'No!' Sam screamed, bouncing around on the rug, 'I'm going to win.'
'We'll see about that,' she replied.
'My God, you two are very competitive,' Conor said mildly, 'but I have to tell you, neither of you have a hope.'
They played three games, Dee and Conor playing skilfully to ensure Sam won two of them. 'Right, mister, that's enough,' Dee said, glancing at the clock, 'it's bedtime.'
'Conor, will you read me a story?' Sam asked, smiling sweetly up at him.
'Sure, but wouldn't you prefer your Mum to do it? She's much better than me.'
'He's fed up with me,' Dee said, grabbing Sam and tickling him. 'One story only, okay?'
He nodded, still giggling, and threw his arms around her.
Dee hugged him close. 'I'll be up to tuck you in before you go asleep.'
Conor pulled him up on to his shoulders and headed for the door. 'Duck!' he warned, as he always did, and bending his head and giggling, Sam said, 'Quack.'
Dee felt unexpected tears in her eyes as she listened to their noisy progress across the hall and up the stairs. They seemed like any normal father and son and either Conor enjoyed their time together or he was a damned good actor. She tried to imagine Neil horseplaying with Sam, the three of them playing games together or Neil taking him for bath time, but she couldn't. Probably because she had never seen Neil with children and didn't even know if he had ever hoped to be a father. It was something that had never come up in conversation during the whole of their relationship; their main priority had been to have fun.
Dee guessed that if they had discussed it she would have been the one to say she definitely didn't want children. After the childhood she'd had, the misery she'd gone through when her mother died, and the distant relationship she'd had since with her father in this bleak, heartless house, she couldn't imagine being a parent herself. She shivered as she remembered how close she'd come to having Sam aborted. It really didn't bear thinking about.
'He's asking for you.'
Dee jumped.
'Sorry.' Conor put his arms around her and pulled her close. 'You were miles away. What were you thinking about?'
'Just daydreaming. Back in a minute.' Kissing him lightly on the lips, she slipped out of his embrace and went upstairs to her son. He was cuddled up under the covers but two eyes shone out at her.
'I had a nice time today, Mum.'
She sat down beside him. 'Good.'
'I wish Conor lived here, then I could play with him all of the time.'
'Who'd look after the cows if he was here all of the time?'
Sam frowned. 'I forgot about them.' Then his face brightened. 'I know, we can go and live there.'
'And what about Lisa and Happy Days?'
He shrugged. 'I could come each morning just like the other kids.'
She laughed and bent over to kiss him. 'Sleep, sweetheart, it's late.'
'It would be cool to live on a farm,' he mumbled, nestling down under the covers, his eyes already closing. 'I could help Conor, he'd like that.'
'Goodnight, Sam, love you.'
'Love you too.'
She closed the door and went back downstairs, shaking her head at her son's words. She hoped he'd have forgotten this business by morning; the last thing she wanted was him taking his great idea directly to Conor.
'What's wrong?' Conor asked when she came back into the kitchen frowning.
'Nothing.'
He stood up and put his arms around her. 'You're not still worrying about Sam, I hope; he's absolutely fine again.'
Dee moved away, irritated. 'I'll always worry about him, he's my son.'
'I understand that but—'
'You don't understand, you couldn't.'
His smile disappeared instantly. 'No, I suppose not.'
'I'm sorry for snapping, Conor,' she said tiredly, flopping down on to the sofa, 'but it's something that's very hard to understand unless you've experienced it. I was just thinking when you were upstairs that I never thought I'd have children. I didn't particularly want any but now I can't imagine life without Sam. In fact, if anything ever happened to him I wouldn't want to go on.'
He sat down beside her and squeezed her hand. 'You shouldn't even be thinking like that.'
'I'm not, not really, I'm just trying to explain to you how strong the bond is between us.'
His face softened and he traced the curve of her cheek with his finger. 'You don't have to explain that, it's evident in every word, every look and every touch.'
Dee twisted around on the sofa so that she could look up at him. 'Did you have a good childhood, Conor?'
'Yeah, fine.' He shrugged. 'Fairly normal, I'd imagine.'
