Down London Road

hope.’
    I grinned, and let the purr enter my voice. ‘I can come over after work tonight to make it up to you.’
    Malcolm’s own voice deepened. ‘I look forward to it.’
    We hung up and I stared at the phone in my hand. Dammit. I
was
hoping.
    Hoping that this time it really was going to work out.
    ‘According to Braden I ambushed you.’
    I glanced up in surprise as I pushed my bag into the locker. It was Friday night and the bar was already in full swing. I was late for work, so I hadn’t had time to really chat with Joss and Alistair, who was covering Craig’s shift and was already manning the bar. I’d ducked out during a lull in the crowds to get a drink of juice and some chewing gum from my bag. ‘Pardon?’
    Joss leaned against the doorway to the staff room, the music from the bar beating loud behind her. She had a disgruntled look on her face. ‘I told Braden what I said to you last night and he said I ambushed you.’
    I smiled. ‘Maybe a little.’
    ‘He told me I have a lot to learn.’
    That earned an eyebrow raise. ‘Apparently so has he.’
    ‘Yeah.’ Joss huffed. ‘He’s sporting a bruise the size of my fist on his upper arm. Condescending asshat.’ She shrugged. ‘He also, maybe, was kind of, possibly, a little bit right.’
    She looked so uncomfortable it was almost funny. ‘Joss, you were trying to be a good friend.’
    ‘Braden says I have to be stealthy. That includes not using the word “whore” in any capacity.’
    I flinched. ‘Aye, that would be good.’
    Joss took a step towards me, all her self-assurance seeming to have disappeared. ‘That came out all wrong last night. You know that, right?’
    ‘Does this mean you’re keeping your nose out of my business, by any chance?’
    She scoffed. ‘Yeah, okay.’
    ‘Joss …’
    ‘I’m just going to be better at it. Less ambushing, more corralling.’
    There was that word again. ‘You know, I would think if you were trying to be “stealthy” you wouldn’t tell me about your intentions to veer me from my “path of misery”.’
    Joss crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes narrowed on me. ‘Don’t you air-quote me, woman.’
    I held up my hands in surrender. ‘Hey, I’m just saying.’
    ‘Ladies!’ Alistair’s head appeared at the doorway into the bar. ‘A little help!’
    I grabbed my gum and brushed past Joss. I smiled as I guessed at what was really bothering her. ‘I’m not mad atyou, you know.’ I looked over my shoulder to see her following me.
    She nodded, giving a little shrug as if she didn’t care when she obviously did. Which was why I wasn’t mad at her. ‘Okay, cool.’
    We hit the bar to see the customers standing all along it.
    ‘So, you and Cole are still coming to dinner on Sunday?’
    I grinned at her, thinking of the Nichols family and Elodie’s mouthwatering roast dinner. ‘Wouldn’t miss it.’
    The Nicholses’ home was the kind of home I’d wished Cole and I had been brought up in. Not for the fact that it was this gorgeous period flat in Stockbridge – although that certainly would have been nice – but because it was full of warmth and real familial solidarity.
    Elodie Nichols was Ellie’s mum. When she was younger she’d fallen hard for Braden’s dad, Douglas Carmichael, and she’d then fallen pregnant. Douglas had broken things off but offered financial help and a lackadaisical impersonation of a father. Braden had stepped up to the plate, taking his younger half sister under his wing and playing man-child dad/big brother. The two were close – so close in fact, that Braden was closer to Elodie and her husband, Clark, than he was to his own mother. As for Douglas, he’d died a few years ago, leaving money to Ellie and his businesses to Braden.
    Ellie had two adorable half siblings – Hannah, who was a year and a half older than Cole, and Declan, who was eleven. Not surprisingly, the two shy teens didn’t spend time with each other when I brought Cole to these dinners. Declan always monopolized Cole’s timeanyway – Declan had a large collection of video games for them to zombify themselves in front of.
    About eight months ago, Joss had taken me on a night out with Ellie. After five minutes I got the distinct feeling I was being taken under their wing. Ellie immediately asked me to her family’s Sunday dinner (while Joss smirked happily at someone else getting the ‘Ellie treatment’), insisting that I bring Cole. After two months of dodging the