Chapter 8
Bex was beginning to feel as if she’d forgotten how to smile since her mother’s diagnosis.
That was until she saw Rowan walking along the corridor towards where she was sitting waiting at the bistro table, outside the St Piran’s Hospital Shop.
She’d already got her friend a pregnancy-friendly decaf tea and had decided to treat them both to a slice of cake.
The expression on Rowan’s face made it clear that she was happy, reassuring Bex that the news from the scan had all been good, but it wasn’t the only thing that was making her smile.
It was the sudden development of the undeniable pregnancy waddle that seemed to have put in an appearance since the last time she’d seen her friend, which Bex remembered only too well from her three pregnancies.
This was Rowan’s third baby too, and there was no way she was going to be able to keep the news under wraps for much longer, no matter how loose her clothing was.
It was obvious not just in the way she was walking, but the protective cradling of her bump with her hand, and every passing day would just make those things all the more apparent.
‘Thanks so much for coming over here to meet me.’ Rowan folded her into a hug.
‘We were so late going in, and we thought Nath was going to miss the train. I told him just to go, because there was no way I wanted Will to end up having to go on his own with Leo, but Nathan couldn’t bear the thought of missing the scan either.
Thank God we made it in time. They’re booked into a hotel tonight, because their appointment with the consultant is at nine thirty tomorrow, but they’re supposed to be taking Leo on a Ghost Bus Tour tonight that he’s always wanted to do.
He’ll be up way past his normal bed time, but they wanted to make the trip to London about more than just hospitals. ’
Rowan let go of a long breath. She looked worn out and Bex suddenly wondered if it was fair to offload on her friend.
Leo was Nathan’s nephew and he had Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, a life-limiting condition with a prognosis that meant he might not survive into adulthood.
Nathan had always been incredibly close to his brother Will’s family, supporting them however he could.
So it was no surprise that he was going to London for Leo’s hospital appointment.
The whole family had been living with the knowledge of Leo’s condition for years, somehow just getting on with things, while here she was falling apart at the seams in the wake of her mum’s diagnosis.
‘Of course Nathan wanted to be there for the scan. I take it the news was all good?’
‘Absolutely.’ A slow smile spread across Rowan’s face. ‘She’s perfect.’
‘Oh my God, you’re having a girl.’ It was Bex’s turn to hug her friend. ‘I’ll get to buy all the lovely girly outfits I never got the chance to buy for my boys.’
‘Hmm, maybe, but I get the feeling she’ll be a proper daddy’s girl, wearing dungarees and trotting around with a little toy tool kit, wanting to help out with his building work.’ Rowan sat down heavily in her seat, omitting a little sigh of relief as she took the weight off her feet.
‘I can picture that too and Nathan is going to love it. Although I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy to have his hair and make-up done by his daughter, and don a pair of fairy wings, if she does turn out to be a girly girl instead.’
‘He’s going to be the best dad ever and that just makes me look forward to doing it all over again all the more.
Even if I do feel about 300 years old.’ As Rowan leant forward in her seat a more serious expression replaced the smile she’d been wearing.
‘Anyway, that’s all my news. I want to hear what’s going on with you.
I’m assuming there’s still no news from Briony? ’
‘Nothing and I’ve re-sent the email. Twice.’
‘Have you checked in your spam folder just in case her reply has ended up in there?’
‘Yes, at least six times a day, but she’s got my number and surely she’d call after getting a message telling her that Mum has cancer.’ Whatever Bex might think of her estranged sister and the things she’d done, she couldn’t believe she wouldn’t call after hearing news like that.
‘You know there’s a chance that your email went to her spam folder too, so she might not even have got it.’ Rowan bit her lip and Bex’s head dropped into her hands.
‘I can’t believe I didn’t think about that.’ She forced herself to look up at her friend again. ‘How am I supposed to get hold of Briony when email’s the only way of reaching her?’
‘You’ll have to ask your mum for her contact number.’ The voice behind Bex made her jump, but she recognised it even before she turned around. It was her mother’s best friend, Linda.
