LITMIR.BIZ

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      He sorted out the drinks while she did the last-minute things in the kitchen. She was putting the vegetables in serving dishes when she overheard Elaine complimenting the table setting.

      ‘That’s all down to Emmy,’ Dylan said. ‘She has an artist’s eye. You should see her jewellery—it’s amazing, so delicate and pretty.’

      It warmed her to know he was being absolutely serious. Dylan never gushed.

      She brought the serving dishes and warmed plates through, and Dylan carved the chicken.

      To her relief, the food seemed to go down well. The vegetables were fine—not too hard or too soft—and she’d managed to get the potatoes crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, thanks to her mother’s instructions.

      ‘Dylan tells us you’re a jeweller,’ Elaine said. ‘Our eldest daughter is about to turn sixteen, and I know she’d like some jewellery for her birthday. Could you make some for her?’

      ‘Sure,’ Emmy said. ‘Most of the stuff on my website is either in stock or won’t take long to make, or I could design something especially for her.’

      ‘Why don’t you show Elaine the pieces you made for the magazine?’ Dylan suggested. ‘Or is that embargoed?’

      ‘Officially it’s embargoed,’ Emmy confirmed, ‘but I guess it’s OK for you to see the photographs I took. Excuse me a second?’ She grabbed her phone from her bag, and showed Elaine the photographs.

      ‘That really delicate stuff—that’s so Claire. She’d love something like that,’ Elaine said.

      ‘Do you want it to be a surprise? If not, you could bring Claire over and I can talk to her about what she’d really like, and design it for her there and then.’ Emmy smiled. ‘Actually, why don’t you do that and we can make it a really girly session? It’ll make her feel special to have something designed just for her.’ She put a hand on Dylan’s arm. ‘Sorry, this wasn’t meant to be about my business tonight. I didn’t mean to take over.’

      He smiled. ‘You weren’t taking over. I just think what you make is really amazing. She does these jet carvings as well, little animals. She made me a fantastic bear.’

      ‘Teddy?’ Ted asked with a grin.

      Dylan laughed back. ‘Ah, no. It’s a grizzly. She was making a point,’ Dylan said.

      ‘You’re lucky I didn’t make you a rhino,’ she teased.

      ‘A rhino?’ Elaine looked mystified.

      ‘Because she says I have the same level of social skills as a rhino,’ Dylan explained. ‘I guess it goes with being good at maths.’

      ‘You’re a total geek,’ she said, but her tone was affectionate.

      She cleared the table and brought out the fruit salad; she’d bought thin heart-shaped shortbread from the deli and vanilla ice cream to go with it.

      ‘Pineapple, raspberries, kiwi and pomegranate,’ Elaine said as she looked at the bowl. ‘How lovely. I’d never thought of making a fruit salad like that. You really are good in the kitchen.’

      ‘Not always,’ Emmy confessed. ‘I tried making monkfish in parma ham a few weeks back, and it was absolutely terrible. That’s why we decided to cook a roast dinner tonight, because it’s much simpler and less likely to go wrong. And I still had to call my mum for the timings and instructions on the roast potatoes.’

      ‘You did her proud, love,’ Ted said.

      Emmy found herself relaxing now that the trickiest part of the meal was over. But then Tyler woke, and they could all hear him crying on the baby listener.

      ‘I’ll go,’ Emmy said.

      ‘No, it’s my shift,’ Dylan said.

      ‘Not anymore,’ she corrected him. ‘I put a sticky note on the board so it’s my shift. You stay with our guests.’ She realised her slip almost immediately, but hoped she hadn’t messed it up. It had felt so natural to call the Burroughses ‘our’ guests rather than ‘your’.

      ‘I’d love to see the baby,’ Elaine said wistfully. ‘But I guess you can’t bring him down as it’ll put him out of his routine.’

      ‘You can come up to the nursery with me, if you like,’ she offered impulsively, and Elaine beamed.

      ‘I’d love to.’

      And maybe this would give Dylan and Ted the chance to discuss business, Emmy thought.

      Elaine clearly loved having the chance to cuddle a baby. ‘How old is he?’

      ‘Seven months, now.’

      ‘You forget how cute they are at this age. He’ll be crawling, next.’

      ‘And we’ll have baby gates all over the place,’ Emmy said with a smile.

      She settled the baby down in his cot again, and put his light show on.

      ‘It’s very sad about your friends,’ Elaine said, ‘and it must be difficult for you. How are you both coping?’

      ‘It was pretty tough at first,’ Emmy admitted. ‘Dylan wasn’t a very hands-on godfather when Tyler was really tiny. I guess he was waiting to do all the stuff like kicking a ball round in the park, going to the boating lake, and helping teach him to ride a bike—stuff I wouldn’t do as a godmother, because I’d rather take him swimming or to baby music classes. But we’ve muddled through together for the last three months, and it helps that we take alternate night shifts.’ She blew out a breath. ‘It means we each manage to get one good night’s sleep out of two. I have no idea how my best friend coped the way she did. She always looked fresh as a daisy, even if the baby had been up half a dozen times in the night.’

      ‘You must miss her,’ Elaine said.

      ‘I do—and Dylan really misses Pete. They were the nearest we had to a brother and sister.’

      ‘But Dylan helps you now.’

      Emmy nodded. ‘He’s been brilliant. Actually, he’s helped right from the start, even though he’s never had anything to do with babies before and was obviously scared to death that he’d do something wrong and hurt the baby. He’s never just left me to deal with everything; he’s always done his fair share, even if it involves dirty nappies or having stuff dribbled all over him. He’s stubborn and sometimes he comes across as a bit closed off or he says totally the wrong thing, but his heart’s in the right place and he thinks things through properly.’ She smiled. ‘Don’t tell him I said this, but when we do argue he’s usually right.’

      Elaine smiled back. ‘He sounds like my Ted.’

      Emmy checked the cot once more; satisfied that Tyler had settled again, she ushered Elaine back downstairs to the dining room. She made coffee and brought in the posh chocolate truffles she’d found in the deli, and helped Dylan make small talk until the Burroughses finally left.

      Dylan helped her clear up. ‘By the way, do you know the baby listener was still on when you were upstairs with Elaine?’

      Emmy looked at him, horrified. ‘You’re kidding!’

      He shook his head.

      ‘How much did you hear?’ she demanded.

      ‘Let me think.’ He spread his hands. ‘That would be...’ He met her gaze. ‘All of it.’

      She closed her eyes briefly. Obviously she’d wrecked everything, because she just hadn’t been able to keep her mouth shut. ‘I’m so sorry, Dylan. Ted must’ve thought...’ She bit her lip.

      ‘He was laughing.’ Dylan’s eyes crinkled at the corners. ‘Especially at the bit when you said I’m usually right. And I hope you realise I have every intention of using that one against you in the future.’

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