‘Me, too.’ Adam too was letting Ellie get on with the task of unwrapping her present unaided. ‘So how was the holiday? Catch any waves?’
‘Fabulous. We were on the north coast, and the hotel was close to this great little surf beach, so I could go out first thing in the morning and make it back in time for breakfast.’
‘Nice one. You’ll have to come back to Florida soon.’ Adam accepted a mug of tea from Jenna, taking a grateful sip.
‘We will. You can sit on the beach with Cassie and the kids and I’ll show you how it’s done.’
‘Yeah, right, in your dreams.’ He shot a bright grin at Jenna. ‘Takes more than a hideous T-shirt to make a surfer. What was Cassie thinking, letting you go out in that?’
Rob laughed. ‘She reckons that if I go out in it then she won’t have to put up with it around the house.’ He ran his hand over the garishly coloured fabric. ‘What, don’t you like it?’
Ellie’s delighted squeal meant that Adam never did get to deliver his verdict. She’d reached the inside of the package and was holding up a string of beads.
‘Aren’t they pretty?’ Ellie brought the beads to Jenna to show her and when she examined them carefully she could see they were hand painted, each one different.
‘I got them in Mexico.’ Adam watched as Jenna carefully wound the beads around Ellie’s neck for her, nodding with approval. ‘You look beautiful, honey.’
Ellie was climbing up on the sofa, between Adam and Rob, to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror over the fireplace, and Rob tugged at her sleeve. ‘What else have you got, then, El?’ He gestured to the folded fabric that still lay amongst the ruins of the wrapping paper.
Ellie pulled the fabric out, turned it around a couple of times then held it up against herself, and Jenna caught a glimpse of colourful embroidery on a white cotton background.
‘It’s a bit big, isn’t it, mate?’ Rob was surveying his daughter. ‘She’ll be sixteen before she grows into that.’
‘No, idiot. It’s a dress.’ Jenna smoothed the fabric and held it against Ellie. It was roomy, but the drawstring at the waist meant that it could be adjusted to fit her perfectly.
‘Can I wear it?’ Ellie was jumping up and down with excitement.
‘Not until you’ve said the magic word.’ Rob smiled at her.
Ellie launched herself at Adam, nearly knocking his tea over and flung her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. ‘Oh, that’s nice … Can I have another one? Right here?’ His finger was on his other cheek and Ellie obliged eagerly. ‘Thank you.’
‘I drew you a picture.’ Ellie’s hands were on Adam’s shoulder, pulling as hard as she could, and Jenna saw alarm flare in Rob’s face.
‘Gently, El. Adam’s shoulder isn’t properly mended yet.’
Adam waved him away. ‘I’d love to see your picture, Ellie, will you show me?’
Ellie fetched her drawing and climbed up onto Adam’s knee. ‘That’s Mum … and Dad … me and Daisy … and that’s you.’ Her finger was moving across the paper.
‘That’s very good. And who’s this, up there?’
Ellie shook her head, as if the stupidity of adults never ceased to amaze her. ‘That’s your friend. Mum says she’s in heaven.’
Rob’s face tightened, but Adam’s smile never faltered. ‘That’s lovely, honey. I’m so pleased you drew her too, along with the rest of us.’
‘Will you tell her?’
‘Ellie …’ There was a note of anxiety in Rob’s voice but Adam’s glance quieted him.
‘Of course I’ll tell her. She’ll be so happy, I expect she’ll tell all her friends up there.’
Ellie glared up at the ceiling and nodded, as if satisfied. ‘Can I wear my dress?’
This time Adam allowed Rob to step in. ‘Not yet, El. We’ve got some things to move around downstairs and I don’t want you getting it all dirty. Later on, when we’ve finished.’
The circular face that Ellie had drawn, giving no hint of who Adam’s friend might really be, released its grip on Jenna’s attention and she bumped back down to earth. ‘Oh, no, that’s okay, I already did that.’
Adam’s gaze was on her now, so palpable that it almost tickled her skin. ‘You did what?’
‘I moved the boxes and the bed. And put a few things in the fridge, just essentials, to keep you going until tomorrow.’
His eyes slid down her thin bare arms, and her fingers jerked in her lap. ‘On your own? I thought I said I’d do that.’
Rob came to her rescue. Kind of. ‘What I love about this woman is that you can say anything you like to her, and she’ll hear you, but she won’t listen. Eh, Jen?’
Adam pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘In that case, perhaps I can just put my bag downstairs and take you all to lunch before my lecture.’ He glanced at Ellie, his face breaking into a smile. ‘Go and ask your dad if you can wear your new dress.’
The dress fitted perfectly. Adam and Rob had disappeared downstairs with the keys, while Jenna stripped off Ellie’s jeans and T-shirt and drew the dress over her head, running her fingers over the hand embroidery and arranging it just so.
‘Can I have some perfume?’ Ellie was obviously keen on playing the lady.
‘No, you know what your mum says about perfume.’ Ellie’s idea of a dab behind her ears was to tip half a bottle of Cassie’s anniversary gift over her head. ‘Tell you what, this is much better.’
She trimmed a couple of stalks of lavender from the bunch in the fireplace and tied them firmly with a ribbon from the drawer. ‘Here, I’ll fix it onto your dress … like this … and you’ll smell nice and look nice as well.’ She leaned back and admired her handiwork. Ellie looked beautiful.
‘Are you going to dress up, too?’ Ellie had unpinned Jenna’s hair and was arranging it around her shoulders.
‘No, I’m fine as I am.’ Jenna looked down at her jeans and cotton, sleeveless top. This was about as good as it got, and however much she wanted to make an effort to look nice today she wasn’t going to do anything that might betray that to either Rob or Adam.
‘Perfect.’ Adam’s voice boomed behind her and she jumped. He obviously meant Ellie.
‘Doesn’t she look pretty?’ She flashed a smile at him.
‘Yes, she looks perfect, too.’ His mouth twisted in a smile as Jenna flushed. ‘Thank you for the flowers.’
She’d arranged lavender and sweet-smelling greenery in a vase, putting it downstairs in the hearth to break up the stark, white walls and bring a little of the garden into the flat. And he’d noticed them. ‘They’re not really flowers.’
He shrugged. ‘Thanks anyway. You have a good eye, they look stunning.’ He ignored the redness, which was now spreading across her cheeks, and turned his attention to Ellie. ‘And you look like a proper young lady.’
Ellie seemed to take as much delight as Jenna did in Adam’s approval, but she was more straightforward about showing it. ‘I did Jenna’s hair, too. Look.’ She tugged at one of Jenna’s curls.
‘Maybe I’ll just fix it back up again.’ Jenna gathered her hair behind her head, looking for the elastic tie that Ellie had discarded somewhere on the floor. She’d never quite got around to liking her hair much. Too many