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ Jumping up, she hugged the woman she considered to be her auntie.
Linda had been one of the people who’d rallied around Bex in the wake of the wedding being called off, and she’d also been the voice of reason when Bex had tried to insist that her parents choose between her and Briony.
Her relationship with Linda had also given her comfort when she’d become upset that her own boys wouldn’t know their aunt.
Thank God the boys had Triss. And although her sons might not have an auntie by blood who they got to see, she hoped some of her friends could fulfil a similar role in their lives to the one Linda had played in hers.
These last few weeks had brought home just how important it was to have friends who felt like family.
‘I’ve started volunteering at the hospital shop on the days I’m not at the museum.
’ Linda was a force of nature and worked alongside Donna at the Museum of Cornish Heritage, which was situated on the coast road towards Port Kara, just outside of Port Agnes.
Local history had always been Linda’s passion, but Bex should have known even working three days a week in her beloved museum wouldn’t be enough for her.
‘I got roped in by my friend, Gwen. I think you know her from the school, don’t you? ’
‘We do, she’s the treasurer of the PTA, but then everyone from Padstow to Camelford knows Gwen.’ Bex caught sight of the woman under discussion and gave Gwen a wave. ‘We were just talking about you.’
‘It’s a rare day when I’m not up for discussion.
’ Gwen dropped one of her trademark winks, before a serious expression settled on her face.
‘How’s your mum doing? I know Donna doesn’t want everyone knowing what’s going on, but I saw Ken when he brought her in for a scan and I could tell how worried he was.
When I asked if he was okay, he just broke down on me. ’
‘Poor Ken, I know Mum’s the one with the cancer, but I don’t think she realises how much pressure she’s putting on him by insisting on acting as if there’s no problem and not letting any of us even try to help.
’ Bex couldn’t stop herself from emitting a shuddering sigh.
‘I was just saying to Rowan that I haven’t had any response from the email I sent my sister, and Mum is the only one who’s got her mobile number.
So Linda’s right, I’m going to have to find a way of getting her to give it to me. ’
‘How are you going to do that, when your mum said she’d never forgive you or Ken if you told Briony what was happening?’ Rowan looked at her quizzically.
‘I’ll just have to get creative. I tried telling her that this might be my chance for a reunion with Briony when the transplant was first mentioned, but Mum wasn’t fooled.
Maybe I need to try again and tell her that all of this really has got me thinking that life is too short and it’s time to bury the hatchet with Briony, even if in reality, the only place I want to bury the hatchet is in her head.
’ The force of Bex’s words surprised even her, and Linda gasped, before she asked a question there was no straightforward answer to.
‘Do you really still feel that strongly about it, after all this time? Now you’ve got Matt and the boys.’
‘Most of the time I don’t think about what she did at all any more, and I’m genuinely glad it happened, because I wouldn’t swap the life I’ve got now for anything else, but just lately…
’ She trailed off for a moment, before letting out another long breath and continuing.
‘Just lately, I feel angrier than ever. If Briony hadn’t done what she did, she’d be around now and we’d be facing this side by side and trying to make Mum see sense, together.
We’re each other’s only siblings and she’s the one person in the world who can really understand how I’m feeling at the moment.
We should be leaning on each other now and sharing how worried we are.
I’m so angry with her for not making that possible and if I have to lie to Mum, and keep pretending I want to make up with Briony until she finally believes me, then that’s what I’m going to do. ’
‘What about Iris? I know you didn’t want me to ask her if she could track Briony down, but surely it has to be worth a try?
’ Linda’s daughter was a researcher working in London and if anyone could find a way around the roadblock they’d reached in trying to contact her, it was Iris.
But she was also Donna’s goddaughter and Bex hadn’t wanted to put their relationship at risk, but with every day that passed her principles were getting shakier.
She just wanted her mum to take the chance of a complete cure before it was too late.
‘Okay.’ She nodded, looking towards Linda and Gwen. ‘But I’m going to talk to Mum as well and if lying to her is wrong, I’m just going to have to live with it, to make sure she lives too.’