of course. I understand and we miss you a lot. Listen, I don’t really want to talk about it over the phone. Can you come to dinner tomorrow night?’
‘I’d love to.’ Cat smiled. Tomorrow was Friday night and she would officially be off duty. She longed to see Jesse too. She missed seeing him every day.
‘Great. Can you come to the house say around eight-ish? I think Alex is going out so we’ll be able to talk properly.’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Cool. Can’t wait to see you, Kit Kat.’
‘Me too,’ she said. ‘Bye.’ She finished the call and turned back to Finn. ‘Sorry about that. I had to speak to my boss.’
‘That was your boss?’ said Finn surprised. ‘I thought it was your boyfriend.’
‘No-o,’ said Cat quickly. ‘He’s not my boyfriend.’
Finn raised one eyebrow. ‘But you’d like him to be?’
Cat regarded him with a frown. ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that I’d ordered a psychologist.’
Finn grinned. ‘Apologies. I do that sometimes. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s cool.’
Cat folded her arms and studied her phone. ‘I do not want to talk about it.’ She flicked to her Twitter feed and started to read.
‘So Andrew told me you work in PR but that you’re taking a little break,’ said Finn.
Cat looked at him, expecting more judgement, but the question appeared to be genuine. ‘I made a mistake.’
‘We all make mistakes,’ said Finn. ‘What did you do?’
‘I was involved in the Diaz launch,’ she said, glancing up at him ready for a reaction. Finn looked blank. ‘You know, Alvarro Diaz? The footballer?’
‘Of course,’ said Finn. ‘He’s one of the best attacking midfielders in the world.’
‘If you say so. Well you know that coffee company launch that went spectacularly wrong?’
Finn was squinting at her now. ‘No.’
Cat was amazed. ‘How could you not know about that?’
Finn shrugged. ‘I like football but I don’t really care what the footballers get up to. Was it bad?’
‘It was very bad,’ said Cat. ‘And I had to step down from my job but hopefully not for long.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Finn.
Cat could tell that he meant it and decided to be civil. ‘So you look after your niece, do you?’ She couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.
‘Do you find that hard to believe?’
‘Well I suppose it’s unusual.’
‘I love it,’ he replied. ‘It helps out my sister, Ronnie, while she’s at work and I get to have all the fun.’
‘Good for you,’ said Cat. ‘I love my job too.’
‘And what about this temporary arrangement?’
Cat gave a little cough. ‘It’s proving to be an education.’
Finn laughed. ‘You’ve just got to relax and go with it.’
Cat was irritated by the insinuation that she wasn’t able to do this but their conversation was interrupted by the return of Claire and the girls.
‘Turned out to be a bit more of a lengthy visit than I’d hoped,’ she said cheerfully. ‘How about we find somewhere for a picnic, maybe on the patch of green outside the playground?’
‘Yay, picnic!’ cried Ellie.
Cat went to grab the picnic bag but Finn got there first. ‘Allow me,’ he said with a smile, walking towards the gate. ‘Boys! Food time!’ he cried. Cat noticed with secret envy how Charlie and James nodded and followed without argument.
Claire nudged Cat as they walked behind. ‘So-o, what do you think? He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?’
Cat didn’t want to get into a debate about the relative merits of this man. ‘Absolutely,’ she said flashing her best PR smile.
They spread two large picnic blankets under a large oak tree and the adults started to unpack the food. Cat opened the bag Andrew had prepared and peered at the sandwich fillings.
‘I think there’s tuna or cheese,’ she said to the children.
‘Isn’t there any ham?’ asked Charlie.
Cat could see this was another test and she wasn’t really in the mood. ‘No. There’s cheese or tuna,’ she said firmly.
‘Swap you,’ said Finn, holding out his sandwich to Charlie and smiling at Cat.
‘It’s okay, Finn,’ said Charlie, his neck flushing pink.
‘Seriously, mate. I’d rather have cheese.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Charlie.
‘Yep. Here you go.’
‘Thanks,’ said Charlie.
Cat should have probably been grateful for this intervention but in truth she found it annoying. She ate her own sandwich in silence whilst Claire and Finn chatted. Ellie and her friends munched happily on their sandwiches. When she had finished, Ellie came and sat very close to Finn.
‘Hey, Miss Ellie. I haven’t had a chance to talk to you today. How’s tricks?’
‘Tricks are fine, thank you, Finn. Do you like my Auntie Cat?’
Finn glanced up at Cat, his eyes sparkling with amusement. ‘Well I don’t know. What do you think?’
Ellie thought for a moment. ‘She’s actually okay. She took us to a really nice restaurant yesterday but I was sick.’
‘Oh that’s a shame.’
‘Yes it was. Do you think you might want to marry my Auntie Cat?’
Cat nearly choked on the remainder of her sandwich and Finn laughed. ‘I think it’s too soon to say but probably.’
Claire grinned at Cat. ‘Good for you, girl.’
‘I’m glad my future is all sorted then,’ said Cat shaking her head.
‘You should be. I’m quite a catch,’ joked Finn.
After lunch, Cat went to buy more coffee and ice-creams for the children. When she returned, she noticed that Finn had joined the boys in
