Chapter 18 Jenny
Jenny
I t has certainly been an interesting Christmas so far. Jamie married, Becky declaring undying love for Will.” Martin reached for the clean shirt he was wearing for the party. “Are you sure putting them in the same room was that the right thing to do?”
Jennifer scooped her hair into an elegant knot and started on her makeup. The first guests would be arriving in an hour but she was satisfied that almost everything was done. “Are you turning puritanical on me all of a sudden?”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He buttoned the shirt. “I’ve known you a lot of years, Jenny. I know the way your mind works. You don’t really believe that Will and Becky are together, do you?”
“Not for a moment.” Smiling, she met his gaze in the mirror and saw him shake his head. “What?”
“I thought we agreed a long time ago not to interfere in our children’s lives once they reached adulthood.”
“I wouldn’t call it interfering exactly.” She rummaged in her makeup bag and dug out her mascara.
“Inviting Will to stay and putting them in the same room isn’t interfering? What would you call it?”
“Making the most of circumstances.” Jennifer picked up her mascara and stroked it onto her lashes. “Believe me, it’s the right thing to do.”
“Go along with their fake relationship? Why?”
“Because they did it for a reason, Martin.”
“Now you’ve lost me.”
She finished her lashes and put the mascara back in her makeup bag. He saw more than most men would, but still not all of it.
“Didn’t you see Rosie’s face? She really believed that Becky was in love with Declan.
” And it explained why Rosie had been behaving strangely.
They’d had a fight about something. Or hit a rough patch.
Something that had made Rosie question Declan’s feelings for her.
“That’s why Becky said what she said. I don’t believe she intended to say it, but having said it she decided to keep it going to make it easier for them. For Rosie and Becky, I mean.”
He pulled on the shirt. “Easier? You don’t really believe Becky is in love with Declan, do you?” He watched her face and raised his eyebrows. “You do believe that.”
“I think she probably believes it, and that’s what matters right now.
And Rosie believes it.” Her heart broke for her daughter.
For both her daughters because she knew how hard the emotional upset would be for Becky to handle.
She probably wanted to hide behind the Christmas tree and never come out.
“You don’t think Rosie saw through Becky’s sudden declaration?”
“I think she was shocked, as were we all, but Becky’s response was instantaneous. She blurted it out as if it was a secret she’d been keeping. I thought she was convincing.”
“Yes.” He fastened the buttons of his shirt. “Funny really. I never thought our Becky was much of an actress. Remember her clomping around the stage in Alice in Wonderland when she was nine?”
“It was a ridiculous production, and they never should have forced her to take part.” Jenny frowned. “I should have gone into school and insisted she be allowed to work behind the scenes or something. It’s a regret of mine.”
“You have regrets?”
“Plenty, but mostly about Rosie. I regret not looking carefully at alternative schools, when it became obvious that it wasn’t the right place for her. The school should accommodate the child, shouldn’t it, not the other way round. Individuality should be encouraged, not stamped out.”
“We thought the girls would do better in the same school. Support each other.”
“And to some extent that was true, but Rosie still compares herself to her sister and feels less somehow. The school played a part in that. They didn’t really value the arts the way they did science and technology.”
“We made the decisions we felt were right at the time, and that’s all anyone can do. You can’t be sure something else would have been better. It might not have been. Unfortunately you can’t take two paths at the same time.”
“I know.”
“She has done well. Made a good life for herself. Your mother is floating round in the dress Rosie made her telling everyone her granddaughter is a genius.”
Jenny felt a rush of love for her mother. “She has always made them feel valued. Treated them as individuals.”
“So did we.”
“I know. But Rosie doesn’t have Becky’s confidence.”
“Socially, she has far more confidence.” He tucked his shirt in and checked his reflection in the mirror. “And I don’t understand what any of this has to do with Declan and Rosie?”
“I’m not sure.” Jenny stood up. “But you know Becky isn’t as comfortable with strangers as Rosie is.
She probably wouldn’t even have talked to Declan if she hadn’t worked side by side with him for all those years.
She got to know him by default. She grew comfortable with him.
And then along comes Rosie with her chat and her charm. ”
She thought back to their childhood, to the countless times she’d taken the twins to parties and watched with relief as Rosie had played the role of both friend and bodyguard to her more socially awkward sister.
And the support hadn’t been one-sided. When Rosie had struggled with physics, maths and chemistry it had been Becky who had helped her, spending hours patiently explaining equations and probabilities as Rosie sat there getting more and more upset by her inability to understand any of the concepts.
Martin reached for his shoes. “So you’re saying Becky realised she was in love with him after he started dating Rosie.”
