Tina spent the next two days thinking about Luc and the question he’d asked her. Tossing and turning at night too, she went over and over in her mind what she should do.
Was she prepared to be his girlfriend and part of an instant family? It was all very well for Luc not to want to hurt Penny – she didn’t either – but what about her? She might only have met the little girl the once but Penny had already grabbed a piece of her heart and Tina knew it wouldn’t take long before she, like her father, had completely stolen it. Tina also knew that, unlike Annie, she would never be able to walk away from a vulnerable child if for some reason the relationship between her and Luc fell apart.
And how would Penny herself react to Tina being in Luc’s life? She’d seemed to like her in the café but would that turn to resentment if Luc and she became a proper couple? Luc’s parents, too, were an unknown worry. How would they feel about their son becoming involved with a new woman and their granddaughter? In fact, everything about the situation worried her, Tina realised. Still so many unanswered questions. The only consistent thought running through her mind was how much she liked Luc and wanted to be in his and Penny’s life.
At three o’clock in the morning of the second night, Tina found herself in absolute agreement with one of her mother’s favourite sayings: ‘Life is one big lottery and there ain’t no guarantees.’ And with that thought in her head she finally turned over and went to sleep, to dream about life with Luc and Penny as a family.
Sitting at her desk the next morning she picked up her phone and texted Luc.
Please may I come to the zoo with you? xxx
Tina saw Luc and Penny waiting for her by the zoo entrance before they saw her and her heart flipped as she stopped for a moment to look at them both. How could they have become so important to her so quickly?
Waiting for the pedestrian ‘walk’ light to flash, she mentally crossed everything and gave a silent prayer that what she was going to say to Luc this afternoon would be acceptable to him. If not, she intended to keep to a professional relationship only with Luc, although in fact she’d insist he signed with another agency, so the break would be complete on all sides. Not only would her heart be broken, the agency would in all probability fail without Luc’s bestseller, but that was the way it would have to be if he didn’t agree.
‘There she is,’ an excited Penny shouted as she saw Tina. Wrenching her hand out of Luc’s, she ran straight into Tina’s arms. ‘We’ve been here ages.’
‘Oh, sorry, am I late?’ Tina said, looking at Luc as she gave Penny a cuddle.
He shook his head. ‘No, we arrived far too early because madam here couldn’t wait to see you.’ He leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘C’mon then, let’s go. Favourite animal?’ he said, turning to Tina.
‘Penguins,’ she said. ‘Yours?’
‘Lions.’
‘Guess what mine is.’ Penny tugged on her hand. ‘Mine’s penguins too. Can we go see them first?’ Which is what they did, with Penny between them, holding hands and trying to persuade them to give her swing after swing.
After seeing the penguins, they made for the lions, followed by the monkeys and then a mug of hot chocolate and toasted teacakes for them all before finding and following the signs for ‘Winter Wonderland and Father Christmas’. As Penny skipped ahead for once, Luc took hold of Tina’s hand.
‘Are you going to keep me in suspense much longer? I’m hoping, as you’re here, that I’m going to like your answer to my question,’ he said quietly.
‘I need to say something first,’ Tina said. ‘We don’t know whether a relationship between us would be rock solid although I have a good feeling about it.’ She looked at him and smiled. ‘And I know your main concern is for Penny not to get hurt.’ She took a deep breath. ‘But if it were to go pear-shaped in the future, I couldn’t just walk away from Penny as well as you. I’d want to keep in touch with her because she already feels special to me. Would you still let me see her if we were to split?’
Luc stared at her before silently pulling her into his arms and, ignoring the stares from other people, he gently kissed her. ‘Tina Matthews, I love you more than I ever thought possible. Penny and I are incredibly lucky to have you in our lives. I promise I would never ever come between the two of you.’
‘In that case you have a new girlfriend,’ Tina said, savouring the admission that he loved her and reaching up to whisper it back into his ear. ‘Because I love you too.’
Standing in the queue waiting for her turn to see Father Christmas, Penny whispered to Tina, ‘Daddy posted my letter to Father Christmas a few days ago – d’you think he’ll have read it yet?’
‘Probably not,’ Tina said. ‘He’s very busy.’
‘Good. Cos I want to tell him I’ve changed my mind so could he please ignore the letter when he does read it.’
Tina nodded. ‘That should be OK. What are you going to ask for instead?’
Penny looked at her. ‘It’s a secret.’
Standing hand in hand with Luc, watching Penny follow the White Fairy to speak to Father Christmas, Tina felt truly happy for the first in… oh, forever really. She was in love with Luc and adored Penny. Life was good. ‘Did you sneak a look at Penny’s letter to Father Christmas before you posted it?’
‘Of course,’ Luc said. ‘Luckily the main item, a scooter, is already bought and hidden away.’
‘Anything else on it I can buy her?’ Tina said.
‘I think Mum has the rest covered,’ Luc said. ‘But I’m sure we can think of something.’
‘Father Christmas is talking to her for a long time,’ Tina said. ‘He’s looking at us now. D’you think you ought to go and fetch her?’
‘No, he’s handing her the present now and here she comes,’ Luc said.
‘I like Father Christmas,’ Penny said, smiling at them both happily. ‘He didn’t mind a bit about me changing my mind, so long as I’ve been a good girl. I have, haven’t I, Dad?’
‘Mainly good. Now Nonna and Gramps are waiting for us at home, so let’s go.’
‘I’ll say goodbye then,’ Tina said. ‘It’s been a lovely afternoon. I expect I’ll see you again before Christmas.’
Penny burst into tears. ‘But Daddy promised you were coming home with us. I helped Nonna make mince pies especially this morning.’
‘Penny, stop crying now.’ Luc looked at Tina apologetically. ‘Sorry, I forgot to mention you’re invited to tea. You can come, can’t you? Mum seems to think it’s time she met you.’ His eyes met Tina’s and she knew he wanted to introduce her to his mum.
She bit her lip. It was Saturday, she’d had a lovely afternoon and she didn’t have any plans for the rest of the day, so why not? It would be lovely spending more time with Luc and Penny. Tina pushed away the terrifying thought that Luc’s mum wanted to inspect her. She’d have to meet Luc’s parents sooner or later. It would have been good to be more prepared though, dressed up a bit, bought a small gift, flowers or something, but no time for that.
She took hold of Penny’s hand. ‘You and Nonna made mince pies especially for me? How can I not come for tea?’