“I’ll ask him when he’s coming to our house, too.”
“I suppose you could if you want.” Beth pulled the chair out and sat down with Ellie.
“How did he know about the butterflies?” Ellie asked, showing them to Beth again.
“I think Mirren probably told him.”
“Can we call Mirren today too?”
“Yes.”
“Can I call Kit as well?”
She smiled lightly. “I suppose so. Just a quick call though. He might be busy.”
“He’ll like to talk to me, Mummy. He thinks I’m very important, remember?”
“Yes. I remember.” Beth picked up the pack of nail polish bottles, deciding which colour she wanted.
They spent a good half hour giving each other manicures, then called Mirren to show her the results. She didn’t seem at all surprised by Trystan’s gift for Ellie, and it only then twigged with Beth that he would have had to ask her for the address.
“Can we call Trystan now?” Ellie asked when they got off the phone to Mirren.
Beth checked the clock on the microwave. “I think he’ll probably still be at work.” While she wasn’t overly concerned about disturbing him, it would be annoying to call when he didn’t have time to chat.
“Kit then. Or will he be driving the train?”
“No. I think he’ll be finished for the day.” He’d sent Beth photos from the kids’ club so she had his number saved. She just hoped he didn’t find it too strange for them to call him. Of course, she was worrying about nothing and he seemed genuinely excited to hear from her.
When she passed the phone over to Ellie and she told him about her new nail stickers, he insisted they switch to video so he could see. He and Ellie chatted away for ten minutes, and Beth smiled at the ease of the interaction.
“Do you want to come to our house one day?” Ellie asked eventually, making Beth wince.
“I’d love to,” Kit said breezily. “I can’t leave the train at the moment though.”
“Keira could drive the train,” Ellie said. “She won’t mind.”
“Kit can’t leave Seren,” Beth said, leaning into the frame to help Kit out with the conversation.
“She can come too,” Ellie said confidently, much to Kit’s amusement.
Beth rolled her eyes. “How about we say goodbye to Kit and let him get on with his evening.”
“What are you having for dinner?” Ellie asked him.
“I don’t know. I’m going over to Seren’s place. I think she’s cooking.”
“See,” Beth said. “We really have to let Kit go. Poor Seren’s waiting for him.”
“Yep,” he agreed. “If I keep her waiting too long I’ll be in trouble!”
For a moment, Beth had the feeling that he was making a reference to her not being in touch with Trystan, but when his smile fell away it was clear from the slight panic in his eyes that he hadn’t intended that at all.
“You definitely shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Beth tried to smile despite the awkward subtext.
“It was really good to talk to you both,” Kit said, his natural smile returning.
“You too.”