Perfect Blend: A Novel (37 page)

“You were an idiot, but I know how these things happen. You take your eye off the ball for a second and …”

“Please, will you come and sit down.”

She sat next to him on the sofa. He took her hand in his. “Okay, here’s the thing: I love you more than I have ever loved any woman in my entire life, and I have no intention of letting you go. I want you and I want Charlie. I have behaved like a spoiled child instead of a grown man, and I am deeply ashamed of myself. Can you forgive me?”

Amy didn’t speak for a few seconds. “You’re serious? You really mean this?”

“With all my heart.”

“Okay, then of course I forgive you, but I don’t understand. Why the sea change?”

He explained that he and Jean Baptiste had spent five days traveling together in the Rwandan bush, and during that time they had spent hours discussing politics and putting the world to rights. “Eventually we got onto the genocide and his past. When I heard his story again, I felt like such a bloody fool. This man has spent most of his life walking alongside grief and loss. He remembers events so brutal and sadistic that we can’t begin to imagine. He made me realize that it’s all right to grieve for the father who left me but it isn’t all right to carry on behaving like a needy child. He talked about how as adults we have to parent ourselves. I’m not sure quite how to go about that yet, but I’ll work it out. What’s more, I can see now that just because my father walked out, it doesn’t automatically follow that I will do the same. I can choose to be a good father. Amy, I want the three of us to be together.”

She sat letting his words sink in and thinking how long she’d waited to hear them. “I want us to be together as well.” She paused, wondering how he would react to what she was about to tell him. “You haven’t seen the result of the DNA test, have you?”

“No. When did it come?”

“I got an e-mail a couple of minutes ago.”

He looked over at her laptop, which was on the dining room table. “So what did it say?”

“You are not Charlie’s father.”

“Really?” He looked like he’d been punched.

She nodded.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I’d rather gotten used to the idea that I was his dad. I was even starting to think that we looked alike.”

“For what it’s worth,” she said, “despite everything that had happened between us, I desperately wanted you to be his father. I also still happen to think that the pair of you look alike.”

“So Charlie’s artistic talent comes from you.”

Her face broke into a smile. “I guess—not that mine amounts to much more than an ability to color-coordinate curtains and cushions.” She paused. “So, do you still want to stay?”

“Of course I do. I have absolutely no intention of walking away. I want us to get married. I want to be Charlie’s dad. I want us to be a family.”

“Sam, look at me. Are you absolutely certain?”

“I have never been more certain of anything in my life.”

“That’s what you say now, but what if it all gets too much for you and after a few months you decide you want to leave?”

“I’m not naive. I’m not about to pretend I won’t have my struggles, but I am committed to us. You have to believe me.”

Amy nodded. “Okay,” she said slowly. “I do believe you.”

“Fantastic. So, now can we please have a make up kiss?”

“Not yet,” she said. “There’s one other thing.”

“What?”

“Today is turning out to be a bit of a day for test results.”

“How do you mean?”

“Stay there. Don’t move.”

She went upstairs to the bathroom. Half a minute later, she returned with the wand from the pregnancy testing kit. “It would appear,” she said, “that I am not heading toward early menopause. And the clinic lied. You were never sterile.”

“You’re kidding,” he said, the color draining from his face.

“I’m not. Take a look.” She handed him the wand. “See, two pink stripes. I’m pregnant.”

By now Amy realized that she needed to sit down. The news that she was pregnant hadn’t exactly come as a surprise, but it was still a shock to have it confirmed. Dazed and a little bewildered, she lowered herself onto the sofa.

“Oh, my God. This is fantastic news,” Sam said, his eyes darting with excitement.

“You really mean that?”

“Of course I mean it. I’m the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. Aren’t you?”

“It just feels so unreal. I’ve dreamed about having another baby, but I never really thought it would happen.”

“Well, it has.”

Her face finally broke into a smile. “Omigod. It has, hasn’t it?”

They fell into each other’s arms, both of them laughing and crying at the same time. At one point Sam squeezed her so hard, she could hardly breathe. “I love you so much,” he said.

“I love you, too.”

