Meg dug through her mother’s basket and retrieved the fruit and the cake. ‘I don’t want to talk about that.’
‘I was very surprised to see Dino at my door.’
Guilt squirmed in her stomach. ‘I’ll pay for the tickets.’
‘I don’t think he was worrying about the money.’ Her mother rinsed the blueberries and tipped them into a bowl. ‘He was worried about you. He likes you, Meg.’
Meg thought about the night before—about the passion they’d shared. ‘Maybe.’
And she liked him. Which made the whole thing all the more terrifying.
‘Why not let the relationship take its course?’
‘Because when it crashes to the ground, I don’t want Jamie caught in the rubble.’ Meg broke off as Jamie bounded back into the room, Rambo at his heels.
‘Dino didn’t actually need any help, so I let him shower on his own.’ He climbed onto a chair and helped himself to a handful of blueberries. ‘He’s going to go with us to buy a tree. Isn’t that cool?’
Was it cool? Meg wasn’t sure what she thought about it except that the whole situation was an explosion waiting to happen.
She felt as though she was free-climbing, clinging to a vertical rock face without the support of a rope.
How far was she going to fall?
‘This is your house? Wow.’ Jamie slid out of the car and stood staring.
Meg stared too. Looks and money, she thought. Recipe for disaster.
Her brain was in a total spin. She’d expected him to slink out before dawn and here he was, smiling at her child. Coming with them to pick a Christmas tree. Playing happy families. Playing puppets, with her heart at the end of the strings.
Only if this went wrong it wasn’t going to be one heart that was broken, she thought. It would be two.
‘It’s just a house, Meg.’ Apparently reading her mind, Dino urged her forward. ‘I have a friend who is an architect. I persuaded him to sell it to me. He throws himself into a project but once it’s completed he’s immediately bored and he’s ready to start on something else. At the moment he’s building something incredible on the coast somewhere with sea views. Come inside.’
The house was built on three floors, one of them below ground level.
‘Gym and cinema,’ Dino said, intercepting her glance.
‘Cinema?’ Jamie looked as if he were about to explode with excitement. ‘You have a cinema in your own home? How?’
‘I live on my own. I can use the space any way I choose. Come and see.’ He led them downstairs and opened a door.
‘Mum, look!’ Without waiting to be invited, Jamie shot inside and aimed straight for the wall that was lined from end to end with DVDs. ‘This is so cool. Where are the cartoons? Do you have Ice Age? Can I watch in 3D?’
Dino gave him an apologetic look. ‘Mi dispiace, I’m sorry, Jamie.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I haven’t built up my collection of cartoons yet, but I’m planning to do that soon. Perhaps you could give me a list of your favourites.’
Jamie’s face fell as he scanned the
spines of the DVDs. ‘So you only have films with real people?’
‘Yes.’ Dino smiled at the description. ‘Real people.’
Meg stood still, taking in leather and luxury. So he had money. That didn’t have to make a difference, did it? The fact that she was talking herself round shocked her and made her realise she was in deeper than she’d ever intended.
She wanted this to work.
Scared, she took a step backwards, as if by leaving the room she could also leave behind the thought. The beat of her pulse quickened.
Jamie didn’t share her discomfort. ‘It’s a shame you don’t have any good films.’