ALMOST NINE O’CLOCK and Tom still hadn’t returned home, Ali noted, or at least she hadn’t seen him. She’d kept her eye on the window but maybe she’d missed him. He’d have to bring Freckles back at some stage and, when he did, she’d decided to try and talk to him, just to show him where he stood. It was obvious that the whole taking Daisy to the hospital in the middle of the night thing had totally spooked him and she got that. It was hard enough to deal with when it was your own child and Daisy really had nothing to do with Tom...except that he was the one who delivered her. Surely that meant something. She just wanted him to know that she appreciated his help but she expected nothing from him and she wasn’t some kind of gold digger or a lonely single mum desperate for a man in her life.
As it happened she didn’t see Tom until the next morning when he knocked on her door before 7:00 a.m. She ran down the steep narrow staircase, hair tousled and eyes heavy with the kind of sleep that was crammed in between feeds and a crying baby.
“Oh!” she said, opening the door a crack. “It’s you.”
“’Fraid so,” he said. “Sorry if I disturbed your sleep but I’m out on the boat all day. Snowy’s coming with me but I needed to drop Freckles off with you and I was too late to call in last night.”
Ali blinked, feeling uncomfortable and wishing that she’d at least combed her hair. “Sorry,” she said, smoothing it down. “I had a bad night with Daisy. I must look a fright.”
For a moment Tom hesitated. Did she really not realize just how beautiful she was? “You look great,” he told her. “I’m just sorry I had to disturb you so early.”
Tightening her brightly patterned robe she pushed the door wider to let Freckles inside. The pup bounded around her, jumping up at her legs, and Ali crouched down to give her a cuddle.
“I’ve missed you,” she said, smiling up at Tom.
And I’ve missed you, he thought. Which is exactly why I need to keep my distance. “Right, then,” he said too loudly. “I’d better get on.”
Ali stood, smiling at him. “Perhaps I’ll see you later?” she said, looking at him expectantly. “Oh and thanks for looking after Freckles.”
“No problem,” he responded. “But I’m afraid I’ll probably be late again so...”
“That’s fine,” she said too quickly. “You go...”
As Tom hurried off to where his pickup was parked his heart was pounding. He felt like such a jerk. It was for the best though, he was sure of it, despite what his mum said. Trouble was, it was really hard to walk on by every day when she lived just two doors down from him.
* * *
LILY ARRIVED AFTER LUNCH. She burst in without knocking as Ali was hanging clothes on the line out in the back yard. “Ali,” she called from the kitchen. “I’m back.”
Ali went indoors with her laundry basket on her hip and put it down on the table. “Am I glad to see you, Lil,” she said, holding out her arms to give the girl a big hug.
Lily hugged her back. “And I’ve missed you,” she cried. “And Daisy...is she all right now?”
Ali nodded “Yes, thank heavens, she’s asleep in her crib in the sitting room. You can go check on her if you like but don’t disturb her. She needs to sleep.”
Following Lily a couple of minutes later, Ali reached down to touch her forefinger to her baby’s smooth pink cheek.
“I was terrified when I realized just how ill she was,” she told Lily. “But Tom just stayed totally calm—he drove us to the hospital and stayed with us until the doctors had been. Actually he was amazing.”
“That—” Lily declared “—is because he likes you.”
“Oh Lily.” Lost for words Ali just smiled at the openhearted girl who saw the best in everyone and in every situation. “It’s really more because he’s a decent, caring man. Don’t go getting up your hopes about the two of us being together, Tom doesn’t want to take on a woman with a load of history and a newborn baby—in fact I’ve decided to have a talk to him about it.”
“About what?” Lily asked, open-eyed.
“He needs to know that I understand how he feels. It’s obvious he’s terrified that I’m going to come on to him or something and he couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Disappointment shadowed Lily’s features. “So you don’t like him then,” she said.
“Of course I like him,” Ali objected. “I just don’t want him to feel so pressured that he avoids me...and anyway, Daisy and I are okay on our own, we don’t need a man in our lives.”
“But what about me?” Lily asked sadly. “Don’t you need me in your life either?”
“Oh Lily...” Ali hurried to reassure the girl. “I refuse not to have you in my life. You’re my only friend right now.”
“Apart from Tom of course,” Lily finished.
For a moment Ali hesitated. Would he still be her friend when she’d spoken to him? she wondered. Or would it be just an excuse for him to back off totally? “I hope he’s my friend, Lily,” she said, “because that’s really all I want of him. I just have to make him realize it.”