“I don’t exactly know,” he said. “But I do know that I want to be involved in my child’s life. At this point I have no idea how that might work, but I would love the chance to talk to you and see if we can come up with some kind of a plan.”
“Does Olivia know you’re here?”
She watched Simon cringe. “Olivia’s... We broke up. She’s moved out.”
Libby wanted to laugh out loud. So that was why Simon had turned up at her front door drunk. He’d been dumped.
“But look, this isn’t about Olivia; this is about us and our baby. Please, can we sit down and talk over breakfast?”
“Simon, I asked you to leave.”
“Please, Libby. Please, hear me out, and then you never have to see me again if you don’t want to.”
Libby inhaled. She desperately wanted Simon out of the house, but she knew from experience how stubborn he was. “Fine, let’s get this over and done with, then. But for god’s sake, put some clothes on first.”
•••
LIBBYsat in silence at the kitchen table while Simon cooked the pancakes. While he did so, she checked her phone. Frank had texted her first thing this morning, a brief message saying he hoped she was okay and he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow at Parliament Hill. And Esme had sent a message this morning too, all in caps, pronouncing,I DON’T LIKE YOUR EX. DYLAN IS MUCH NICER.
Yet the message Libby really wanted to receive hadn’t arrived. She thought back to last night and their moment in the kitchen—the bus onesie... Dylan’s words... that extraordinary kiss—and she picked up her phone to compose a text. But as she started to type, Libby remembered the look in Dylan’s eyes when Simon had walked into the garden, the way he’d strained across the table as if he wanted to kill him. Libby had seen Dylan angry before, but that had been nothing compared to his fury last night. No wonder he hadn’t texted her; he probably never wanted to see her again. She put the phone down as the baby gave an unsettled squirm.
“Here you go.” Simon placed a plate of pancakes in front ofLibby. “I even found some syrup at the back of the cupboard; I’m amazed your sister allows this stuff in the house.”
“Okay, so, what is it you wanted to say?” Libby said. There was no way she was going to let him sit and make small talk as if they were two friends having a social breakfast together.
Simon ate a mouthful before he answered. “Well, for one, I wanted to apologize about the way I reacted when you told me.”
“You’ve done that already. What else?”
Libby saw anger flick across Simon’s face. He’d never seen this version of her before, the one who spoke up to him, and he clearly didn’t like it. But when he opened his mouth again, his tone was light.
“I’ve done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks, and I realize that I was wrong when I said I didn’t want anything to do with the baby. You know how much I’ve always wanted to be a dad, and I can’t just walk away from my own child.”
Libby took a deep breath. This had been what she’d hoped for originally, for Simon to say he wanted to be involved. But now she was hearing these words, they filled her with dread. “So what are you proposing?”
“For one thing, I can help you financially. I know you’ve not worked in three months, so you must be running out of savings. I’m happy to pay my share of costs, and there’s always your old job at my company if you want it.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Well, I’d like to be part of the baby’s life. I’d like to see him or her regularly, have them for weekends and holidays when they’re a bit older. I’ve got a spare room, as you know, so I can turn that into a bedroom for the little one. I don’t wantto be some distant dad the kid never sees. I want to be there on the football sidelines cheering them on, you know?”
Libby put a small piece of pancake in her mouth but her throat was dry and she couldn’t swallow it. She sipped some water so she didn’t gag.
“Have you thought about where you’re going to live?” Simon said, helping himself to more syrup.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ve been looking online for places to rent round here.”
He sucked in through his teeth. “You won’t find anything you can afford in this part of town.”
“I’m looking farther out as well.”
“Have you thought about coming back to Surrey?”
“No, Simon. Surrey is pretty much the last place I want to live right now.”
“Ouch!” Simon said, and he grabbed his chest dramatically as if he’d been stabbed.
Libby smiled before she could stop herself. She quickly straightened her face, but Simon was smirking in triumph.