Page 69 of Always Alchemy

‘I couldn’t possibly be happier. Here I am, with my beautiful wife and my beautiful daughters, about to spend the evening with all the people I love most in the world. I am a very, very happy man.’ He bends and brushes a kiss over my lips.

‘Except Jonny,’ Nancy points out.

‘Except Jonny,’ he agrees. ‘That kid will sleep like a rock tonight, mark my words.’

I expect he’s right. Jonny had an absolute ball today. He’ll have a quiet bath with Ruth and be perfectly happy.

‘You look gorgeous,’ I tell Stella and Nancy. ‘Both of you.’

They really do. Zach and Claire gave these two seriously good genes. They both have an early summer tan, thanks to our cheeky week in Majorca last month during their mid-term break. Nancy’s retained her dark curls, but they’re way better groomed these days, and Stella will be a real heartbreaker. At fourteen, she’s leggy as hell, toned from her rigorous football schedule, and golden-blonde. As with her mother, the combination of that hair with her dark eyes is downright gorgeous. Both the girls are in silver sequinned dresses from some teenager-focused shop on the Kings Road.

‘No need for disco balls tonight,’ Nancy says, stopping to do a twirl on the pathway.

‘I’ll need you two when I break out my dad dancing moves later,’ Zach warns, and they groan right on cue.

‘No, Dad, please,’ Stella pleads.

‘It’s my fortieth. WhenDancing in the Darkcomes on, my feet will move of their own accord and drag me right into the middle of the dance floor. I’ll be powerless to help it.’

Zach’s actually a great dancer. Boy’s got serious rhythm, but I can’t help but laugh at the horror on the girls’ faces.Parental embarrassment is alive and well in the French household.

‘You can hang with the young people,’ I say, uncomfortably aware that I sound like an ancient youth camp counsellor or something.

‘They’re idiots,’ Stella says mutinously.

‘What about Cal and Aida’s boys? They seem like nice kids?’

‘Kit is like, a total showoff,’ Nancy pipes up. She’s outgrown her lisp—that bitch, Frances, was wrong about her needing speech therapy. ‘He keeps asking Stella to do keepy-uppy competitions with him, and she keeps beating him. It’s just embarrassing.’

Zach and I glance at each other and grin.

‘He’s a perfect example of toxic masculinity,’ Stella says, and I feel my husband’s hand shake with barely-controlled mirth against mine.

‘I can’t imagine Cal would stand for that,’ I protest. ‘I’m sure he’s just being competitive, though I’m absolutely thrilled that Stel’s been thrashing him. What about Pip? He seems so sweet!’

‘He stares at me too much,’ Stella tells us. ‘It’s weird. And he’s boring. All he wants to talk about is the environment. He and Sam—that’s Evelyn and Angus’ son—have been hanging around with Angus all day looking at manure or something. He’s way too geeky.’

Maybe Pip has a little crush on Stella. How sweet! In an uncharacteristically diplomatic move, I keep my lips sealed. If I even suggested it, she’d go nuts. Her only interest in boys revolves around their football skills.

‘Maybe you’d learn something from him,’ Zach says mildly, ‘if you just gave the poor kid a chance rather than writing him off first shot you get. He strikes me as shy. Yougirls have strong characters—you can be quite intimidating, you know, especially to someone who’s more introverted. I say make an effort.’

The eye roll Stella gives him leaves no room for doubt as to her thoughts on the wisdom of that particular piece of advice.

24

GLORY DAYS 2.0

ZACH

‘No,’ Gen says, looking at Cal with horror. ‘Absolutely not.’ She pats her immaculate hair for emphasis.

The four of us plus Mads are standing in the lobby area of Sorrel Farm’s Main Barn, where tonight’s party has taken place. Cal’s dragged us out here to prepare for our bigDancing in the Darkmoment.

‘Come on,’ Cal says in a wheedling voice. ‘You have to! You’ll spoil it otherwise.’

‘I’m game.’ I take the Stars and Stripes bandanna he’s holding out to her and tie it around my head. ‘What do you think?’ I ask Mads. ‘Sexy, huh?’

‘Sexy assin,’ she confirms, reaching up to kiss me on the cheek.

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