smiling serenely. ‘So much so that we’re having dance lessons.’ Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Paul’s expression tightened but it was Isabelle who spoke. ‘Oh, that sounds lovely. It must be amazing to dance properly, like they do on the programme.’ She squeezed Paul’s arm. ‘Maybe we can take lessons, too. Imagine being able to do a real waltz as our first dance at the wedding.’
While Maggie laughed silently to herself, Paul’s face turned a fascinating shade of purple. Good luck with that, she wanted to say, but it would be catty and Isabelle was clearly trying her best to ease the tension. ‘I can really recommend it,’ she said instead, enjoying the way Paul looked daggers at her.
‘Right, well, we’ll be in touch.’ Taking hold of Isabelle’s arm, Paul almost frogmarched his fiancée towards the door.
Having seen them out, Maggie didn’t immediately go and join the others. Instead she rested against the door, drawing in a breath. She felt shaky, knots she hadn’t realised had formed now slowly unravelling.
‘Are you okay?’
She glanced up with a start to find Seb walking down the hallway towards her. ‘Of course. Just taking a moment.’ When he reached her, he thrust a hand in his jeans pocket, and it was only then she realised he wasn’t dressed up. ‘Not clubbing tonight?’
He slowly shook his head, eyes still fixed on her face. ‘It’s getting boring. Thought I’d hang around here and see what you all get up to when the kids have gone to bed.’
She laughed softly. ‘Now that really is boring. We talk and we drink.’
His lips curved in a small smile. ‘Sounds good to me.’ God, those blue eyes of his, they were mesmerising. Especially when, like now, she was their sole focus. ‘I’m sorry if me being here made things awkward between you and Paul.’
‘Awkward?’ This time she really laughed. ‘Trust me, things between us have been a lot worse than that. And anyway, the only person who didn’t enjoy Tabby’s little outburst was Paul.’
Another smile, wider this time, so it crinkled his eyes at the edges. ‘She was dynamite, wasn’t she?’
‘She sure was.’ Maggie sighed, feeling her whole body finally relaxing. ‘Call me a bitch, but I enjoyed seeing him think you and I were, you know.’
‘Dating?’
‘Yes. The breakup has always been about him. Why I wasn’t what he needed. Why the marriage wasn’t working for him. What he wanted out of life. It was so good to see him think, just for a moment, about me, and what I might gain from our divorce.’ The blue of Seb’s eyes darkened, their intensity making her heart flutter. ‘Make him wonder what I’m getting up to, even if it was all thanks to Tabby’s skewed version of things.’
Seb raised his hand, shocking her when he ran his thumb gently across her lips. As her pulse began to race, he smiled deep into her eyes. ‘We could make him wonder for real.’
‘What…’ Oh God, her heart was hammering so hard she couldn’t hear herself think. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I think you know.’ He dropped his hand, and took a step back. ‘You’d better and go and join everyone before they send out a search party.’
‘I thought that’s what you were.’ Her voice was breathy, like she’d climbed a steep hill rather than taken a few strides down her hall.
‘Nope. I was the guy with the dodgy bladder.’ He flashed her a grin as he pushed open the door to the downstairs loo.
Maggie’s heart rate struggled to calm as she
stepped back into the TV room, settling onto the sofa next to Tabby. As she put her arms around her daughter, for the first time Maggie found herself unable to concentrate on what the judges were saying. Instead she kept going over Seb’s words.
Had he meant they could make Paul jealous?
Or had he meant they could date, for real?
Chapter Thirteen
Seb gave Maggie space, gave them both space, to think about what he’d said. He went to the lesson on Wednesday, but kept the conversation light and declined a lift home, pretending he was going on to meet friends. He also didn’t join them for Strictly Saturday.
He didn’t need to ask himself if acting on this crazy attraction was a good idea. He knew the answer.
Life wasn’t neat and tidy, though. He only needed to look at his parents to see that. His dad was still struggling mentally and physically to get over the heart attack, his body taking longer to heal than they’d all hoped.
