Bryony stared at her. ‘From what?’
Her mother put two mugs on the table and sat down opposite her. ‘Jack hasn’t had a very positive experience of marriage, sweetheart.’
‘You mean because of his parents?’
Her mother’s mouth tightened with disapproval. ‘Well, you know my opinion on that. They were grown-ups. He was a child. They should have sorted out their differences amicably. After his father walked out, Jack spent most of his childhood at our house and I don’t think his mother even noticed he wasn’t at home. She was too busy enjoying herself to remember that she had a child.’
Bryony bit her lip, suddenly realising why Jack might have been so sensitive about her dating. ‘But I wouldn’t do that. That isn’t what this is about.’
‘I know. But you understand Jack better than anyone,’ her mother said calmly. ‘He wasn’t thinking about you, darling. He was thinking about his own experiences.’
Bryony bit her lip. ‘Do you think I should start dating, Mum?’
‘Certainly I think you should date,’ her mother replied calmly. ‘I’ve always thought you should date, but you’ve always been too crazy about Jack to notice anyone else.’
Bryony stared at her, opened her mouth to deny it and then caught the look in her mother’s eye and closed it again. ‘You know that?’
‘I’m your mother. Of course I know that.’
‘He doesn’t notice me.’
‘You’re a huge part of Jack’s life,’ her mother said mildly. ‘He virtually lives here. But that’s going to have to change if you really are going to date other men.’
Bryony curled her hands round her mug. ‘But I don’t want it to change my friendship with Jack.’
‘One day you’ll get married again,’ her mother said quietly, ‘and I can’t see any man wanting to see Jack lounging in your kitchen every time he comes home from work. Of course your friendship is going to change.’
Bryony stared into her mug, a hollow feeling inside her. She didn’t want things to change. Despite their row, she couldn’t imagine not having Jack in her life.
But she couldn’t carry on the way she was now, for Lizzie’s sake.
‘Then I suppose I’ll just have to get used to that,’ she said, raising her mug in the air. ‘Cheers. To my future.’
Her mother lifted her mug in response. ‘May it turn out the way you want it to,’ she said cryptically, and Bryony let out a long breath.
She wasn’t really sure what she wanted.
But she knew Lizzie needed a daddy.
The next morning she was woken by her pager.
‘Is that a callout?’ Lizzie was by her bed in a flash, her eyes huge. ‘Is someone in trouble on the mountain?’
Bryony picked up her pager and was reading the message when the phone rang. Lizzie grabbed it immediately.
‘Hunter household, Elizabeth Hunter speaking,’ she said formally, the angle of her chin suggesting that she was very proud of herself. She listened for a moment and then a smile spread across her face. ‘Hello, Jack! Yes, Mummy’s right here… I’ll tell her. Will I see you later?’
Bryony pulled on her clothes and sprinted to the bathroom to clean her teeth. By the time she’d finished, Lizzie was off the phone.
‘There’s a party of Duke of Edinburgh Award boys overdue,’ she said importantly. ‘They’re sending out the whole team but Sean wants you and Jack to be an advance party. Jack is picking you up in five minutes.’
‘Five minutes.’ Bryony hurried through to the kitchen, grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and dropped some bread in the toaster. ‘Get your school things, sweetheart. Jack and I will drop you at Grandma’s on the way past and she can take you to school.’
Lizzie sprinted off and Bryony sent up a silent prayer of thanks that she had her mother close by. How did single parents manage without mothers?
By the time Jack hammered on the door, Lizzie was dressed and was standing by the door with her school-bag, munching toast.
She stood on tiptoe and opened the door.