She really was incredible. I sat down at the table and inhaled the rich, spicy, tomato flavour that was coming from the chicken. There had been no mention of cooking, and yet she’d created this amazing concoction from whatever there was in my refrigerator.

“We’ll need to do a proper shop,” said Bea. “I don’t know what Maddy already has for Alfie, but we can’t live on leftovers.” She blew on some chicken to cool it down before popping it into her mouth.

“We can do that. Maybe we can do an online one after dinner? Saves us the bother of either going out early or trying to shop with Alfie.”

We. Us.

I was talking about us as if we were a couple.

We had to be a team.

We had to get through this next six weeks together.

“There’s all that furniture to build too. Unless you think Alfie would be happier in one of the boxes.” Bea laughed.

“He’s not a cat, although a cat might be easier to look after.”

“How was your day?” Bea reached for her glass of wine. “You said you were in a meeting?”

“Yeah, it was just a team meeting. They told us about Maddy coming back, then heading straight out to Paris. I tried to look as taken aback as everyone else, but my acting skills aren’t that great.” It was true. When it had been announced, I tried to keep a straight face. Those on the team that knew me well weren’t surprised by my reaction. In fact, a couple of them had come up to me afterwards and asked what was going to happen with Alfie.

“I noticed your acting skills, or rather lack of them, when you came in, and saw the utter devastation I’d caused.”

The box carnage lay behind me and I glanced at it. “We’ll sort it out after dinner.”

There I went again with the ‘we’. I took a large gulp of wine, although maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do the night before my son was going to be coming to live with me. Having a hangover in the morning probably wasn’t the best idea.

We finished dinner, chatting about Tom and Laura and work. Bea said she was looking forward to starting her job, and I realised I hadn’t spoken to her about her future plans. Not that there had been any real reason to before; she was only Tom’s little sister, after all. Now, though, I wanted to know everything. I wanted to know about her trip, who she’d met and made friends with, why she’d chosen to go into PR, everything.

“Right, we should make a start on this.” I stood up, a little unsteady after the wine. Had we really got through almost two bottles?

“Do you want a coffee?” Bea asked as she cleared the table and put the dirty plates and cutlery in the dishwasher. “That might be a good idea.” I reached down for one of the sheets of instructions. Where I’d perhaps skimped on the furniture in the spare room—Bea’s room—I’d gone all out for Alfie, getting a cot that converted into a toddler bed, a dresser/changer and matching wardrobe. Looking at it now, in situ, I realised that there might not be enough space for everything. Why hadn’t I checked the measurements?

Bea handed me my coffee, and I gratefully took a sip. “Shall we make up the cot first?” she suggested.

“Good idea.”

We shifted the boxes into the currently empty room, and as we did so, I caught a glimpse of her bedroom through the crack in the door.

“You moved the bed?”

“Yeah, it was Laura’s idea. Is that okay?”

I pushed the door open fully and checked it out. The new arrangement made the space look even bigger and when it was light, there would be a great view out of the window. “I’d never thought to put it like that. There seems to be so much more space.”

“I think we’re going to have to apply that logic to Alfie’s room.” Bea wrinkled her nose as she looked around the tiny area. “I’m not sure we’re going to fit everything in.”

“I guess the bookcase can go into storage.” I scratched my head. “If we have the cot and dresser in here, I could put the wardrobe in my room.”

“Or you could put it in mine. I don’t mind having it there.”

“I don’t want you to think you have to. Alfie’s my responsibility really.” I thought I saw her face fall when I said that. It was difficult, trying not to make out that we were a couple, even though we were doing one of the things that couples did. “My room is the biggest so there’s more space there. Not much more, mind.” I grinned, trying to get her back on side.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I keep bashing my shins on the chest of drawers, as it is.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll get the cot and dresser in here and the wardrobe in my room.”

We worked methodically, Bea scampering backwards and forwards between Alfie’s room and the living room, trying to find the missing screw or Allen key that the instructions demanded. After around forty minutes, the cot bed was finished. Okay, so there might have been a tiny wobble, but I tightened up one of the screws and it all seemed sturdy. Between us, we wrestled it into the corner and stood back, proudly admiring our work.

“Come on, we’ve got the changing table to do next. After our first triumph, how hard can that one be?”

An hour later, I wished I hadn’t been so cocksure. The changing table fought me at every step, refusing to line up, definitely missing bits and generally frustrating me to hell. Bea soothed me every time I wanted to throw the screwdriver out of the window. I couldn’t help but compare her to Maddy. If it had been the two of us doing this, we’d have been screaming at each other within minutes, each blaming the other one for the failure of the task. Not for the first time, I was totally grateful to have Bea there.

“Finally!” I blew out a loud breath as the last piece fitted in without any issues.

Bea yawned. “Sorry, I’ve never been that good at DIY; Tom can vouch for that. I was forever getting him to come to my student digs to fix stuff.”

“You’ve been amazing,” I said, not for the first time. “Hey, it’s getting late; did you want to head off to bed and I’ll finish this on my own?”

“Not likely! I don’t want to hear you swearing the whole time. I’ll never get to sleep then.”

“Shit, and we need to do that online shop too, otherwise there’s nothing for Alfie, unless Maddy can give us some stuff.”

“I’m sure she will do that. Maybe we could pop out first thing and get a couple of bits instead? Then sort something out later? I’m not sure I can stay awake to do that, unless you want six boxes of washing powder.”

“With Alfie around, we might need all that.”

“Good point. Now let’s get this thing finished.”

The experience with the changing table made the wardrobe far easier. Once I’d shifted the bookcase out into the living room, where I suspected it would probably end up staying, the pieces slotted into place like a dream. It was assembled within twenty minutes. Carefully, we carried it into my bedroom and set it in place where the bookcase had been.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought.” I stood, hands on hips, surveying my handiwork.

“That’s a new record, surely?” Bea perched on the end of my unmade bed, trying not to look around her.

Now I knew the real reason why I hadn’t invited her in the previous evening. Every part of my body wanted to wrestle her onto the bed and kiss her until neither of us had any breath left. It was a dangerous train of thought that I had to stop before it got totally out of control.

“We make a great team.”

Stop it!

“Do you mind if I head off to bed now? I think tomorrow’s going to be a pretty long day.” She stood up and stretched, before making her way to the door.

I caught hold of her just before she could leave and pulled her close to me, enveloping her in a brief hug. “Thanks, Bea, sleep well.” I kissed the top of her head, then let her go before I did anything I might regret.