It meant Seb remained in limbo land. He couldn’t go back to Australia, not with his dad like this, yet was he really ready to put down roots here? At the same time, just because he didn’t know what he was doing with his life, did he really have to put it on hold? Stay clear of a woman he had these scary, increasingly out-of-control feelings for?
Wasn’t that asking the impossible?
The thoughts churned through his mind as he picked up the phone to talk to her on Sunday afternoon.
‘Hey, is now a good time?’
She sounded a little out of breath. ‘Yes, sure. I’m walking to the park to pick the girls up. They’ve spent the morning with Paul and Isabelle.’
‘Ouch. Bet that was tough, waving them goodbye?’
‘Yes.’
Her voice caught, and he wondered if he should have kept quiet. The Maggie he’d first met, so very reserved, wouldn’t have wanted him asking personal questions, but he’d hoped they’d gone beyond that. ‘Sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it—’
‘Actually, I do.’ She laughed. ‘Or maybe I should say I’m sure it will do me good to talk. Your sisters have told me for years I keep things too bottled up. So anyway, yes, the morning was hard. Tabby was okay about going, but Penny’s much more wary of people. She doesn’t know Isabelle, and her father is nearly a stranger, too, because when you’re nine, three years is a long time not to see someone regularly. Plus it’s not like he was father of the year when he did live with us.’ She paused. ‘Wow, sorry. I’m nervous about finding out how they got on, so I’m afraid you’ve got the uncensored me.’
He smiled down the phone. ‘I like the uncensored you. She’s kind of ... normal.’
‘Are you saying most of the time I’m not?’
This time Seb was the one who chose his words carefully. ‘You’re a very put together lady, Mags. You’ve got this poise, this self-assurance. I’m not going to lie, to those of us who haven’t got their act together, it can be a bit scary at times.’
For a few moments all he could hear was the wind, and the faint rustle of clothing. ‘Most of that is an illusion,’ she said finally, her voice quiet. ‘Just like the swan, the real me does a lot of ferocious paddling below the water.’
‘Then I hope I get to meet the real you one day. I think we’d have a lot more in common than I thought.’
‘Maybe.’ She didn’t sound too convinced, but before he could quiz her further, she changed the subject. ‘The girls missed you yesterday. They couldn’t understand how you could be doing anything better than watching musicals week.’
‘Damn, I didn’t realise it was such an important one. How was it?’
‘Amazing. There was a Foxtrot to Oliver, Samba to Sister Act. An incredible Jive to Hairspray.’
‘How were the sashays?’
She laughed. ‘Perfect. In fact the whole dance was perfect. The couple got tens from each of the judges.’
‘Sounds like I missed a cracking episode. Instead me and a few old school chums were getting our arses handed to us by a bunch of testosterone-fuelled teenagers at five-a-side football.’
‘Sounds painful.’
‘It was. I’ll never hear the end of it. Which is why I’m phoning you.’
‘Oh?’
He smiled to himself, imagining her wary expression. ‘These teenagers were from the youth centre and now I really, really – hell, let’s make that three reallys – want to show them I can do something better than they can. Like dance. It’s only twelve weeks until the competition, Mags. We need to get working on a routine.’
‘Whoa, okay. But the kids have only just started lessons. You’re weeks ahead of them.’
He ignored her protests, because this wasn’t only about impressing a group of teens. It was about impressing his family. Impressing her. ‘I’ve talked to Belinda and she’s happy to go through our options after class on Wednesday. Does that fit with you?’
‘I’ll have to check with Hannah, but I’m sure she won’t mind.’
‘Then it’s a date.’
An unfortunate choice of words, perhaps, because his comment was met by an eerie silence. But just as he was about to backtrack, she spoke. ‘In the early days, I used to beg Paul to take me dancing on a date, but he never did.’
‘Well, I’d be honoured to take you on a dance date at the Attlestone community hall. It doesn’t get classier than that.’ He winced. ‘Err, unless you want me to actually take you there, in which case you’ll have to go by bus.’
