Page 26 of Winter at the Cornish Garden Café
Rosie slapped her brother’s arm. ‘I don’t have a boyfriend!’
‘She does. He’s on the swim team.’ Reggie grinned.
‘He’s not my boyfriend! He’s just a friend!’ Rosie glared at Reggie.
‘And you look at him like Mum looks at that man over there.’ Reggie pointed, and they all turned to see Lucas approaching them.
‘He seems nice, Mum,’ Rosie said. ‘If you like him, why not ask him out?’
‘It’s not like that.’ Thora held up her hands in exasperation, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to win this conversation before Lucas reached them. ‘We’re old friends.’
‘You dated him, didn’t you?’ Reggie asked.
She gave a small nod. ‘A long, long time ago, yes.’
‘Mum has a boyfriend!’ Reggie announced, and Thora was about to tell him to be quiet, but then Lucas joined them.
‘Hi,’ he said, his smile directed at her before he looked past her at the twins.
She smiled back. ‘These are my children, Rosie and Reggie.’
‘Hello.’ Lucas shook their hands and Thora watched as her children evaluated him. Did they see him as an old man now, the way they saw her and their dad? When you were fifteen, anyone over twenty-five seemed old. If only they knew how quickly life passed you by. But then she was glad they didn’t because she wanted them to enjoy the innocence of youth before they had to face that reality.
‘Nice to meet you, Lucas,’ Rosie said.
‘Same,’ Lucas said.
‘OK then … Shall we get a drink?’ Thora asked, keen to move away from her family and their curiosity. She handed Barry’s lead to Rosie. ‘Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t eat anything off the ground.’
‘Of course I will, Mum.’ Rosie rolled her eyes.
‘Bye for now,’ Lucas said, and they walked across the square. ‘What would you like to drink?’ he asked.
‘I don’t mind. Actually, I’m fine. I haven’t long had a drink,’ she said. ‘Uhm… sorry about that.’
‘About what?’ His brow furrowed.
‘My children. They’re very nosey and they want to work everyone out. Apparently, I was blushing when we spoke earlier, and they said that meant there was something going on between us.’
Lucas laughed. ‘They don’t know about us then?’
Thora glanced over at her children and they averted their gaze. ‘It’s a strange one because I was married to their dad, Finn, foryears and so speaking about previous relationships just seemed … odd.’
‘Relationships? There were others?’
Thora looked deep into his eyes. ‘No, Lucas. I meant a past relationship. There was you and then there was Finn.’
‘Finn. Nice guy.’
‘He’s lovely, and he’s also in a relationship with a man now.’
‘Oh… I see.’
‘He didn’t know he was gay until after we split up. I think he suspected there was something about being with a woman that wasn’t right for him, but it was only after we split that he was able to work things out.’
‘So… you’re divorced.’
‘I am.’
