Free Life Or Something Like It by Annie Lyons Page A

out her hand. ‘I’m Claire.’
    Cat smiled and shook her hand. The woman was small and casually dressed in cut-off jeans and a slouchy T-shirt bearing the words ‘
I love happy endings
’. She wore her brown hair in a loose bun and her skin was freckled from time spent in the sun. She had a friendly warmth about her that Cat liked immediately. ‘Where’s Izzy?’ asked Ellie, standing close to Claire.
    ‘Oh hey, Ellie-wellie.’ Claire smiled, wrapping an arm around the small girl and tickling her. Cat noticed the easy affection between them and was surprised to feel a little envious. ‘She’s over on the climbing frame. Do you want to go and find her?’ Ellie nodded and ran off. ‘But stay where we can see you,’ called Claire. She turned back to Cat. ‘Can I get you a coffee? It’s actually okay despite being made by a machine.’
    Cat was more used to single-estate freshly roasted coffee but felt she should be sociable. ‘That would be lovely, thank you.’ She smiled.
    ‘Will you stay here with the bags while I go and get them?’
    ‘Sure.’ Cat felt the sun on her face and had to admit that today could turn out fine. Claire seemed lovely and the children were happy with their friends. She took out her phone to check her e-mails. She had sent a message to Jesse earlier about meeting up to discuss their plans. No reply as yet but if she knew Jesse, he probably wouldn’t get to his e-mails before lunchtime. She was just checking Twitter when Claire returned with their drinks.
    ‘Here you go. Oh are you on Twitter?’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Cat taking her coffee. ‘Yes, I use it a lot for work. It’s great.’
    Claire smiled. ‘I’ve never really go into all that. Don’t have the time with the kids to be honest.’
    ‘I can imagine,’ said Cat. ‘Four kids must keep you busy.’
    Claire looked surprised. ‘No, I’ve only got Izzy and James. That’s quite enough for me!’
    ‘But what about…’ Cat wracked her brains for the names ‘…Daisy and Finn?’
    Claire laughed. ‘They’re not kids, well Daisy is but Finn’s her uncle. He looks after her. They’re coming along today but Finn’s always late.’
    ‘Oh I see,’ said Cat, feeling wrong-footed.
    Claire grinned at her. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll love Finn. All the mums do. To be honest, if I wasn’t married I’d be very tempted.’ She gave Cat a sly look. ‘Are you single by any chance?’
    Cat gave a little cough. ‘Yes but – ’
    ‘Ladies? Sorry I’m late. What have I missed?’
    Claire gave Cat a nudge as they both looked up into the grinning face of a scruffy man with a mess of hair and an unkempt beard. ‘This,’ she said with grin, ‘is Finn.’
    For the second time that day, Cat experienced an acute sense of déjà vu as she shook Finn’s hand and was struck by how cool his touch was. ‘Hey,’ he said, regarding her with a smile. ‘I think we may have met before. Did you ever get that snot off your jeans?’
    Cat looked into his pale blue eyes, which were glittering with amusement, and an unwelcome recollection came to mind. He was the show-off who had appeared to sit in judgement of her at Ellie’s birthday party – the one who was happy to sit on the filthy floor with a group of small children and expected everyone else to want to join in. He had that all-knowing air of someone who thought that everyone else had missed the point. Cat found it highly irritating now as she had done then.
    Claire laughed. ‘Oh you two already know each other, do you? Well then, that’s a good start.’ She winked at Cat.
    ‘We only met briefly at Ellie’s birthday party,’ said Cat with a cursory smile.
    Finn clutched his heart as if he’d been shot. ‘Oh wow. Talk about dashing a guy’s hopes. And there was me thinking we had something.’ He gave Claire a mischievous grin. She giggled like a schoolgirl and Cat bristled with annoyance. She could see how this man would provide a pleasant diversion in the life of a