Me-Before-You-by-Jojo-Moyes

‘If you do that,’ Will observed, ‘it’s going to go everywhere.’ He lifted his arm
an inch or so, gesturing vaguely. ‘I find that holding the cork and turning the
bottle tends to be a safer bet.’
‘There’s a man who knows his champagne,’ Dad said. ‘There you go, Patrick.
Turning the bottle, you say? Well, who knew?’
‘I knew,’ Patrick said. ‘That’s how I was going to do it.’
The champagne was safely popped and poured, and my birthday was toasted.
Granddad called out something that may well have been, ‘Hear, hear.’
I stood up and bowed. I was wearing a 1960s yellow A-line minidress I had
got from the charity shop. The woman had thought it might be Biba, although
someone had cut the label out.
‘May this be the year our Lou finally grows up,’ Dad said. ‘I was going to say
“does something with her life” but it seems like she finally is. I have to say, Will,
since she’s had the job with you she’s – well, she’s really come out of herself.’
‘We’re very proud,’ Mum said. ‘And grateful. To you. For employing her, I
mean.’
‘Gratitude’s all mine,’ Will said. He glanced sideways at me.
‘To Lou,’ Dad said. ‘And her continued success.’
‘And to absent family members,’ Mum said.
‘Blimey,’ I said. ‘I should have a birthday more often. Most days you all just
hurl abuse at me.’
They began to talk, Dad telling some other story against me that made him
and Mum laugh out loud. It was good to see them laughing. Dad had looked so
worn down these last weeks, and Mum had been hollow-eyed and distracted, as
if her real self were always elsewhere. I wanted to savour these moments, of
them briefly forgetting their troubles, in shared jokes and familial fondness. Just
for a moment, I realized I wouldn’t have minded if Thomas was there. Or
Treena, for that matter.
I was so lost in my thoughts that it took a minute to register Patrick’s
expression. I was feeding Will as I said something to Granddad, folding a piece
of smoked salmon in my fingers and placing it to Will’s lips. It was such an
unthinking part of my daily life now that the intimacy of the gesture only struck
me when I saw the shock on Patrick’s face.