The Ballroom Class by Lucy Dillon Page A

have done that if he hadn’t quite enjoyed it, would he?’
    ‘Did he say why we’d gone?’
    Jo shook her head, dislodging another springy curl. ‘Not at all. He just said it had been a fun evening.’
    ‘Jo, will you do me a favour?’ pleaded Katie. ‘Will you and Greg come next week? For moral support?’
    ‘Course we will!’ She smiled and Katie felt a bit warmer inside. Then Jo’s forehead creased. ‘I’ll definitely come – and I’ll tell Greg, but he’s working away from home a lot at the moment, so I’m not entirely sure what time he’ll be back. He was away in Birmingham two nights this week.’ She brightened up with an effort. ‘But yes, count us in.’
    Katie privately thought Greg’s business success wasn’t something for Jo to be getting stressy about. He supported them all, played tennis regularly, and wore proper shirts with cufflinks and ties that he could loosen sexily at the end of the day. Katie could forgive a few late nights for all that.
    ‘Well, when there’s just one of you working you never feel like you can stop chasing up business,’ said Katie. ‘It won’t be because he doesn’t want to spend time with the three of you. It’ll be because he wants to make sure you can go to Disneyland again in the spring. You do have the best holidays, you lot.’
    ‘I know. I know,’ said Jo. ‘Shouldn’t complain! Anyway, dancing. Yes. We’ll be there next week.’
    ‘You have to wear something suitably glitzy “to get you in the mood”,’ said Katie. ‘And be prepared for some very personal observations about the size of your feet.’
    ‘Really?’ Jo looked doubtful. ‘I’m not sure I’ve got much that’s not maternity wear. I’ll have to go shopping. Want to come? How about tomorrow?’
    ‘Can’t,’ said Katie, with a rueful twitch of her mouth. ‘I told Hannah I’d take her to that indoor playground that’s opening in Stratton tomorrow. I’ve promised.’
    Katie made a lot of promises to Hannah, to make up for not being there for spontaneous treats. Keeping them took every spare ounce of effort and time, but she was determined.
    ‘Sunday, then?’
    ‘Jo, I just don’t think I’ve got time,’ she sighed. ‘It’s like I said, work’s mad. I’ve got to fit in some paperwork this weekend too, along with getting the shopping in, and I get so little mum time as it is.’
    Jo thought hard. ‘Hmm. Well, how about we all go to the shopping village on Sunday morning – Ross can do the big shop with the kids, because I know Hannah loves supermarkets, and you and I can whiz off to the outlet mall? Then we can go for milkshakes while Ross gets an hour or two off to himself? Come on, we can kill three birds with one stone – you can get Hannah and Ross’s birthday presents, something for you to wear, plus we can sort out their surprise at the same time?’ Jo grinned. ‘Multi-tasking!’
    Katie put down her wine glass and squeezed her eyes. The birthday surprise: a trip to Center Parks during half-term, so Hannah could swim and Ross could  . . . do something that didn’t involve looking after the kids. Trail biking. Nothing, even. That’s what had been at the back of her mind today. ‘I haven’t even thought about that yet.’
    Hannah and Ross shared a birthday – October 24 – which only made their ‘daddy and his girl’ bond even stronger. It also meant that she and Ross hadn’t been able to have a romantic dinner out on his birthday since she was born. This year, of course, Katie’s idea was that Jo and Greg could entertain the kids while Katie and Ross got the chance to spend some lovely grown-up time together. It would cost a fortune, but Katie’s overtime would cover that. The only hard thing was making time to arrange it, since Ross did most of the domestic arrangements, and so far, work and resentment had pushed it to the bottom of her to-do list.
    If Katie was being honest, right now she cared a lot more about proving to Hannah that Mummy