Chapter 20

TWENTY

FREDDIE

Dominic was not happy when Freddie told him that Charlotte was moving into the apartment with him full time.

It was around three months since she'd lost her father. Though she'd mentioned to her mother that they were back in touch, they'd agreed to keep their relationship quiet for a while, and he hadn't expected to go to the funeral. As soon as he'd got her text from the wake, though – I need you – he'd been on his way. She'd met him at the door as soon as he arrived.

‘Thanks so much for coming.'

‘Of course. I've been thinking about you all day.'

He'd put his arms around her and pulled her close, let her cry heaving sobs into his neck. Over her shoulder, he saw her mother's eyes, watching them. He tried to convey his silent condolences over the heads of the people in black, eating sandwiches from the paper plates in their hands, but her eyes were dark and unforgiving before she turned away. What did he have to do to make her realise he only wanted to look after Charlotte?

Today, he'd invited Dominic over to the flat to tell him what they'd decided. Hangover-killing black coffee in hand, Dominic was looking at him as if he'd lost his mind. ‘You've got to be kidding me. You're twenty-one, mate. You shouldn't be playing house.'

Things had moved quickly since her father's funeral. Over the last couple of months, since finding out about the two of them being back together, her relationship with her mother had been increasingly difficult.

Last week, she met him at the apartment for lunch and got quite upset talking about the change in her mother since the funeral. ‘She doesn't want to do anything. It's like someone turned out the lights for her and she can't see a way out. Was your mum like that?'

Freddie had been only ten at the time. ‘I don't really remember. And I was boarding from eleven, so I wasn't around.'

He was still a little tentative about mentioning his mother after her role in their break-up, but she had asked.

Charlotte pulled the serviette into pieces in her lap. ‘My mum can be hard work.'

He'd got that impression from the frosty reception he received every time he collected Charlotte from her house. ‘You don't get on?'

‘It's not that. We do. I love her. And sometimes we get along really well. But other times she's quite…demanding? I don't think that's the right word. She just has strong opinions about how things should be done. She wants me to have everything and do everything. My dad, he was always the laid-back one. He kept us from driving each other crazy.'

Her face crumpled into tears and he wrapped an arm around her. ‘It's hard for you both.'

She wiped the tears away. ‘I feel like she's pushing me away. She keeps asking if I'm going to go travelling now Dad's gone. She thinks he would've wanted me to go and do it.'

Anxiety prickled in Freddie's stomach. He tried to keep his voice calm. ‘Do you think you will?'

He'd been relieved to see her shake her head. ‘No. Lucy and Rachael will be home soon and they won't have the money to go again for a while. Unless you want to go?'

If only he could. ‘I have to start my job. Mum wants to take me out suit shopping next week.'

He made a face and she laughed. Then sighed. ‘I need to do something though. Me and my mum are dragging ourselves around that house like a pair of ghosts. I need to start thinking about the future, too.'

‘What about moving in here?' He hadn't planned to ask but now realised that he wanted it more than anything. When he wasn't with Charlotte, he missed her like a limb.

She pulled away from him and raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you asking me to move in with you?'

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like a brilliant idea. ‘It's closer to the station for me to get to work. And it means I'll be able to see you every night, even if I'm home late.'

For a few moments, he thought he'd pushed her too far, too soon. But then her face broke into a tearful smile. ‘Yes. Let's do it. Life's for living, right? I need to do something and it'll be fun living together. But I have to get a proper job and pay my way.'

That was the last thing he was bothered about. ‘We can argue about that later.'

Now, sitting on the same sofa at the apartment, Dominic was still shaking his head in disbelief. ‘I suppose you're going to want me to give you my key back if you're moving her in?'

He'd given Dom a key to the apartment back when his uncle first emigrated. Had even let him bring a girl back here more than once. ‘Yeah, I don't want you just wandering in on us. But there's no rush. I've got a spare one for Charlotte.'

‘How does your mother feel about her precious boy moving out?'

He hadn't actually told her yet, but she seemed to have changed her mind about Charlotte now that she could see how happy he was and it really would be easier for him to get to the station from the apartment. He was sure she'd be okay with it. It was Charlotte's mother that he was more worried about. Would it make her like him even less if he took her daughter away to live with him?