LITMIR.BIZ

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you need to put things right.’

      I am not in the mood to listen. This is my life – well it was – not Malachi’s.

      ‘Yeah yeah, I know,’ I say. ‘But as it goes I think you’re wrong. And I’m going to prove it.’

      ‘On your own head be it,’ says Malachi, with a shrug. And with that he vanishes, leaving me with my nose pressed up against the glass, looking in, like a child outside a sweet shop.

       Emily

      ‘This is better,’ said Emily as they squeezed into a table by the window of Carlo’s, a family-owned restaurant she and Adam were rather fond of.

      The restaurant was busy and over-adorned with tinsel and gaudy Christmas decorations, according to Carlo’s quirky style. There was a small plastic tree on the bar, its lights flashing on and off intermittently. It even had a drunken-looking fairy on the top. Emily knew how she felt. The effects of the alcohol, combined with the cold walk, had made her feel decidedly woozy.

      ‘Water, lots of it,’ she said when the waiter came to their table.

      ‘Good idea,’ said Adam, though he ordered a beer as well.

      Now they were here, Emily was starting to feel a little less out of it. Remorse poured through her as she kept running over the cringe-inducing moment in the bar.

      ‘I hope I haven’t caused you loads of grief at work,’ she said, reaching over to take Adam’s hand.

      ‘I doubt it,’ said Adam. ‘We’ll be a one-hit wonder. After tonight, there’s bound to be more juicy gossip for people to mull over. Like I say, you’ve probably done me a favour. Anyway, let’s not talk about that now. It’s done.’

      Emily breathed a sigh of relief. One of the nicest things about Adam was that never dwelt on stuff too long. On the whole, Adam was a pretty calm person. He must have been to put up with Livvy so long. His anger when it came was fast, furious and over quickly. Graham would have eked that one out for weeks, whereas Adam’s favourite phrase was ‘never let the sun go down on your anger’. And he never did – at least not with her, which was one of the many reasons Emily had fallen in love with this kind, funny man. He always tried to do the right thing. He always tried to be even-handed about Livvy too, refusing to bad-mouth her.

      ‘She was sick, Emily,’ he’d say, ‘she wasn’t always like that. Maybe I could have done more …’

      He always looked so sad then, Emily felt there was a place – a Livvy place – where she couldn’t reach him. Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if Livvy had lived. Would Adam have still been trying to help her? Emily rather suspected he would.

      ‘How did I get so lucky to find you?’ Emily said, lacing her fingers through his, still feeling the thrill of his touch.

      ‘Ditto,’ Adam said, and they stared at each other, soppily happy.

      There was a sudden bang on the window, which made them both jump, but then they laughed for jumping, and Emily squeezed Adam’s hand tightly.

      ‘I’ve been thinking,’ Adam said, ‘about what Joe said the other day.’

      ‘About me being his mum?’ Emily said. ‘I don’t want to replace Livvy.’

      ‘That’s not what he meant. That’s Joe being very literal. He hasn’t got a mum. You can be his new mum. It makes sense in his head.’

      ‘I suppose,’ said Emily, ‘but …’

      ‘It’s daunting, I know,’ said Adam, ‘but we have something here. Something special. I’d forgotten till you came along that I could be happy, and you make me so happy. I know it didn’t come about in the best of circumstances, and we didn’t plan it like this. But what I’ve learned from what happened to Livvy is that life’s too short. We can’t put constraints on how we feel or what we do, just because of what other people think. After what we’ve both been through, we deserve some happiness; that’s if you’re prepared to take Joe on.’

      Emily’s heart did a double flip and her mouth went dry.

      ‘Adam, what are you saying?’ He couldn’t be about to propose, could he?

      Adam looked at her. ‘Well, in the short term, will you move in with us?’

      ‘Oh Adam.’ Emily was awash with conflicting emotions. ‘I’d love to, you must know that. But …’

      ‘You’re worried it’s too soon?’

      ‘A little,’ said Emily. ‘And then there’s Joe – I want to do the right thing by him.’

      ‘I know,’ said Adam. ‘It won’t be easy. But we love each other; I think we can make it work.’

      Emily gulped. She’d fought hard for her independence after Graham left, and always sworn she’d take her time settling down with someone else. But Adam wasn’t Graham and, as he had said, life was short.

      ‘You think?’

      ‘I know,’ said Adam firmly. The windows rattled again, making them both start. It was clearly getting very windy out there. ‘I thought I’d had my shot at happiness. But then you came into my life. And we could waste our time worrying about what’s happened or grab the moment and be happy. That’s all I want now.’

      ‘Me too,’ Emily said, feeling a little tearful. It wasn’t quite a proposal, but then Emily hadn’t expected one so soon. She squeezed Adam’s hand. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, I’d love to.’

      Outside in the street the wind blew rubbish down the road, and people braced themselves against the wind. But Emily sat in a warm bubble of happiness. Whatever happened next, she had Adam at her side, and that was all that counted.

       Joe’s Notebook

       My mum is dead.

       I saw her in the hospital.

       I went to her funeral.

       That is very bad.

       Sometimes my eyes feel wet and I don’t know why.

       But then I look through my telescope at Venus and I feel better. I know Mum is watching me.

       Emily is going to be my new mum.

       I like Emily.

       If she had a star, I think she would be a star in Libra. She is a very balanced person.

       It is good she wants to be my mum.

       But … I made a Christmas wish. I asked for my mum to come back. And I think it might have come true.

       You can only have one mum.

       I don’t need two mums.

       That wouldn’t be right.

       Christmas Past

       Livvy

      Nooo!!! I howl at the restaurant window and the cold sleet seems to come down harder. I am so frustrated. How will I ever get Adam to notice me again when he’s so loved up with Emily? Emily is going to get my life. Raging, I blow through the streets, nudging the Christmas revellers, making more than one of them mutter about someone walking

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