Just then Charlie came running in. “Look, Mum, I’ve found a wood license.” He always called wood lice “licenses.” She probably shouldn’t have encouraged him, but hearing it made her laugh. By then Charlie had noticed Sam.

“Hey, Sam.”

“Hey, Charlie. How you doing?”

Charlie turned to his mother. “You two friends again?”

“Definitely,” Amy said.

“Then why are you both crying?”

“It’s okay, Charlie, they’re happy tears. We’re crying because we’ve made up.” She wasn’t about to blurt out to him that she was pregnant. She needed to choose her moment.

“Good. Sam, can you find some leaves for my wood license? I think he’s hungry.”

Sam suggested it might be kinder to put the creature on a leaf in the garden. “So,” he said, “do you guys feel like coming for a drive?”

“Yay. Where to?”

Amy looked a question at Sam.

“It’s a surprise,” he said.

She threw up her hands. “Well, I guess a third surprise in one day can’t hurt.”

They set off along the coast road, Charlie listening to short stories on his Nintendo.

“Oh, God,” Sam said. “In the midst of everything, I totally forgot to mention the Crema Crema Crema piece. I saw it when I got back. One of the guys at work kept a copy of
The Daily Post
. He said you’ve been doing all the news programs and talk shows. It’s amazing. You must be so proud. To uncover a story like that and bring a nasty company down single-handed—it’s quite an achievement.”

“I guess, but while I was doing it, I didn’t think about the outcome. I just got on with it … By the way, the editor of
The Daily Post
offered me a staff job.”

“Congratulations. Though I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I turned it down. I’ve decided to freelance instead, which was always my plan. The staff job would have meant leaving Charlie for long periods while I traveled. I couldn’t have done that. And now that I’m pregnant …”

“But you’re not a single parent now. If you want to change your mind about the job, I’m sure the two of us could find a way of making it work.”

She reached over and kissed him. “You are such a sweetheart.” She paused. “No. This feels right. Working at my own pace means I get to spend time with Charlie and the baby. I know I’ve made the correct decision.”

By then they had been driving for twenty minutes or so. They had left the coast road a while back. As they’d traveled inland and started to climb, the countryside had become more wooded. Charlie took off his headphones and asked why it had suddenly gotten dark outside. Amy told him to look up. She explained that the tree branches on either side of the road had met, blocking some of the light. Satisfied, he went back to his stories. Amy brought up the subject of Bean Machine and asked Sam if they had gone down owing him money.

“I was lucky. Creditors are queuing up, some of them claiming hundreds of thousands. They’d paid me all they owed, save for about eight hundred quid. I won’t see it, but it could have been so much worse.”

He turned right into a narrow, steeply descending lane. “Two more minutes,” he said.

The dense woodland gave way to a stretch of open land that sloped gently down to a sandy beach.

“Gosh, this is glorious,” Amy said as they climbed out of the car. Charlie started running toward the beach. Amy told him not to go where she couldn’t see him.

“You really like it?” Sam said.

“I love it.”

“Brilliant, because the whole of this three-acre site is for sale. It’s ours if we want it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“That means you can build your house.”

“Our
house. But now I’m thinking that buying it wouldn’t be our best financial move, bearing in mind we’ll have to buy a family house in London and the land alone will cost me all my savings.”

Amy let out a sigh. “Yeah, it’s a mad idea. How can we think about a holiday home when we haven’t even got a home-home?”

“I know. Let’s just forget it.”

“Even with both of us working, we’d be old before the house was finished.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t even know why I brought you here.”

“On the other hand, if we saved hard … and your paintings are selling well.”

“Actually, I just got a call from Boris Karpenko—you know, the Russian tycoon. He wants to buy another half dozen.”

“And he’s sure to tell all his rich friends about you.”

“I guess.”

“And to save money,” she said, “we could even do some of the building work ourselves. Plenty of people do. Although where we’d find the time …”

“You make time. And this spot is so beautiful.”

“Breathtaking.”

“It would be so hard to walk away.”

“Almost impossible.”

Neither of them spoke. They stood staring out to sea, listening to the gulls cawing and the waves crashing on the beach. Amy called out to Charlie again, reminding him to keep away from the water’s edge. She turned to Sam.

