Page 92 of Loving Netta Wilde

‘Okay,’ she said, slowly.

‘I never said sorry to you, so I’m saying it now.’

Her head jerked back. ‘Which bit are you saying sorry for? Abandoning your daughter? Stringing me along and pretending you were happy before abandoning me and your daughter? Or?—’

‘All of it. I’ve made a lot of bad choices.’

‘Yeah. So Merrie tells me. Priscilla helping you see the light, is she?’

‘It’s a lot of things. The other thing I wanted to say was thank you. For not giving up on me and not letting me give up on Merrie. And for being my best friend.’

‘Are you feeling all right?’

‘Yeah, I’m good.’ Doogie wrinkled his nose. ‘I’m trying to follow Merrie’s advice. I’m trying to open a few boxes and let the emotions out.’

‘Fucking hell. You wanna be careful there, mate.’ She looked him in the eye. ‘We were shit lovers, but we’ve always been best friends, haven’t we?’

‘Yes, we have. Oh and thanks for suggesting Merrie should call my mum Nana. Mum’s made up about it.’ He tried to look away, but she matched the movement of his eyes with her head until the only place he could set them was back on her. ‘She’s calling me Dad now. She said that’s down to you as well.’

‘Uh huh.’ Claire’s mouth turned into a crooked grin. She was having a good time. That much was easy to see. It was a bit more difficult to predict how she was going to react to the thing he was about to say next.

‘Thanks. It means a lot. So, I need to tell you the real reason I left Scotland. Grace said she wanted to get married, and I panicked. I know, I know. Don’t have a go at me.’

She took a step back. For a minute, he thought she was going to smack him one. It wouldn’t have been the first time. ‘Okay I won’t have a go at you, but you are a prick. What are you gonna do?’ He could tell then that she already knew and had had time to process it. Netta must have told her.

‘I’m going to tie up the loose ends here and go back home to talk to Grace. Listen, I know we’re not touchy-feely people but seeing as you’ve decided not to smash my head in, could I get a hug?’

She tutted and wrapped her arms around him. He held on, wishing she could have been the woman for him. ‘I fucking love the bones of you, Claire Fogarty.’

‘I love you too, you stupid prick. Always have and always will.’

He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard her sniff.

51

AN OLD DECLARATION

Netta was standing in the hallway watching Doogie holding Claire in his arms. Or perhaps it was the other way round. Whichever it was, it was a very tender moment, and she was caught in the middle of it. She’d just come back over from Frank’s. The girls had told her Doogie and Claire were inside, so she knew they were there. She just hadn’t anticipated walking in on such an intimate moment. Not that she’d actually walked in on them. She was just standing outside their field of vision, observing, not sure whether to announce her arrival or quietly creep away. In the end she didn’t have to do either because Doogie noticed her and pulled away.

‘All right, Net?’ He looked a little guilty in her opinion.

‘Yeah. Just came to say dinner’s nearly ready. Frank’s cooked a curry over at his but we’ll eat it over here so that we’re not leaving Colin alone.’

‘I’ll give him a hand carrying it over.’ He brushed past her as he went out. She caught a whiff of Claire’s perfume on him.

Claire rubbed her arms. Her eyes were wet. ‘Not like him to ask for a hug. He’s just apologised for leaving me and Merrie all those years ago. I think he’s having a mini crisis.’

‘Must be catching.’

She did a little embarrassed laugh. ‘He told me Grace wants to get married. I didn’t say you already told me last week, but he probably guessed.’

‘Sorry we haven’t had time to talk about it properly. It’s been a bit chaotic here, as you can imagine. What do you think?’

‘I think she’s exactly what he needs.’

‘I’ve never met her.’ She knew she sounded indignant, but that was exactly what she was. Why was Grace exactly what Doogie needed and not her? Why had Claire, her oldest friend, never said that Netta was exactly what he needed?

Claire was watching her carefully. ‘What do you think?’

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