“I don’t know for sure, but I think it’s possible.”
“But she didn’t say anything.”
“This is Becky,” Jenny said. “Of course she wouldn’t say anything.”
“So when did Rosie figure all this out?”
“Today, I think, judging from her reaction. When Becky walked through the door. Although I would guess that maybe it had been playing on her mind for a little longer than that. And she was right about the wedding. Becky did disappear for an hour.”
“And you don’t think it was shellfish?”
“At the time I didn’t question that explanation, but now? I don’t think it was shellfish. I was caught up with wedding madness, but I remember Will went to check on her and they were gone for ages.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and breathed out heavily. “So what was Will’s role in all this? You think he knew Becky had feelings for Declan?”
“Oh, I’m sure he knows. They’re great friends. Either way, by playing along with this we’re allowing them all to save face and we might stand some chance of salvaging Christmas. So you’re to go downstairs and behave as if this is all real.” She looked at him and he shook his head.
“I don’t know, Jen. This feels like one of those ridiculous Shakespearean comedies where everyone swallows magic mushrooms and ends up with the wrong person. Where does this end? What if we play along and I end up walking Becky down the aisle next summer?”
She noticed that he seemed more energized and engaged since Becky’s shock announcement earlier.
“Forget next summer and focus on Christmas. Rosie feels bad, and hopefully seeing Will and Becky together will change that. Becky feels bad, and hopefully this will give her some space to get herself under control and figure out her own feelings. You could talk to both of them. You’ve always been good at getting them to open up.
” And maybe doing so would make him realise he was needed.
That retirement didn’t mean he couldn’t be useful and wanted.
“And what about Will’s parents? We’ve known Audrey and Paul forever. I’d rather this wasn’t the end of a beautiful friendship.”
“They adore Becky. You saw their reaction downstairs.”
“Yes, that’s my concern. They think it’s real. What’s going to happen when they find out it’s not?”
Jenny selected a pair of earrings. “We’ll worry about that when it happens. You look handsome, by the way. I intend to test your theory that your best years are behind you. Just warning you.”
He laughed. “You’re changing the subject.” He reached down and secured a strand of hair that had escaped from the twist at the back of her head. “You look good too. You haven’t changed at all.”
“I wish.” She smiled at him in the mirror. “But thank you. Did you find time to talk to Jamie about his job?”
“We’re going to talk properly tomorrow. And yes, before you ask, I also had a brief chat with your father about the book and we were going to talk more this afternoon, but that was before Becky turned up and shocked everyone with her announcement.
I feel as if I should start making appointments for people. ”
“Not a bad idea. You’re certainly in demand. But I’m sure there will be plenty of time for you and Dad to talk properly over Christmas.”
Earlier she’d been worried that he just wasn’t going to be able to shake himself out of his state of gloom, but now she was feeling more optimistic.
“You’re still changing the subject. You’re seriously not worried that putting Will and Becky together in a room is unfair on both of them?”
“Not at all.” If she was right, and she really hoped she was, it might be just what the pair of them needed. “They shared a room last night and still seem to be speaking to each other so I’m sure they’ll be just fine.”
“But what do you think is going to happen?”
“I don’t know, but it’s going to be interesting.” Unwilling to voice her hopes, she stepped into her dress and turned her back to him. “Would you zip me up, please? We have a great deal to celebrate.”
“You’re not still upset with Jamie then?”
“No. As you wisely pointed out, it wasn’t to do with us.
I like Hayley. And from the little I’ve learned about her since she arrived, I’m sure it would have been overwhelming for her to have a big family wedding.
She so obviously wants to fit in and do the right thing.
Having to worry about all that would have stressed her on her special day. ”
“There’s a right thing to do? Maybe she should tell our children that.
Between Jamie announcing that he’s married, Becky saying she’s with Will—even if that’s fake—Rosie and Declan having issues and Will moving in with us for Christmas, everything feels chaotic.
No one is behaving the way I expected them to.
Apart from the dog. So far he is the only predictable one.
Christmas is supposed to bring surprises, but not usually ones that give you ulcers and raised blood pressure. ”
“That’s life, isn’t it?” She leaned in and kissed him. “Not much turns out the way we expect it to.”
“That’s true.” He gazed at her for a moment and she knew he was thinking of his own situation.
“And sometimes the only thing we can control about a situation is our own feelings.”
He gave a half smile. “Are you telling me I need to sort myself out?”
“No. You already know that. I’m reminding you that these things can take time.” She held out her hand. “Let’s go and see what other surprises our children are about to spring on us.”
“You think there will be more? In that case I’m going to need a drink.”
“Don’t drink too much. I want you conscious later.”