32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Two
‘What’s going on?’ asked May. ‘I got your message. Is everything OK?’
‘Come and sit down.’ Alice led May through to the living room and sank onto the sofa. She pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.
Her sister looked so tired, and May wondered if it was nerves about the upcoming wedding, or something more.
She sat down, asking, ‘Are you OK?’
Alice stretched her neck, squeezed her eyes shut, opened them again, and shook her head. ‘Yes … and no. I had a visit from Kitty this morning. About Mum.’
‘No.’ May knew exactly what was coming. ‘No, no, no. Please, Alice, no. We can’t. We can’t have her here.’
‘Kitty can’t handle her anymore. She’s been a nightmare.
’ Alice threw out her hands. ‘Worse than that, she’s oblivious.
Makes a mess, wanders around with her music playing at all hours.
’ She stared at May, pleading for her understanding.
‘Kitty’s trying to hold down a full-time job, and it’s impossible with Maz around.
Not to mention she’s already got Cillian as a house guest. And now his fiancée’s turned up.
Who’s to say she won’t want to stay too?
’ She stood, paced to the window and back again.
‘The cottage isn’t big enough for all of them.
Even if Maz were the perfect house guest, we’d be putting Kitty under strain.
I’m sorry, May, but she’s our mum. She’s going to have to come here. ’
May’s stomach hurt. ‘I can’t be under the same roof as her,’ she wailed. ‘And anyway, where’s she going to stay? We’ve only got two bedrooms.’
‘Right, here’s what I’ve been wondering.
’ Alice softened her voice. ‘And please don’t think I’m trying to get rid of you, because I’m not.
If I could have anyone here with me, it’s you.
You know that.’ She slumped again onto the sofa, leaning towards May.
‘I rang Jack this morning as soon as Kitty left. He thought the same as me, that if you wanted it, there’s a spare bedroom at his place. ’
‘You want me to move out and live with Grandpa Jack?’ It was preferable to being holed up with Maz, although playing second fiddle to her mother annoyed May.
‘No,’ said Alice quickly. ‘I don’t want you to.
I’m trying to figure out how we can make the best of a bad situation.
Maz isn’t going anywhere, not until after the wedding at least, and she’s got to stay somewhere.
’ She puffed out a breath. ‘We can hardly send her up to Saffron Manor, can we? She and Jack still haven’t spoken. ’
‘No,’ said May softly. She twisted her hands in her lap. ‘And you and I both understand it’s a really difficult position you’ve been put in. How long would it be for?’
‘There’s another four weeks to the wedding.’ Alice grimaced. ‘Do you think you could handle being away that long?’
May gave a thin laugh. ‘I’ve just spent three years in Cambridge, Alice.
It’s not a question of being able to handle being away.
’ She frowned at Alice. ‘I’m worried about you, about how you’ll cope having to share the cottage with Maz.
And what does Daniel think about it? Surely he doesn’t want her staying in what was once his home? ’
‘No.’ A shadow passed across Alice’s face. ‘I don’t imagine he’s going to be very happy about it.’ She pressed her lips together, and May wondered if she’d thought about Daniel. ‘I can’t think of anything else though, can you?’
As if they’d summoned him with their conversation, Daniel’s face appeared at the window. He waved a pair of shears in the air and gave them a big smile.
Alice waved back, hastily retrieving a smile. ‘I forgot Dad was coming round to tackle the garden this morning.’
‘Seems like the perfect opportunity to talk to him.’ May crossed the room and opened the door. ‘Morning, Daniel. Have you got five minutes for a chat before you start tackling that undergrowth?’
‘Sure.’ Daniel set down the shears. ‘Although I don’t want to interrupt if the pair of you are in the middle of something.’
‘We were actually just talking about you,’ said May, adding with a grimace, ‘and Mum.’
‘Ah.’ Daniel’s expression mirrored May’s. ‘Right, come on, let’s talk. It’s about time I stopped hiding away and faced the past head-on.’
Daniel sat quietly, his face blank, as Alice explained the situation to him. May couldn’t tell what was going through his mind.
‘What do you think, Dad?’ Alice wrung her hands in her lap.
‘I think,’ said Daniel slowly, ‘that you’ve been put in a very difficult position. And I need to recognise the part I’ve played in it all.’
Alice ignored his comment, saying apologetically, ‘We can think of some other arrangement if you’re uncomfortable with her staying here.’
Daniel shook his head. ‘When I gave the cottage to you, Alice, it became yours. I appreciate you considering my feelings in all this, but it’s not up to me.
’ He shrugged. ‘Do I like the idea of Maz staying under this roof? No, of course I don’t.
But I can’t see another option, and it’s up to you who does and doesn’t stay in your own home.
’ A wry smile lit his face. ‘Also, it’s made me realise I need to stop being so immature about everything.
I’ll arrange a time to come over and talk to Maz properly.
’ He stood ready to go back to work. ‘We’ve both come a long way since we last met, and she deserves for me to hear her side of things. ’
‘Thank you.’ Alice stood too, gratitude for her father’s understanding written in the relief on her face. ‘I know that won’t be easy for you.’
‘Maybe not, but it’s long overdue.’ Daniel smiled at his daughter.
‘The last thing you need is warring parents who can’t be in the same room just when you’re about to get married.
I want your wedding day to be perfect, Alice, and I’ll do whatever I can to make that happen, even if it means swallowing my pride. ’
Alice and Daniel embraced, May slipped out of the room, the old jealousy flaring as tears stung her eyes.
She pulled a suitcase from under the bed and began filling it with her belongings.
As she haphazardly piled clothes into it, she realised it wasn’t only jealousy she felt.
Fear was there too. Alice and Daniel had grown so close since she’d been away at Cambridge, and with Luke and even Maz in the mix, May wasn’t sure how much room was left for her in Alice’s heart anymore.
And now she was being banished so Maz could play the part of doting mother of the bride.
She stomped to the bathroom, gathered her toiletries and threw them onto the top of the jumble of random clothes in the suitcase. It was all too much.
‘I’m going.’ May dragged her suitcase into the living room where Alice was sitting, staring out the window.
‘What?’ Alice frowned at the suitcase. ‘You don’t need to leave right this minute.’
‘You’ll need to get the room ready.’ May pulled her face into the brightest smile she could muster. ‘And I’m only going up the road, aren’t I?’
‘Well, alright,’ said Alice slowly. ‘Please remember this is still your home. You can come back any time you want.’
‘Thanks.’ Not for at least four weeks, May decided. ‘I’ll leave it a few days at least to let you settle back in to living with Maz.’
‘Please don’t,’ said Alice. ‘That makes it seem like you’ve been pushed out.’
‘Of course not,’ said May, hugging Alice.
She said her goodbyes and let herself out of Seashell Cottage. Pushed out was exactly how she felt.