‘I love you too, Mrs Tennison. Now, haven’t you got some baking to do for the party?’ He gives my backside a tap. ‘No soggy bottoms!’
I grin to myself as I go downstairs, feeling a surge of love for Luke.
I spend the next couple of hours with Mum and Alice preparing the buffet food for this afternoon. Luke takes the girls to the park to keep them out from under our feet and when he returns everything is ready and there’s an air of happiness about the place.
Mum has only invited a handful of people over to meet Alice. I had warned her about overwhelming Alice. Naturally people are curious to meet her, but I don’t want it to turn into a freak show. Mum understood and the guest list extended to Pippa and her family, Leonard, Tom and Lottie and a couple of Mum’s friends from the WI.
I’m rather nervous about Tom meeting Alice, for some reason, and I’m not sure why. I suppose it’s a bit like taking your boyfriend or girlfriend home for the first time to meet your family. You’re never quite sure how it’s going to go and what you really want is for everyone to like each other and get on well together.
‘Hi, Tom,’ I say, opening the door when he finally turns up. ‘And, hello, Lottie. How are you?’ I give Tom a kiss on the cheek and then bend down to give Lottie a hug. ‘Hannah’s in the garden on the trampoline if you want to go through, sweetheart.’
‘How’s it going?’ asks Tom as Lottie skips off towards the rear of the house. He has a bunch of flowers in one hand and a bottle of red in the other.
‘Good,’ I say. I run my hands down the sides of my trousers, aware my palms are sweaty.
‘Not nervous at all, then?’ says Tom, nodding at my gesture.
I give a small laugh, which says it all. ‘It just feels really strange introducing you to Alice after all this time. I wasn’t like this when Luke met her.’
‘Deep breaths and relax,’ says Tom. He breathes in through his nose and slowly out through his mouth. I do the same. ‘That’s it. Nothing to be nervous about at all.’
We go through into the kitchen and Tom greets Mum with a kiss and presents her with the bottle of wine. The men get handshakes and Mum’s friends get his most charming smile. Finally, it’s Alice’s turn.
‘This is Alice,’ I say to Tom. ‘Alice this is Tom.’
‘Wow, you’re really here. Amazing. It’s just amazing,’ says Tom. He takes a moment to look at her and a small blush rises to Alice’s face. Tom steps forward and offers the bunch of flowers to Alice. ‘Hello, Alice.’ His voice is full of sincerity and he gives her a small peck on the cheek. ‘Welcome home.’
‘Hello, Tom,’ says Alice and accepts the flowers. ‘They’re beautiful. Thank you, so much. I’ve never been given flowers before.’
I look on and realise I’m smiling. That’s so thoughtful of Tom. I glance at Luke, who looks back and gives a smile and a slight raise of the eyebrows, which I interpret as Luke thinking Tom is being typically smooth and charming. I move over to him, snaking my arm behind him to reach a glass of wine on the counter. ‘Flowers, eh? Nice touch.’
‘I do far more romantic gestures than flowers,’ mutters Luke in my ear. ‘I’ll show you later.’
‘I shall look forward to it,’ I reply before side-stepping and going back to Alice. ‘I think Mum’s just fishing out a vase for the flowers,’ I say, nodding in the direction of the utility room, where Mum has just disappeared to. ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ says Alice. ‘Tom was just telling me how you went to university together and now work together.’
‘Yeah, I can’t get rid of him,’ I say, winking at Tom. ‘He follows me everywhere.’
‘She loves it really,’ says Tom.
Mum comes over and relieves Alice of the flowers, her face glowing with happiness. It makes me happy to see the sparkle in her eyes. ‘Could you get the sausage rolls out of the oven for me, Clare?’
‘I’ll leave you in Tom’s care,’ I say and head over to help Mum.
The afternoon goes smoothly and everyone seems relaxed. The children play nicely in the garden.
As I collect empty glasses and used plates, I realise I haven’t seen Alice for a while. I scan the kitchen and then the garden but can’t see her. Come to think of it, Tom’s not about either.
I go out into the garden onto the decking. Around the corner, out of sight from the main party, Tom and Alice are there. They don’t notice me at first. They’re standing very close together, but something about their body language alerts me. Neither is smiling and Tom appears to be talking quietly to Alice, but I can see no gentleness in his expression.
Alice spots me first and then Tom looks up too. Both smile.
‘Everything okay?’ I ask coming over.
‘Yeah, sure,’ says Tom.
‘Alice?’ I say, looking at my sister.
She hesitates for a moment before speaking. ‘I’m fine, honestly. I just needed a bit of air. Sometimes I find crowds a bit overwhelming.’
‘I was just making sure she was okay?’ says Tom sympathetically.