The lawyer. Stella reached for her own boots. ‘I saw her car.’
‘Don’t be upset about it. She was useless.’ Alfie’s tone was disparaging. ‘She almost jumped on the chair when she saw the kittens. What a wimp. Uncle Daniel asked her to spend the day with us and she said no—which is a good thing because there was no way I wanted to spend my day with her. I want to go to the park and I bet she hates monkey bars.’
‘You’re hard to please, Alfie Buchannan.’
‘Yes, well, Uncle Daniel was not impressed.’
Trying not to feel pleased about that, Stella bit her lip. ‘So what’s he doing at the moment?’
‘When I left he was clearing up Posy’s sick.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Why are you surprised? He’s a doctor. He’s used to gross stuff.’ Alfie shuddered. ‘Anyway, I thought if I hung out with you I might actually get to eat something when it’s lunchtime. Any chance of those gingerbread men you made the other day?’
‘Maybe.’ Stella opened the front door and Alfie frowned at her.
‘Are you sure about this? I thought you guys found it difficult being around each other?’
Stella found herself speechless. ‘I—er…’
‘That’s why you went home yesterday, isn’t it? He looks at you—you look at him. Then you go pink.’ Alfie sighed. ‘I may only be ten, but I’m not stupid. I have eyes. I can see he wants to kiss you. And I can see you want to kiss him. I know about sex.’
‘Alfie!’
‘I guess it’s hard because you don’t want to end up getting divorced.’ He looked wise. ‘I understand that. Divorce is no picnic.’
Suspecting that his parents’ divorce had affected him far more deeply than anyone would imagine, Stella pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. ‘You’re a sweet boy, have I told you that lately?’
‘I’m not sweet. Sweet is for babies and I’m grown up. I’m cool,’ he muttered. ‘So—are you going to come and cook something?’
‘Stella?’ Daniel’s voice came from behind her, sharp with anxiety. ‘Have you seen Alfie?’
‘He’s right here. Alfie? Didn’t you tell Daniel you were coming to see me?’ Stella stood to one side so that he could see the child and Daniel closed his eyes briefly, some of the colour returning to his cheeks.
‘Don’t do that again, Alfie,’ he snapped. ‘Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I thought—’ He broke off and let out a long breath.
‘Don’t yell at me! I wan
ted to see Stella.’ Alfie glared at him, a sheen of tears in his eyes. ‘This isn’t like Christmas! It doesn’t even feel like home. I want Dad to come back.’ His voice broke and Stella was about to intervene when Daniel dropped to his haunches and hauled the boy into his arms.
‘Alfie, I’m sorry,’ he muttered, holding him tightly, ‘I’m really sorry. I’m sorry I shouted, but I was worried. Not that that’s a decent excuse. I’m sorry I’m useless at making it like Christmas.’ He released the child slightly so that he could look at him. For a moment he was silent and then he gave a sigh, as if resigning himself to talking about something he hated talking about. ‘My parents didn’t really do Christmas when I was young so it isn’t something I’m good at. We didn’t have all those routines and rituals that you do.’ He pushed his fingers through Alfie’s hair, a lopsided smile on his face. ‘You didn’t use a comb this morning.’
‘Couldn’t find one.’
‘I’ll try and find one for you.’ Daniel paused for a moment, clearly choosing his words carefully. ‘Why don’t we go back home, make ourselves a drink and you can tell me how you’d like to spend your day.’
‘I like making stuff. Cards. Paper chains. Robins.’ Alfie peeped up at him. ‘It gets pretty messy. It means lots of glue and glitter and—’
‘Where does your Dad let you do that?’
‘On the kitchen table. Or on newspaper on the livingroom floor.’
‘Sounds good to me.’ Daniel nodded enthusiastically. ‘Do we have everything you need in the house or do we need to go shopping?’
‘I can take a look and let you know.’
‘Good. Let’s do that.’ Daniel took the boy’s face in his hands, his eyes gentle. ‘I’m sorry about the wet pyjamas, the scratched DVD and the broken car. And I’m really sorry about your hand.’ He glanced up at Stella, who was standing there stunned by this side of Daniel she’d never seen before.