Down London Road

whispered across my collarbone. ‘You and Mick had a relationship. I don’t know the people who gave me up. Honestly, I no longer need to know them. I have everything I could ever want for in Anderson and Helena MacCabe. I don’t need reasons or excuses because … well … no matter how good they are, it’s never going to change the fact that I came second to those excuses. They abandoned me. Doesn’tmatter if their reasons are logical, practical … it will never change how I felt when I found out the truth. So what’s the point?’
    I ran my hand down his back soothingly, wanting to draw him inside me, where he was loved more than he even knew. ‘They missed out, baby. They missed out big.’



22
    Cole had been given the full rundown about Uncle Mick already. He’d been only three years old when Mick left, so he couldn’t remember him, but he seemed okay about meeting him, having learned enough from me over the years to know that I’d once thought the guy walked on water.
    Telling Mum had been a different story. I’d actually feared telling her, afraid that the news would cause her to kick off. To my surprise, she accepted the news with calm and agreed to come out and speak to Mick when he arrived.
    I thought I even heard her take a shower while I clicked through the job site on Cole’s computer.
    By the time Cole arrived home from school, my palms were sweating. Mum had been unruffled earlier, but that might change when she set eyes on Mick. The knock at the door caused my heart to skip a beat. I don’t know why people described that in romance novels as if it was a good thing. When your heart skips a beat it makes you breathless, you feel a little sick, and definitely out of sorts.
    ‘You made it.’ I stretched my lips into a weak smile as I opened the door to Uncle Mick and Olivia.
    Olivia chuckled. ‘Are we that bad?’
    ‘No, no, no.’ I hurried to reassure them, stepping aside to let them in.
    ‘It’s not us she’s worried about,’ Mick murmured to her, and I threw him a knowing but weary smile over my shoulder as I led them into the sitting room.
    ‘Just take off your jackets. Make yourself at home. Can I get you tea or coffee? Water, juice?’
    ‘Coffee,’ they answered in unison.
    I nodded, all nervous energy. ‘No probs.’
    But Cole’s appearance in the doorway stopped me in my tracks. I put my arm around his shoulders and led him back towards Mick and Olivia. ‘Cole, this is Mick and his daughter, Olivia.’
    Mick grinned at him and stuck his hand out. Cole took it tentatively. ‘Nice to meet you,’ he murmured, letting his hair hang in his eyes so he didn’t have to look directly at them.
    ‘You too. Jesus, you’re the spitting image of your dad when he was your age.’
    ‘He’s nothing like Dad,’ I said tersely.
    Olivia’s eyebrows rose and she shot a look at her father before she said admonishingly, ‘Way to go, Dad.’
    Looking uncomfortable, Mick sighed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’
    Way to go, Jo
. ‘I know.’ I waved him off, feeling bad for my waspishness. ‘I’m a little sensitive around that subject.’
    ‘Understood.’
    ‘Cole, I’m Olivia.’ She stuck her hand out and Cole’s cheekbones flushed a little as they shook hands. ‘It’s good to meet you.’ She glanced around the sitting room, her eyes brimming with approval. ‘You guys have a really nice place.’
    ‘Jo does all the decorating.’ Cole surprised me as heinformed her about that almost enthusiastically. ‘The wallpapering, painting, sanding … everything.’
    ‘I’m impressed.’
    I felt Uncle Mick’s smiling eyes on me. ‘All my teaching stuck with you, eh?’
    Embarrassed, I shrugged. ‘I like decorating.’
    ‘Aye, we know.’ Mum’s voice had me sucking in my breath as we all turned to watch her shuffle into the sitting room. ‘You do it often enough.’ Cole and I exchanged glances, utterly taken aback by her appearance. She hadn’t just showered; she’d gotten dressed. Her hair was blow-dried smooth, she had some make-up on and she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that were loose on her frail body, and a black silk shirt I’d bought her for Christmas even though I never thought she’d wear it. To us she looked better than she had done in ages, but when I glanced back at Uncle Mick I could see the shock in his eyes at her appearance.
    He stepped past us and towered over Mum, who gave him a small smile. ‘Fiona. It’s good to see you.’
    She