Chapter 9 #2
‘Yeah. Wow, look how wide Butty’s bum is!
It must be ’cos she pushes Lola out of the way all the time to try and take her bottle too.
’ The subject of girlfriends was clearly closed as far as Tom was concerned and he moved closer to the lambs.
‘She looks like she’s twerking when she’s drinking her milk, her bum wobbles up and down so much. ’
‘And what exactly do you know about twerking, young man?’ Tristan was clearly trying not to laugh again, as Tom shrugged.
‘Mum tried to do it on New Year’s Eve when she’d had a lot of wine, but she fell over and got a massive purple bruise on her bum instead. She had to sit on a cushion for ages.’
‘How did I not know that?’ Tristan was laughing again now, but Holly was torn between laughter and tears.
There was so much she didn’t know about her sister and suddenly she wanted the chance to know at least one more thing, however innocuous.
She wanted to know what her sister was doing right now, at their parents’ house, what they were talking about and what they were having for dinner.
The details were so inconsequential, but she’d have given anything for that tiny insight into her sister’s life before she left Port Agnes again.
‘Can I feed the lambs, Uncle Triss?’ Tom had an earnest expression on his face.
‘Holly was about to feed Lola, but you can feed Butty if you don’t mind getting nudged.’
‘Let Tom feed Lola.’ Holly made a show of looking at her phone.
‘I’ve just got a message from my stepdad asking me to call him urgently and it’s not something he normally says.
So I’m just going to go outside and phone him and then I’ll be back.
If the lambs haven’t already finished, maybe I can help give them the last little bit. ’
‘No problem.’ Despite his words, Tristan furrowed his brow. ‘I hope everything’s okay.’
‘I’m sure it will be, but I just want to make sure.
’ Without hesitating again, Holly headed outside, not really expecting to be able to get a phone signal.
But thankfully the barn was situated on one of the highest points on the farm and there were a couple of bars of service.
Before she had a chance to think about it again, she called the number in Ken’s email.
‘Hello.’ Ken’s voice was steady.
‘Hi Ken. It’s Briony.’ It felt almost alien to use her real name, although she’d never been anything but Briony to her mum and stepdad.
Yet even with them, she’d sometimes stumbled over saying Briony, because she’d fought so hard to bury the version of herself who had set off a bomb in the heart of their family.
She’d never introduced herself to anyone as Briony from the day she’d left Cornwall, and her parents were the only people from back then who she kept in touch with.
Today there was no stumbling over the name though.
She needed Ken to remember that she was his stepdaughter and that he loved her despite the rift she’d caused, because she needed him to know he could be honest with her.
Whatever her parents’ reasons for lying to her about the cruise, she could handle them, as long as there was no more deceit.
She couldn’t stand being lied to, or having someone sneak around behind her back.
Regardless of what anyone else might think, she could handle the truth.
It was the lies she couldn’t take. She had to believe that Ken wouldn’t lie to her again, especially if she asked him outright, but when he responded to her greeting, she suddenly wasn’t sure of anything at all any more.
‘Yes, thanks for calling back. I’m interested in the bike you’re advertising, but it’s for my nine-year-old grandson and I just wanted to check a few details.’
She had no idea what he was talking about, but he can’t have heard her properly. That was the only explanation for why he was being so weird. ‘Ken, I said it’s Briony.’
This time she raised her voice to emphasise her name, but his response still didn’t make any sense. ‘Yes, that’s right. I’m really sorry but this is a terrible connection, so I’m just going to step outside. We’re in a bit of a dodgy area for phone signals and sometimes it’s better in the garden.’
What an earth was going on? A sudden worry gripped her that maybe this was the start of something terrifying like dementia, but could it come on that suddenly without any warning signs?
‘What are you talking about, Ken? You’re starting to scare me.’
‘Sorry.’ When he spoke again, he sounded breathless.
‘Your mum was standing right next to me, and I had to get outside before I could say anything. If she finds out I’ve spoken to you about any of this she’ll never forgive me.
