Bella, you mean?’
‘No, actually, I don’t.’ Freya paused. ‘It’s really unlike Jo to have said something like that. What was the reason?’
Ben shrugged. ‘She doesn’t seem to need a reason. She’s never liked Bella.’
Freya shook her head fiercely. ‘No! That’s not true, Ben. Your mum is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and she’s never said anything to suggest that she doesn’t like Bella. Something must have caused her to snap like that. Was she under a lot of stress at the time?’
Ben pursed his lips, as if he was considering whether to say what he was about to say. ‘I suppose so. Emma had had a car crash and …’
‘Oh my God!’ Freya interrupted him, clamping her hand over her mouth. ‘Is she OK?’
‘Yeah, she’s fine.’ Ben batted her concern away with a wave of his hand. ‘Bit of a bump on her head and she was pretty shaken up.’
‘Well then!’ Freya cried. ‘Of course that’s the reason. It’s so out of character for Jo. Surely Bella can understand that? Especially now she’s got a little girl of her own! She must understand how upsetting it is for your child to be injured, however old they are …?’
‘I don’t know.’ Ben sounded weary. ‘She doesn’t seem to be in the mood for reconciliation anyway, so there’s not much I can do, is there?’
‘Oh come on, Ben! Are you honestly going to let one little comment come between you and your lovely mum? I just don’t understand it – you’ve always been so close.’ Freya could feel the tears threatening on Jo’s behalf. She just knew how devastated Jo would be feeling, especially to have been kept away from her first grandchild. It seemed so cruel.
‘Oh God, I know, it’s just that I feel a bit torn. Obviously, my loyalty has to be with Bella and Elodie right now.’
Freya tried not to let her irritation show. ‘Of course it does. But you shouldn’t be put in a position where you have to choose between your mum and your wife. There’s room for both of them, surely?’
Ben exhaled loudly. ‘To be honest, it’s not worth the grief I’ll get.’
Freya could feel her eyes narrowing, despite trying to keep her expression neutral. ‘That’s why you’ve cut us off, too, isn’t it? Because Bella doesn’t like us?’
‘No!’ The defiance flashed back into Ben’s eyes.
Freya shook her head sadly. ‘I should have known, after the last time we came round and she didn’t turn up.’
‘There was a very good reason for that and it had nothing to do with you coming round.’
‘Really?’ Freya couldn’t hide her scepticism.
‘Yes!’ Ben shot back crossly.
‘OK, if you say so.’
There was a long, awkward pause. Around them, the café was filling up with lunchtime customers and the sound of clattering plates ricocheted from wall to wall with a jarring, discordant beat.
‘Look, Ben,’ Freya began, wondering how far she could push it. ‘All I’m saying is, it seems a real shame that you’ve suddenly stopped seeing your family and friends, when we were always so close. It was never like this when you were with Charlotte …’ She paused, knowing she was stepping onto dangerous territory.
‘Oh yeah, and look what all those years of being with Charlotte did for me!’ Ben snapped. ‘She dumped me, remember!’
‘I know. Believe me, she regrets that now.’
Ben bit his lip, and looked out of the window onto the pavement beyond, where dozens of pedestrians danced balletically around one another, hurrying on their way. ‘Does she?’
‘Yes, of course she does. Her dad dying affected her really badly and she just had a bit of a panic. By the time she realized what she’d done, it was too late.’
‘How is she?’ Ben continued to stare out of the window as he spoke, trying to feign indifference.
‘She’s OK.’
‘Is she … is she still single?’
Freya smiled. ‘Yes. Believe it or not, you’re quite a hard act to follow, Ben Gordon.’
Ben gave a hollow laugh. ‘I thought she would end up with that guy, Luke, the one she worked with. She certainly talked about him a lot, just before we broke up.’
Freya shook her head. ‘No, they were just friends. Still are. He’s with someone else.’
Ben nodded and looked back at Freya. ‘It doesn’t matter now anyway.’
‘No,’ Freya agreed. ‘And she’s happy for you that you’ve moved on and that you and Bella have had a baby. She knows how much you wanted kids.’
‘Yeah, I think that was part of the problem. I did, she didn’t.’
‘It’s not quite that simple. It wasn’t that she didn’t want kids, I think she just wanted to be absolutely sure that you were the right one to have them with.’
‘Yeah, I get that. Oh well, it obviously wasn’t meant to be or it wouldn’t have gone wrong, would it?’ He stood up. ‘Anyway, I really need to be getting back to work.’
Freya stood up too and they walked out of the café together. ‘It’s lovely to see you, Ben, I’ve missed you.’
Ben reached down to hug her. ‘You too.’
‘And I know things are busy but will you give Matt a call when you get a chance?’
Ben nodded. ‘Sure. ’Bye, Freya.’
‘’Bye,’ she called after him, realizing as he was swallowed up by the crowd that she should have asked for his new number. As she watched him go, already on his phone, presumably to explain his whereabouts to a furious Bella, she had a horrible feeling she wouldn’t be seeing him again for a very long time.
‘So, what were you doing today that was so important you ignored my calls?’ Bella’s dark eyes blazed with a barely concealed fury.
‘I didn’t ignore your calls.’ Ben tried to eat his risotto but his mouth felt dry and it tasted a lot like cardboard. The atmosphere since he had walked through the door an hour ago had become increasingly icy. He knew if he told Bella the truth about his whereabouts when she was trying to get hold of him at lunchtime, it would only make things worse. ‘I was at work, Bella. I can’t just drop everything and take a personal call every time my phone rings. It’s unprofessional and it will get me into trouble. We can’t afford for me to lose this job.’
Bella threw down her own fork with a clatter that made them both jump. ‘But what if it’s urgent? What
