Read Online Me and Mr Jones by Lucy Diamond - Free Book Online

that he was now in his thirties and definitely an adult didn’t seem to make any difference.
    Today, however, there was no pandering or excusing, no ‘We’ll just give him another ten minutes’. Today, a line seemed to have been drawn in the sand. ‘We can’t wait any longer,’ Lilian decided eventually, wheeling the food in on her hostess trolley. ‘I’ll put his share in the oven.’
    Alicia felt positively riddled with guilt by now for not helping earlier. Lilian was usually completely in control – of herself as well as the entire family – yet today she seemed all over the place. Her hands shook as she dished up the meat then she knocked over a glass of water, which splashed Hugh’s trousers. Eddie, meanwhile, appeared blank and unresponsive, a million miles away. Something, thought Alicia with a lurch, was definitely up.
    Hugh had noticed too, and kept looking at his parents with a small frown between his eyebrows. ‘Everything all right, Mum?’ he asked.
    ‘I’m fine!’ she snapped. ‘Why does everyone keep asking me that?’
    Eddie blinked at the sharpness of her voice, before putting a calming hand on hers. ‘We’ve got something we’d like to discuss with you after lunch,’ he said. ‘That’s if Charlie ever turns up, mind.’
    Oh dear. That didn’t sound promising. Were they in financial trouble? Alicia wondered. Hugh occasionally helped out with their accounts and had said that bookings were considerably down recently.
    ‘Has anyone actually heard from Charlie?’ David asked, getting out his phone. ‘I’ll text him, remind him that he’s meant to be here.’
    Lilian’s lips were tight as everyone shook their heads; she was clearly hurt by Charlie’s careless neglect.
    Alicia felt sorry for her. ‘Let’s have a toast, to Lilian and Eddie,’ she said, trying to salvage what was, after all, meant to be a celebratory occasion. ‘Forty-five years’ marriage is a wonderful achievement.’
    ‘Absolutely,’ Hugh said quickly. He raised his glass. ‘To Mum and Dad!’
    ‘Lilian and Eddie!’
    ‘Grandma and Grandpa!’
    Everyone clinked glasses and Lilian smiled thinly. Then David’s phone beeped. ‘Ah,’ he said, reading the message. ‘It’s Charlie – he’s on his way.’
    The meal began and a feeling of jollity slowly spread across the table, with any previous tension ebbing away. Lilian was pink in the cheeks from the wine and the attention, and the food was unanimously declared a triumph. Lucas started telling Eddie some of the less-rude jokes he’d learned at school, and Raffy launched into a gruesome description of the dead fox they’d seen on the way over, in full technicoloured detail.
    ‘Not now, darling,’ Alicia tried saying, noticing Lilian’s mouth pursing with disapproval. ‘Raff! Enough gore, thank you.’
    Thankfully David had a better tactic. ‘Did your dad ever tell you about the fox cub he smuggled up to his bedroom when he was about your age?’ he interrupted, grinning at Hugh.
    ‘No WAY!’ Raffy breathed, open-mouthed. ‘Dead or alive?’
    ‘Goodness, yes. It was most certainly alive,’ Lilian said, shuddering at the memory. ‘What a mess it made of the carpet, the wretched thing!’
    David caught Alicia’s eye and winked as the children immediately began bombarding Hugh and their grandparents for details. ‘Do you mean it actually, like, POOED on the carpet, Grandma?’
    ‘What else did it do?’
    ‘Was Dad in really massive trouble?’
    Alicia smiled at David. ‘Thanks,’ she mouthed gratefully. She liked David a lot more than she did Charlie, always had done. He had come to visit when Lucas was a week old and she was in the absolute fog of new-motherhood, shattered with sleep-deprivation and wondering if she’d ever feel normal again. She remembered becoming increasingly flustered when Lucas wouldn’t stop crying, despite her trying to feed him discreetly, and was embarrassed at having her big cow-boobs out with Hugh’s brother