She doesn’t want you to have the worry of what’s going on and it’s why she told you we were going on a cruise. ’
‘Now you’re really scaring me.’ Heat was rising up Holly’s neck. Ken had never been one for hyperbole or any kind of drama, but he sounded strained and panicked.
‘I’m sorry, love, and I really wish I didn’t have to break it to you like this. In fact, I wish I didn’t have to break it to you at all, but your mum has got liver cancer.’
‘Oh my God.’ The ground seemed to shift between her feet and for a moment she thought she might actually fall over. ‘Is she… is she going to—’
‘No!’ Ken’s response was resolute, cutting her off before she could finish. ‘The doctors have said there’s a good chance of a complete cure if she has a liver transplant, but it needs to happen before any more tumours grow.’
‘And have they found her a liver?’ She held her breath waiting for him to answer. She knew people died waiting for organ transplants, but she couldn’t even begin to contemplate the idea of her mother being one of them.
‘She can have one from a living donor, because the liver is capable of regenerating, so they just take a part of the donor’s liver and then both parts regenerate.’
‘I’ll do it.’
‘Oh, sweetheart, I knew you’d say that.’ The relief in Ken’s voice was evident.
‘But your sister’s already offered and your mum has absolutely refused to do it.
Bex emailed you to explain but she thought the message wasn’t getting through.
I went through your mum’s phone looking for your number, but she must have hidden it somehow.
I thought as my emails had always got through to you in the past that it would work okay if I emailed you instead and asked you to call me.
I just don’t know how we’re going to be able to persuade your mum, but maybe if you and Bex work together on this… ’
‘I’ll do whatever it takes, but it should be me who donates part of my liver to Mum.
Bex has got the boys to think about.’ She couldn’t stop her voice from shaking, barely able to process the possible implications of her sister emailing her.
What had she said? How had she started off an email that had broken a silence of over sixteen years?
Briony couldn’t even allow herself to consider whether or not it meant the door was finally open for them to talk.
She couldn’t allow her hopes to be built up in that way, because the chances were that reality would dash them.
As far as Briony knew, Bex hadn’t once wavered in her decision that their relationship was finished and that, as far as she was concerned, she no longer had a sister.
There’d been so many times when Briony had wanted to turn back the clock and undo what she’d done, but that wasn’t possible.
There’d never been so much as a twig, let alone a whole olive branch offered in her direction.
So, no, she wouldn’t allow herself to hope for a miracle, but maybe, just maybe she and Bex could finally have a calm conversation, where Briony attempted to explain herself, even if it did nothing to change her sister’s mind.
‘I’m just terrified that nothing we say can persuade her, Briony, and I can’t lose her. I wouldn’t be able to survive.’
‘I know, but I promise it won’t come to that.
’ She nodded despite the fact that he couldn’t see her, more determined than she’d been about anything else in her life to deliver on that promise.
The world might know her as Holly Day, but in her heart she’d always been Briony Deyes and she loved the family she’d been forced to leave behind with all her heart.
Bex might never be able to forgive her for what she’d done, but they had to put their differences aside to save their mother and, despite not seeing her sister for the past sixteen years, she knew this was the one thing they’d always be able to agree upon.
Bex had spent most of the night before unable to sleep; her mind wouldn’t stop racing, trying to work out how best to approach the situation, and insist that her mother either backed down and allowed her to donate part of her liver, or gave her Briony’s number so that, for once in her life, her sister could step up and do the right thing.
Matt had reached over to her side of the bed and pulled her close to his chest.
‘Can’t you sleep?’
‘No. I can’t stop thinking about how to handle things with Mum. I can’t risk her just shutting me down. This might be our only chance.’
‘It’ll be okay.’ Matt stroked her hair. ‘Just tell her how much you need her and how much the boys do too. She’ll have to see sense then and let you contact Briony.’
‘Or let me donate part of my liver.’ Bex had spoken the words into the silence, but he didn’t respond. ‘You are okay with me doing that, aren’t you?’
‘Yeah.’ The word was long and drawn out, and not in the least bit convincing.
‘But?’
‘But I’d much rather Briony did it and I understand why Donna is concerned about you having an op like that, with the boys to consider.’