‘Grandma says the berries are magic. If you stand under them, exciting things can happen.’
‘Is that right?’ Meg dropped to her knees and hugged her son. Immediately she felt her mood soften and the tension in her limbs evaporate. He smelled of shampoo and bedtime and his smile was the best thing she’d seen all day.
As long as she had him, everything was all right with her world.
‘Hey there, Batman.’ Dino was smiling. ‘Have you saved Gotham City lately?’
‘Loads of times.’ Jamie wrapped his arms round Meg’s neck, shivering in the thin costume he insisted on wearing to bed but grinning up at Dino anyway. For some reason that Meg didn’t even want to think about, in the months that she’d been working alongside Dino, her son had developed a serious case of hero-worship for him. ‘Why? Do you need any help?’
‘When I do, you’ll be the first person I ask. I need to get back to the hospital.’ Dino retrieved his car keys from his pocket.
‘Did you drive the Lamborghini? Wow, that’s so cool. It looks like the Batmobile. Can I sit in it?’
Meg tensed. ‘No, Jamie, you—’
‘Just for a minute—pleeease?’
Anticipating Dino’s inevitable rejection and Jamie’s subsequent disappointment, Meg shook her head. ‘Dino has to go, Jamie. He’s a very important doctor and he’s needed at the hospital. And, anyway, I know you love cars but the temperature is minus five and you’re in your Batman costume. You need to get back inside.’
‘Batman doesn’t feel the cold.’
‘You heard Dr Zinetti, he has to get back to the hospital now. Another time, perhaps.’ Having made his excuses for him, she expected Dino to leave, but instead he handed his empty mug back to her mother.
‘Does Batman have a cloak or some sort of coat? Anything you could wear over your outfit?’
Jamie frowned. ‘I’m not cold. Batman is tough and strong.’
‘I know,’ Dino didn’t miss a beat. ‘But the neighbours might be watching and you don’t want them to know who you really are. A superhero likes to keep his identity a secret.’
Jamie turned his head and looked at the neighbouring cottages. ‘You think they might be watching?’
‘I think you can’t be too careful when you’re saving the world.’ Dino’s expression was serious. ‘If you have something warm that will cover up who you are, we could sit in the Batmobile for a few minutes and discuss tactics.’
‘Really?’ Jamie’s face lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree. ‘Wait there.’ He sped into the house and returned moments later in his warm ski jacket, trainers on his bare feet. In his hand was a plastic Batman figure. Seeing the excitement in his face, Meg frowned.
‘Jamie, you can’t—’
Ignoring her, he hurled himself at Dino, who caught him with a laugh, swung him round and then lifted him onto his shoulders and carried him to the car.
Gripped by a fear that she couldn’t control, Meg watched as cracks appeared in her tightly controlled life. Jamie’s delighted giggles cut through the night air and she plunged her hands into the pockets of her coat, resisting the temptation to snatch him back. Keep him from harm.
‘Dino is good with him.’ Her mother handed her a mug of soup. ‘I can’t believe he’s actually managed to get Jamie to wear a coat. It’s more than I’ve been able to do all day. This is worse than the Tarzan phase when he ran around in nothing but his underpants for two whole months.’
Meg found it difficult to move her lips. As much as it pained her to admit it, she agreed—Dino was brilliant with Jamie, and that was a whole big problem in itself. ‘Yes.’
‘It’s a pleasant change for Jamie to have a man about the place. They look good together, don’t they? Doesn’t it warm your heart to see it?’
‘No, actually.’ Meg had never felt colder in her life. ‘It just reminds me how little Jamie knows about the real world.’ How easy it was to be hurt. The more you gave, the more you could lose.
‘Chill, Megan.’
Meg turned her head to look at her mother. ‘Since when did you start speaking like a teenager?’
‘Since I started working at the youth group,’ her mother said cheerfully. ‘I love it. They’re so vibrant and full of hope. Gives me something to do when I’m not helping you with Jamie. Oh, look at Jamie jumping in the seat! He’s enjoying himself, Meg. He likes Dino. And Dino likes him.’
‘Yes, because it suits him right now. And will until the next female distraction walks across his path and he has someone better to play with than my son. What then?’ Meg’s tone was savage. Her worries suddenly overflowed, like a river bursting its banks. ‘Presumably I’m the one who is going to have to explain to Jamie why Dino doesn’t have time for him any more. I’m going to have to break it to him that men often have a short attention span.’ She shivered as Dino fired up the engine, indulging her son’s passion for supercars. The Lamborghini gave a deep, throaty growl and Jamie bounced around in the passenger seat in paroxysms of delight.
Aware that her mother was staring at her in astonishment, Meg licked her lips. ‘Sorry,’ she croaked, ‘I’m tired. Maybe that was a bit of an overreaction.’