Page 5 of The Bad Mother's Diary

I relented about the bedtime video. Didn’t get much footage though, because Daisy kept trying to eat my phone.

Ended up having a nice country walk with Laura, Brandi and little Callum (Daisy bobbing along in the sling), and afternoon tea at Mary and John’s Family Farm Café.

Mary and John hate children, so we had to sit outdoors by the pig pens.

Alex Dalton was in the farm shop, frowning at jars of honey.

He was immaculate as always – black suit and tie, cleanly shaven, jet black eyes.

I have never, ever seen Alex in jeans. He was born to be a businessman.

When Alex saw me, he said, ‘Hello Juliette’, in his usual formal way.

I said, ‘Are you doing your own shopping? I thought you had staff for that sort of thing.’

Alex said, ‘I’m sourcing British produce for the Dalton Hotel Group. New business strategy.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ I said.

Alex said, ‘Customers pay more for British. Plus it cuts transportation costs.’

Typical Alex.

When I went back outside, Zach Dalton was sitting at our table.

Zach and Alex aresodifferent. Night and day, the two of them. Weird that they’re brothers.

Zachary is like sunshine – round face, blond hair, always smiling. Comes to all the village parties and pub crawls. Has a beard, goes travelling.

Alex lives in business clothes and could freeze water with his stare.

I couldn’t help noticing that Zach was right sitting next to Laura, even though there was loads of room around the big wooden picnic table.

Laura had gone a little bit pink.

‘Juliette!’ Zach bellowed. ‘Laura says they threw you out of the café. Still, they do stock fairtrade, so all is forgiven. I’m gate-crashing your table – hope you don’t mind.’

Then he asked me if ‘that scoundrel Nicholas Spencer’ had made an honest woman of me yet.

I said yes, Nick had finally proposed and we’d be marrying in Great Oakley this year.

Then Alex came out, swinging honey jars in a brown-paper bag.

Zach said, ‘What ho, brother Alex. Let’s stay for a cup of tea, shall we?’

Alex said, ‘Tea by the pig pens?’

Brandi snorted with laughter and said, ‘Shame Nick isn’t here, Jules – he would have felt right at home.’

Honestly!

I told Brandi that Nick was the father of my child, and she should be more respectful. And that anyway, she was too young to understand adult relationships.

Brandi said she’d had ‘way more boyfriends’ than me, and that I was only still with Nick because he got me pregnant.

That was a low blow and TOTALLY not true.

Brandi and I ended up having a massive row, with me defending Nick and her picking him apart.

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