when had Christy confided in Jake? They were friends, that was true, but he didn’t like the idea that his friend knew more about his wife than he did.
Checking that her mother was safely occupied in the kitchen, Katy slunk into the living room where her brother was orchestrating a battle between dinosaurs and toy soldiers.
‘Ben, here’s a really, really large glass of blackcurrant squash.’
Ben stared at it. ‘I’m not thirsty.’
‘Good,’ Katy said sweetly, ‘because I don’t want you to drink it. I want you to spill it on the sofa.’
Ben’s eyes widened. ‘No way! You spill it on the sofa.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Katy’s tone was condescending. ‘I’m eleven. I’m way past spilling drinks on the sofa. You’ll have to do it.’
‘But that will make the sofa wet and purple.’
‘That’s the general idea.’
‘Why?’
‘Because despite our efforts, our parents are still not sharing a bed,’ Katy said with an impatient sigh. ‘And they’re never going to get back together if they don’t share a bed. Everyone knows that adults should share a bed if they’re married. It’s how they mate.’
Ben picked up another dinosaur. ‘What’s mate?’
‘You’re far too young to understand,’ Katy said disdainfully. ‘You’re just going to have to trust me.’
‘I don’t see how spilling blackcurrant squash will help,’ Ben muttered, and Katy rolled her eyes.
‘Because it will make the sofa sticky and wet you stupid, idiot baby.’
‘I’m not a stupid, idiot baby!!’
‘Then trust me and spill the squash!’
‘Mum will be mad.’
Katy glared. ‘Do you want to go back and live in smelly old London? Do you want Mum and Dad to live together again or not?’
Ben’s face crumpled. ‘Of course, I do, but—’
‘Then spill it, Ben! Just spill it and stop asking questions!’
‘But—’
‘Ben, you spill things all the time.’ Her tone was exasperated. ‘You spilt your milk at breakfast. You dropped your pasta at supper. Spill the blackcurrant before I strangle you!’
‘Mum says you’re not allowed to put things round my neck. And if I spill blackcurrant, it will ruin the sofa.’
‘That’s the idea. Don’t worry about that. It won’t cost them anything because they can put in an insurance claim, but that will take weeks to come through,’ Katy said airily, and Ben looked at her doubtfully.
Katy ground her teeth. ‘Ben…’
‘All right, I’ll spill it.’ Ben snatched the squash from her, sprinted across the living room, tripped over a toy he’d left there and spilt the entire contents of the glass over the sofa.
‘Even better than I could have predicted,’ Katy breathed, staring at the spreading, deep purple stain on the sofa with admiration and satisfaction. ‘Well done, baby brother.’
Ben’s lip wobbled as he stared at the mess. ‘Mummy’s going to be mad.’
‘Very possibly,’ Katy agreed, ‘but she isn’t going to be sleeping here tonight, and that’s the only thing that matters. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.’
‘You shouldn’t have had a drink in the living room.’ Christy kept her voice level, reminding herself that it wasn’t good to shout at one’s children, especially when they were so clearly remorseful. Ben stood in front of her with his head down and his lip wobbling.
‘Katy told me to do it!’ He burst into sobs just as Alessandro walked in through the front door.
‘What’s going on here?’
Christy sighed, wondering whether everyone’s family was as noisy and complicated as hers. ‘I haven’t had time to cook any dinner yet. Ben spilt blackcurrant all over the sofa. It’s ruined.’
‘Good thing,’ Alessandro drawled, shrugging his broad shoulders out of his jacket and loosening his tie. ‘It was ugly and uncomfortable and sleeping on it was having a detrimental effect on my spine. You’ve done me a favour, Ben.’
Katy appeared in the doorway, a yoghurt in one hand and a spoon in the other. ‘That’s decided, then. You’ll just have to sleep in the bed with Mum.’
Alessandro turned to look at his daughter, a gleam of suspicion lighting his dark eyes. ‘Are you behind this, Katherine?’
Katy took a few steps backwards. ‘Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t good to intimidate your children. And you can’t blame me for the fact that Ben spills everything. You know he spills everything.’
‘Intimidate?’ An ebony brow rose as Alessandro surveyed his daughter. ‘Since when did I ever intimidate you?’
Ben’s sobs grew noisier. ‘It’s all her fault. She made me do it and she—’
‘Hush.’ Christy pulled him into her arms and cuddled him close. ‘I’m not mad with you, sweetie, honestly. Don’t cry. Please, don’t cry. It isn’t important. It’s only a sofa.’
‘My house is turning into a war zone,’ Alessandro muttered, dragging a hand through his dark hair and letting out a long breath. ‘Seeing that you haven’t cooked any dinner yet, let’s go out.’
Katy’s face brightened. ‘Great idea. You’ll need to get us a babysitter. I nominate Uncle Jake.’
Christy blinked. ‘I think Daddy meant all of us.’
‘Oh, no, we’re much too tired to go out.’ Katy gave an exaggerated yawn to prove her point. ‘I’ve got holiday homework to finish and Ben needs his beauty sleep. Not that all the sleep in the world is going to make him half-decent to look at,’ she added as an afterthought, and Ben sat up and poked his tongue out.
Alessandro gave a shrug and looked at Christy. ‘So—you and I can go out.’
‘But…’ How could she say that she didn’t really want to go out on a date that had been engineered by the children? If he’d asked her, that would have been different. ‘Jake won’t be free.’
‘He’s free—I saw him at lunchtime.’ Alessandro was already on the phone, and Christy sighed.
‘All right. I’ll go and change.’
‘Wear the black dress, Mummy,’ Katy hissed, and Christy frowned.
‘What black dress?’
‘The
