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‘No, of course not,’ Jason assured her. Then he blinked. What was so ‘of course’ about it, anyway?

Lightning-fast thoughts flashed through his brain. Yes, Laura wore glasses but now that he had noticed the colour of her eyes they seemed more like frames that accentuated rather than hid them. Yes, she was short and Jason had always avoided short women because they made him feel like a father figure, but Laura was anything but childish. She could be bossy but she was never bad-tempered without a jolly good reason and, what’s more, she was bloody good at her job. Yes, she was nothing like as skinny as Maxine, but he’d actually been serious when he’d told Laura he might try some curves next time. And on top of everything else, he simply liked Laura. Right now, it seemed that she had far more going for her than Maxine did.

‘Laura’s a friend,’ he explained. ‘A very good friend. And she’s living with me right now to help look after Megan.’

‘Megan?’

‘My daughter.’ There was an unmistakable note of pride in Jason’s voice and his colleagues exchanged meaningful glances over their slices of cake. ‘Here, would you like to hold her?’

‘Not in this lifetime,’ Maxine said sweetly. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you had a baby, Jason?’

‘Because I didn’t have a baby,’ Jason said. ‘Not until last week.’

‘I’ve spoken to you since last week.’ Maxine looked confused but then licked her lips and shook her tumble of tresses into place. ‘You still could have told me.’

‘I thought I would have got rid of it by now.’

‘Oh.’ Maxine looked a little happier. ‘You’re not keeping it, then?’

‘No. Its mother’s coming back. Her mother,’ Jason amended.

He didn’t like the way talking to Maxine was sucking him back in time. Had he really thought her such an amazing conquest? She hadn’t even looked at Megan, let alone said how cute she was. How self-centred could someone get?

‘At least, we think she is.’

‘You don’t know?’

‘No.’ Jason was suddenly rather pleased to be holding Megan in his arms. ‘It’s possible she’s never coming back,’ he found himself saying. ‘So I might end up being pretty busy for the next ten years or so. Are you sure you don’t want to hold her, Maxine? Look, she’s smiling.’

Maxine’s look said it all. Everybody studiously stuffed themselves with cake for the next few minutes as Jason’s relationship went through some speedy death throes. Laura found her throat too constricted to swallow, however. Jason had just been made very firmly single again, and Jason never stayed single for long. Just how far from home would he go looking for a replacement for the beautiful Maxine? Or maybe he wouldn’t bother looking at all for a while? He might even be upset by the break-up. She watched anxiously from the corner of her eye as he turned back from the doorway where his final words and probably an apology to Maxine had gone unheeded.

‘Hey, have you lot eaten all that cake?’ Jason shook his head sadly. ‘Oink, oink!’

‘You can have mine,’ Laura offered. Relief that Jason wasn’t noticeably devastated at the break-up of yet another relationship made her smile widely. ‘I’ve only eaten half.’

‘Thanks, Laura.’ Jason sat down beside her and swapped the baby for the cake plate. ‘I knew I could count on you.’

Laura smiled at Megan. Jason focused on the half-slice of banana cake and neither of them was aware of the new wave of meaningful glances exchanged in the room.

Or the rather satisfied-looking smiles.

7

‘Did you have anything specific in mind?’

Laura stared at her reflection in the huge mirror facing her. Her peripheral vision took in the figure of the young hairdresser who was also eyeing the thick, mousy, one-length hair she had just combed out.

‘Just a trim, I guess.’ Laura’s nose wrinkled as she continued to stare at herself. ‘It’s been at least a year since it had a good cut and the ends must be horribly split.’

‘How do you normally wear it?’ The length of her hair was now wound around the hairdresser’s hand and was being scooped up to sit in a heap on top of her head. She caught her client’s gaze in the mirror and Laura grinned.

‘Not like that,’ she said. ‘I just tie it back in a ponytail to keep it out of the way.’

The hair was released and then fluffed out by expert fingers. ‘You’ve got quite a bit of natural curl, you know. It’s just too heavy in one length for it to show. Have you ever thought of having it layered?’

‘But then I wouldn’t be able to tie it back. I’m a paramedic. I can’t have my hair flopping into a patient’s face when I’m leaning over them.’

‘So why not cut it a bit shorter? You could still have it down to your shoulders if you want to keep the length. If it’s layered and shaped it would sit neatly around your face. Look.’