Her responding laughter was warm and amused, but after he ended the call, he made a promise to himself. He was going to buy a damn car. It would have to be a banger, the youth centre pay was lousy, but he was done with travelling by flaming bus.
Maggie was in her bedroom, getting ready for the dance lesson, which basically meant she was changing out of her black work trousers and into a pair of jeans. Not because they showed off her figure better… okay, exactly because of that. Tabby and Penny were sat on her bed, telling her about their day.
‘And he had this worm and he put it on the desk and Lizzie screamed. It was well funny.’ Tabby giggled. ‘Then Miss came in and he was in big trouble.’
‘What happened to the worm?’ Penny asked, making Maggie smile. Since the project on climate change, her eldest daughter had started to take a real interest in the environment and wildlife.
‘Miss made him put it back in the soil. It was all dirty and wriggly.’ Tabby started to jiggle around, doing a good impression of a worm and making them laugh. Then, with typical seven-year-old logic, she bounced straight onto a different subject. ‘When are we getting a tree?’
‘A tree?’ As she concentrated on sweeping a little more blusher on her too-pale cheeks, it took Maggie a moment to catch up. ‘Oh, you mean a Christmas tree.’
‘It’s December now, and Miss said that means the school is going to put the tree up.’
‘Then we can put ours up, too.’ Maggie’s heart sank at the thought of climbing the ladder into the loft. At least she knew exactly where the decorations were now. Unlike the first Christmas after Paul had left, when she’d had to scramble over suitcases, tripping over assorted abandoned cables and shifting mountains of dusty cardboard boxes to find the one she’d neatly labelled Xmas. Now she was in charge of the loft. And now it was organised. ‘I’ll get it down this weekend.’ Tabby beamed, and Maggie kissed first her and then Penny. ‘Okay, I need to go. Hannah is downstairs waiting for you to watch It Takes Two. You promise to be good for her?’
‘Yes, Mum,’ they chorused.
‘Are you dancing with Seb?’ Penny asked as they walked down the stairs.
‘I’m going to dance lessons and I suspect Seb will be there, too,’ she corrected. She didn’t want the girls getting the wrong impression.
‘Dad says he doesn’t understand why we like dancing, but it’s cool, isn’t it?’ When they reached the bottom stair, Penny put her arms out in a waltz pose and did the basic box steps.
‘I think so, yes.’ Watching her daughter, Maggie frowned
. ‘Where did you learn to do that?’
‘Seb showed me that night Dad came round.’
The girls hadn’t spoken much about the day they’d spent with their father, other than to say Isabelle was nice, the park had been cold and they’d had a hot chocolate afterwards to warm up. Since then though, they’d mentioned Paul several times in conversation, something they hadn’t done in months, so Maggie guessed the relationship had started to form again. She hoped so, for their sakes. And perhaps, in time, for her own, because as hard as it had been to leave them with Paul, there was something to be said for having a bit of time to herself.
As for the obvious attachment they’d formed with Seb, she wasn’t sure whether to worry or not. It was hard to believe spending time with someone so attentive, so in tune with them, could be a bad thing. But what about when he goes back to Australia?
Penny dropped her arms. ‘Seb said he’ll show me again, next time we see him.’
‘You know I can show you, too.’
Penny smiled. ‘Okay. But Seb would be better. I’d rather dance with a boy.’
It was funny how things turned out different than planned, Maggie thought as she climbed into her car. One of the reasons she’d been wary of admitting her attraction to Seb had been the girls, yet he’d become part of their lives anyway, with no help from her. There were other reasons to be cautious though, considerable ones, like their difference in age, their diametrically opposite personalities, the fact he was only here temporarily, and his sisters were her closest friends.
Then there was the biggest reason of all to squash her little crush. It was likely he was only flirting with her because he could, and not because he intended doing anything about it.
Strictly Come Dating (The Kathryn Freeman Romcom Collection, Book 3) Page 11