'Who were you closest to,' she pressed, 'your mother or father?'
'Dad, I suppose, but that's probably because we both loved sport so much. He worked long hours during the week – you know he was a civil servant in the city before he took early retirement and bought Better Books – but at the weekend he came to every match I played and when we weren't outside doing something, we were in front of the box watching some sport or other.'
'Do you think your mum felt excluded?'
'Of course not.'
Dee smiled.
'What?'
She shrugged. 'Nothing.'
'You don't believe me, do you?'
'Sorry, but men don't really notice these things, do they?'
'Don't they?' he mimicked.
Dee bashed him with a cushion. 'No, you don't.'
'My mother has always been perfectly happy looking after as many people as will let her and the last thing she wanted was to stand on the sideline on a cold winter morning watching me playing rugby very badly.'
'Maybe she spent her time looking after other people because you and Ronan were so self-sufficient.'
'Oh, please!' Conor groaned. 'There's less crap up on the farm.'
She made a face. 'It was just an observation.'
'Yes, and if I make observations about your family I'm very quickly told to mind my own business.'
Dee reached out to take his hand. 'Let's stop this now before it descends into a silly argument. I don't want that.'
'Neither do I,' he assured her.
She leaned over and kissed him. 'Would you like another beer?'
He pulled back and looked at his watch. 'I should head back home and keep an eye on that cow.'
Dee kissed him again. 'I'm sure it will be fine for another while.'
Conor groaned as she climbed up on to his knee and started to open his belt.
'Of course,' she said, tracing kisses down his throat and on to his chest, 'if you've got to go, you've got to go.'
He closed his eyes and let his head fall back. 'I suppose I could stay a little bit longer.'
'So would you like me to get you that beer?' she asked, her hands on his belt.
'Not right now,' he murmured, his arms snaking around her, 'maybe later.'
Dee's first official day at Seven TV passed by in a whirl and she enjoyed every minute of it. Carolyn told her that she and April would be the permanent panel members on the nutrition spot and that each week there would be a guest appearance from a variety of people from chefs to doctors to celebrities who felt strongly about the subject.
'Or who just want to promote their book,' Marge said dryly.
April laughed.
'Polly Underwood will be back one week,' Carolyn said, ignoring her colleague's cynicism.
'She's great,' Dee enthused. 'She hits the nail on the head every time.'
Marge nodded. 'Yes, she's a good panellist. So many people get technical but Polly keeps it simple.'
'So, topics for the first four shows,' Carolyn picked up a pad and pen and looked at Dee. 'What do you think?'
Dee gulped. 'Well, I'm not sure—'
Marge laughed. 'For goodness' sake, Carolyn, don't hurl the poor girl straight into the deep end, she hasn't done this before!'
'I did come up with some ideas,' Dee said quickly, afraid they would think she'd given the programme no thought since their last meeting.
'It's only twenty minutes,' Carolyn told her, 'so either we touch on a lot of things briefly or we take one topic and deal with it more extensively. April, what do you think?'
April Deevers, a small, sparrow of a woman with a wide smile and intelligent hazel eyes, consulted her notes. 'I don't think twenty minutes is enough time to do an in-depth piece on any one aspect. Also, I agree that we should keep it simple otherwise people will just tune out.'
'Dee was saying that the last day,' Carolyn told her.
Dee smiled nervously at April. What could she possibly tell a woman who had years of training on the subject? 'I just think that people are more receptive if you tell them of simple ways to improve their diets rather than expecting them to change their whole way of life overnight.'
April nodded. 'I couldn't agree more. Beating people up never works; I've learned that from experience.'
Carolyn turned back to Dee. 'So, Dee, as a mother, what things would you like to see covered?'
Dee glanced down at the page in her hand. 'Well, the first item on my list is the one that got me into all of this in the first place and that's food labelling. I thought we could come up with a shortlist of tips on what to watch out for.'
'That's a good idea,' April agreed.
'Like what?' Marge frowned. 'I thought the problem with labelling was the fact that labels can be double Dutch and they're all different.'
