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Dominic pulls the car up outside my house.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to stay tonight?’ He asks, glancing at the overflowing box of papers on the back seat. ‘I’ve only got a bit of work to do.’
‘It’s ok. Thanks for the lift.’ I lean across to kiss him goodbye and stop. I’ve got a plan. I need to put it into action. ‘Actually, I wanted to ask you something.’
‘Yeah?’
‘It’s about my driving.’ A look flashes across his face. He covers it quickly, but it’s too late. I saw the horror. ‘What was that face for?’
He shakes his head. ‘What face?’
‘I still need to practise more.’
‘So you’d better find a new instructor then, hadn’t you?’
What did Helen say? Make him feel needed. Right. I open my eyes as wide as they’ll go. ‘It’s really hard with an instructor I don’t know. I was thinking maybe it would be better with somebody I already trust.’ I run my finger up his arm. ‘I thought maybe you could take me out sometime, just to practise.’
He grimaces. ‘I don’t know. My dad tried to teach me to drive. It was awful.’
‘Did you fight?’
He shakes his head. ‘I wish. Every mistake I made, I could feel the disappointment, At the end he actually said ...’
‘What?’
‘It doesn’t matter.’
‘Tell me.’
‘He said, “And I thought you were supposed to be clever.” And then he got out of the car and never mentioned it again.’
I stick out my bottom lip. ‘But we wouldn’t be like that. You already know I’m dippy.’
‘You’re not dippy.’
‘You’d really be helping me out.’
He shrugs. ‘All right. We’ll do an hour and see how it goes.’
I fling my arms round his neck. ‘Thank you!’ I plant a massive kiss on his cheek, and he moves his face to kiss me back full on the lips. I get out and watch him drive away. It’s working. Helen was right. If I can make him feel needed, he’ll love me again and everything will be all right.
Dad’s car is already outside the house, which is a surprise. He normally works at least another hour after I finish for the day. That’s good. He won’t like it if Tania’s pressuring him to come home earlier.
They’re sitting together at the dining room table. Tania has a lined A4 pad in front of her, and most of the table top is hidden under stacks of bridal magazines and brochures. I plaster the smile that I seem to wear more and more across my face. ‘More wedding plans?’
My dad nods. ‘Tania wanted to get the guest list sorted out.’
Tania nods. ‘Less than four months to go. We need to order the invites.’
Less than four months. It’s still three and a half months longer than they’d known each other when they got engaged. A lot can change in four months. I lean across the table and pick up the pad. I skim my eyes down the list. A selection of aunts and uncles and distant cousins. A few old friends of my dad’s who I remember from when I was a kid. Pretty much every university colleague he’s ever had. I flick the page and scan to the bottom of sheet two. David Levine. Helen Hart. Alex Lyle. My mind jumps back to the moment in my office. My whole body pressed against his. I shake my head. Bad boy eyes. Not what I need in my life. Not somebody I could rely on. ‘Alex?’
My dad nods. ‘I’ve invited everyone from the department.’
I shrug. ‘I didn’t know you even knew who he was.’
‘Well I don’t really, but Tania thought we ought to invite everybody rather than pick and choose.’
I take in the length of the guest list. It’s not Tania that’s going to be paying though, is it? Something else strikes me. I scan again, looking for names I don’t recognise. If I can find some of her family or friends, maybe I can find out some more about the mysterious cocktail waitress from Penzance. There aren’t any. Every single person on this list is a friend, relative or colleague of Dad’s. I hand this list back to Tania. ‘So I guess you’ve still got to do your half?’
She swallows and flicks her eyes towards my dad. I knew it. She’s hiding something. ‘I don’t have much family.’
‘None at all?’
She shakes her head, and laughs uneasily. ‘Just call me poor little orphan Tania.’
My dad wraps an arm around her shoulder. ‘It doesn’t matter. We’re your family now, aren’t we Emily?’
I nod, but I’m worried. No family at all. No friends. Whatever it is she’s hiding, it must be something big, and somehow I’ve got to find out what it is. Dad’s not used to dating. When I was little I once asked whether I’d get a new mummy, like Jodie Henderson at school got a new daddy. He laughed. He said I was the only girl in his life. He’s so trusting, and in four months, he’s going to marry a virtual stranger. It’s up to me to look after him now.