“Let’s do it.”

“What?”

“Let’s buy the land and start building a house.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

“But it’ll take forever, and with so many outlays, we’ll be really hard up. We’ll have to cut back on luxuries.”

She laughed. “No change there, then.”

They were still laughing and hugging when Charlie broke in. “Did you say that you’re going to build a house here?”

“One day,” Sam said.

Amy turned to Charlie. “Can you imagine coming here for holidays?”

“When?”

“Oh, in a few years, maybe.”

“And by then you might have a brother or sister who could come too.”

“No, just me.”

Amy and Sam exchanged amused glances. Having been an only child for so long, Charlie wasn’t going to take kindly to the arrival of a sibling. Amy decided she would need to break the news very gently.

On the way back, Charlie fell asleep. He woke up just as Sam turned the engine off. “I’ll only let you have a baby brother or sister if I can have a snake.”

Amy laughed. “This child just never gives up.”

“I dunno,” Sam said. “It seems a reasonable request to me.”

Amy’s eyes widened. “What?”

They climbed out of the car. Sam led Charlie around to the back and opened the boot.

“Omigod,” Amy whispered to Sam. “I cannot believe you did this. Not after me telling you how much I hate snakes.”

“Here, Charlie, take this.”

By now Amy had covered her face with her hands. “You rotten so and so,” she cried out. “I hate you.”

She peered out from between her fingers and saw Sam hand Charlie something long and thin and red.

“Mum, look.”

Amy looked. Her face broke into a smile. Charlie wasn’t holding a snake. He was holding a dog lead.

“Okay, what’s going on?” she said to Sam.

“I bet I know,” Charlie piped up. “I’m getting a dog.”

“Let’s go and see,” Sam said.

As they walked over to the barn, Colin appeared, carrying a garden fork. It looked like he’d been doing some digging in the vegetable patch behind the barn. “I kept an eye on ’im for you, like you asked,” he said to Sam. “He’s a right little beauty.”

The three of them went inside. Lying in a wicker dog basket on a cushion was the cutest, whitest, fluffiest, biggest-brown-eyed bichon frise puppy.

“Wow, is he for me?” Charlie said to Sam.

“All for you.” He turned to Amy. “I got him from my local pet rescue center. I thought becoming adoptive parents would be more socially responsible.”

“Quite right.” Amy grinned. “So you had this thing planned from the beginning,” she said.

“Yes, but when I arrived, I hadn’t quite worked out who was going to look after the dog while I took you and Charlie to see the land. Luckily Colin showed up when he did.”

Charlie picked up the puppy. It immediately began licking its new owner’s face, causing Charlie to burst into fits of giggles.

“What are you going to call him?” Amy said.

“Fang; then he can be a sort of snake dog.”

“Figures,” Amy said, grinning. “Charlie, what do you say to Sam?”

“Thank you. This is the best present I have ever had. It’s even better than when Granddad got me my football kit. Mum, can I phone Arthur later to tell him that I’ve got a puppy, too?”

“Why not?” Amy said. “And then I think I ought to make a few calls.” She reached out and took Sam’s hand. “I know you’ve barely met, but would you mind if I asked Zelma to be the baby’s godmother? She’d like that. I think she gets lonely, and a baby would give her something to focus on.”

Sam said he still remembered Zelma fussing around him, persuading him to buy a slice of ginger cake. “She seemed like a lovely lady. I think it’s a great idea.”

They were walking back to the house, Charlie carrying Fang, when Amy’s mobile rang.

“Amy. Roy Hargreaves. Okay. You win.”

“Excuse me?”

“Look, you’re a talented young woman with a great future ahead of you, and I don’t intend to lose you.”

“Roy, I’m flattered, but I’ve explained my position.”

“I know. Just hear me out. I’m probably getting soft in my old age, but here’s the deal: In return for working exclusively for the
Post
, you get a contract that allows you to work from home, at your own pace. All I ask is that you come in for weekly meetings and give me a minimum of six investigative pieces a year. I can’t be fairer than that. What do you say?”