'You're right, but there are a few pointers we could give the viewers,' April explained.
Dee nodded. 'For example, ingredients are always shown in descending order of weight.'
'I didn't know that,' said Marge.
'And also, people need to be aware that if a produce is sold as low-fat, it's quite possible that it still may be high in salt or sugar, possibly even both.'
Carolyn shook her head. 'Unbelievable. Is this topic enough to take up a full segment, April?'
'Oh, I think so.'
'Good, then can you and Dee decide on the points to include? Given the time and allowing for Marge's introduction and wrap-up, it probably should be limited to five.'
Dee and April exchanged looks and nodded.
'Right. What else have we got?' Carolyn prompted.
After two hours they had come up with loose plans for four shows and some ideas about shows five and six too. After this meeting, Dee and April were going to iron out the exact details for the first two shows.
'Are we going to take calls from viewers?' Marge asked as she and Carolyn prepared to leave.
Carolyn nibbled her thumbnail as she considered this. 'I don't think so, it would just eat into our time. Maybe we could have a general phone-in once a month.'
'I think that's an excellent idea,' April agreed. 'Then we could answer questions on any aspect of nutrition.'
'Right.' Marge stood up and smiled down at them. 'I think this is going to be great! Dee, April, thanks for coming in.'
'Yes,' Carolyn agreed as she gathered her papers together, 'I think it's going to be a very popular spot.' She checked her watch as she stood up. 'I'll check back in with you in a couple of hours and then we can have a last run-through of the details next week. April, could you be here an hour before the show, or is that asking too much?'
'No, that's fine.'
'Great.' Carolyn smiled. 'See you later.'
When they were alone, April smiled at Dee. 'Well, we have a lot to do but well done you, Dee, for highlighting this area. I think it's wonderful that it's going to be a regular spot on the programme.'
'It's just something I feel strongly about,' Dee said.
'Carolyn says your little boy has allergies.'
'Yes. He has asthma and eczema. He's allergic to some foods and to dogs and cats and things like washing powder. He's not too bad, but he definitely improved dramatically once I changed his diet.Sometimes, though, it can be really frustrating. He does well for months and then suddenly he's ill again and I've no idea why.'
April nodded in understanding. 'It is hard but you do know he will probably grow out of it.'
'Yes, that's what I've been told,' Dee laughed, 'but unfortunately it doesn't make me worry any less.'
'I know.' April patted her hand.
'Anyway, we're not here to talk about Sam. We'd better get stuck in.'
April's eyes twinkled. 'It's fun, isn't it?'
Dee laughed. 'It's brilliant!'
By the time Carolyn returned they had not only come up with the material for the first two shows but, carried away by their mutual enthusiasm, they had gone on to work on shows three and four. The producer had been delighted and after a brief visit to the wardrobe department, Dee was on her way home by two o'clock. If it was like this every week it would be the easiest money she'd ever made and the most fun she'd ever had.
As it was only mid-afternoon, traffic was light and she would be home a lot earlier than she'd expected. Given that all of her work was done for tomorrow, Dee decided to make the most of her free time and bring Sam back into town to get shoes and maybe treat him to a movie. They could take the train and it would be a double treat; Sam just loved trains. She phoned ahead to ask Lisa to check the movie times.
'
Happy Feet
starts at four-thirty but he's already seen that, hasn't he?'
'What's that got to do with anything?' Dee laughed.
'True.'
'So how are things with you?' Dee asked as she cruised up the M1.
'Great. Two of the children are going home early so it will mean a nice quiet evening for us.'
'Wonderful, you deserve it. Look, I should be home in about ten minutes, will you get Sam ready, please?'
'No problem, see you soon.'
Dee hummed along to the radio as she drove, happy at the thought of the free time ahead. When she had an assistant, she'd be able to do stuff like this more often, she realized. She had an interview set up for the following day with a girl who had previously worked as a cook in a nursing home. The recruitment consultant had said she was the perfect candidate for the job but Dee wasn't convinced.
'You only need someone to follow orders, though,' Lisa had pointed out reasonably, 'not a creative genius who'd want to take over.'