‘Wise move.’ Raina laughed, rinsing the flannel in the sink and hanging it over the tap. ‘I think you’re good to go now.’
He was good to go. A little wiser for the time he’d spent with Raina, but that was never going to be a reason for them to be together again. He might understand the reasons for their divorce a little better, but that just meant that he knew that there was no going back.
Alistair got to his feet. ‘I’ll see you later in the week?’
‘Yes, I’ve arranged for a session with Kaia on Thursday.’ She paused, as if she’d just thought of something. ‘Were you serious when you said I could run with the parent support idea?’
‘Yes, of course. If you want to, that is.’
Raina nodded.
‘Yes, I want to. Thanks.’
CHAPTER NINE
RAINA UNPACKED HER weekend bag for the third time. She didn’t usually have this amount of trouble deciding what to wear.
‘I like this one, Mummy...’ Anya was sitting on the bed, sorting through the rejects pile, and held up a filmy, see-through blouse. She was using her prosthetic hand much more now, and as well as being able to use it to manipulate things better, the droop of her left shoulder as she struggled to equalise the length of both limbs had been corrected.
‘No, not that one, sweetie.’ Not for a conference. Certainly not for a conference with Alistair.
And this was important. The Watchlight Trust had been working on this for months and the list of attendees had been carefully selected.
Not to mention the venue. Raina wasn’t going to even think about the venue.
‘What about a suit?’ Raina held the dark grey skirt and jacket up against herself.
Anya wrinkled her nose and shook her head. Maybe she was right. Raina had bought the suit years ago, when she and Alistair had been divorcing. She hadn’t worn it much, the colour was too drab.
‘A dress, then?’ She had a few nice dresses that she could team with a jacket to smarten them up.
Anya nodded, throwing herself over onto her stomach. She was bored with this now, and if Anya was bored with a dressing-up session then it had definitely gone on too long.
‘Okay, the dress it is. And this one...’ Raina put the two dresses aside, along with a jacket that matched both, and surveyed the rumpled pile of clothes on the bed. Now for the cocktail party...
That was the most difficult. Raina had three suitable dresses, all of which had been bought while she’d been married to Alistair. Each one of them held memories.
Anya started to sing, and Raina joined in. Somehow that seemed to lessen the tension. Her little girl needed two hands to throw clothes around on the bed with, or make whatever mess she wanted. This was why she was doing this, nothing else.
‘All right. Last one, Anya. Blue or black?’ She held the two dresses up.
‘Red!’
Anya loved that dress. So did Raina. And so had Alistair...
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes, Mummy. It’s beautiful.’ Anya rolled off the bed, taking a pile of blouses with her, and walked over to the wardrobe, tugging at the skirt of the red dress.
Raina took the dress from the wardrobe. She had to wear something, and she always felt comfortable in this dress. She bent down and kissed her daughter.
‘I’ll wear it for you, then.’ Not Alistair. ‘It’ll remind me how much I’m going to miss you when I’m away.’
‘It’s only two days. And we’re going to the zoo. Grandad promised.’
From the number of things that her father had promised Anya they’d do, it was clear that her daughter would prefer it to be three days. Even though her father had barely been able to look at Anya after the accident, he doted on the little girl now.
‘He did. And you know that Grandad never breaks a promise if he can help it.’