Page 37 of All Yours

‘Daddy,’ the voice came again.

Fox swallowed and cleared his throat and she knew the moment had passed.

‘Wow,’ Fox said. ‘Talk about timing.’

Robyn blew a stray hair from her face, unable to string a sentence together. Fox straightened. She forced herself upright.

‘I thought we weren’t doing this?’ Robyn whispered.

‘You’re hard to resist,’ he said, trailing a hand up her bare arm.

‘You’ll just have to try harder.’

‘I don’t think I can get any harder,’ he groaned.

She laughed softly and pushed at his chest.

‘Go,’ she said. ‘George needs you.’

And with that, he stepped away.

‘Wait,’ she said. Fox turned, with a hopeful gleam in his eye. She held her hand out. ‘Phone, please.’

He tugged it from his back pocket and placed it in her palm, keeping the contact for an overlong second.

‘Maybe we should add a clause to your contract . . .’

‘Not a good idea to get your honey where you get your money, boss.’ She wagged her finger gently at him and ran down the stairs while she still could. This was not a good idea. Things were complicated enough.

Chapter Twenty

Fox

Fox opened the front door to Millie as she climbed out of her Mini Cooper. She sensed him there and turned, grinning already. He recognised the feeling in his stomach as the painful acknowledgement of just how much she looked like Meg, or how Meg might look if she’d got older. It got him every time.

‘Aunt Millie!’ The boys barrelled out of the door past Fox’s legs.

‘Here comes trouble!’ She bent to embrace them, squeezing them with her eyes closed, and Fox knew it was so that no tears escaped. Sure enough, she ran her fingers underneath her eyes as she stood, just to double check.

‘I want to show you my volcano,’ Reggie said, taking one of her hands and dragging her towards the front door.

‘And I want to show you I can write my name!’ George took the other one and between them they tugged her, laughing, to Fox, waiting on the step.

‘Hi, Mills,’ he said. ‘Good journey?’

‘No, but worth it for the destination.’

He hugged her and heard her deep, soft sigh. It must be weird for her too. The thing that they’d both loved was missing between them but still held them together: Meg.

‘I’ll put the kettle on.’

‘Back in a bit,’ she said, throwing her coat on the banister and running light-footed after the boys. She was small and slight, just as Meg had been, but she wore her hair in a smart bob, fit for her corporate job. She even had a similar laugh, one which kind of hitched up before it came out. When the two sisters had laughed together, it had always set everyone else off.

He didn’t hurry making the tea. Millie would be up there in their bedrooms for a good half an hour before he saw her again. He resisted going to join them, letting her have her time. She was a great auntie, always celebrating their latest achievements. She knew their favourite games, their most cherished possessions, their best friends.

Eventually they all came singing down the stairs and Fox flicked the kettle on.

‘I was named after Elton John, you know,’ Reggie announced to her as they entered the kitchen. ‘Because his real name was Reg.’