Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
‘ A bit dramatic, don’t you think?’ Robyn barked into my mobile as I drove into the car park.
‘Pardon?’
‘Your exit last night? Dramatic. After Mum had gone to so much effort, too.’
‘I was choking.’
‘On raspberry cheesecake?’
‘I had to leave. Don’t you think it’s odd? Mum and Dad have been divorced all this time and suddenly they’re remarrying?’ I turned to Lexi and Angus. They’d pulled out their earphones and were hitting each other. ‘Would you two please stop? I can’t hear myself think.’ I sounded like my mother. My mother when Robyn and I were teens, and she was still married to Dad.
Grunting, they reconnected their earphones, moved as far as possible away from each other and resumed their solo immersive entertainment experience.
‘Each to his own,’ Robyn persisted.
‘How can you be so blasé? They were grinning, giggling and holding hands like a pair of love-struck fools. Obscene. Finishing each other’s sentences. The nicknames… ugh. Nasty. It’s like the last twenty-five years didn’t happen. But they did, Rob. He’s broken her heart before. What’s to stop him from doing it again?’
‘I have my own dramas.’
‘These are our parents.’
‘I know, but I have other things on my mind.’
‘Like what? Your next Instagram post?’
‘Steady! I’m pregnant. Besides, not just any old post. I’ve been offered a sponsorship deal for baby formula.’
‘Robyn!’
‘What?’
‘It’ll be controversial. You’ve already had backlash over even hinting new parents embrace formula.’
‘I never said they should embrace it.’
‘But you didn’t say they shouldn’t.’
‘It’s not my place.’
‘Exactly. Besides, you haven’t even had the baby yet.’
My patience with Robyn was wearing thin. ‘We’ll talk about this later.’ I put the phone back in my bag and stepped out of the car. Lexi and Angus quickly disappeared into a sea of children. Then I saw Arnaud.
Despite everything, a wave of relief washed over me as soon as I saw him. I dropped my shoulders, the stress disappeared, and I smiled. With his three-day (maybe more) growth, he looked especially rugged and outdoorsy.
‘Hey,’ I said, waving.
‘What’s happening with you?’ he asked, as he pumped up soccer balls.
‘You really don’t want to know.’
Arnaud threw a ball at me. ‘Try me.’
‘Okay… My parents are getting married again. To each other.’ I bounced the firm ball on the barren oval .
‘But this is wonderful news! The whole family can be reunited.’
‘No, it’s a nightmare. I want to die.’
‘There must be an easier solution?’
‘I guess I could kill them, but then there’s the whole prison thing…’
‘ Oui. The food, exercise yard and non-parole period. I do not think it would be so great.’ Arnaud paused. ‘So maybe you could accept it?’
‘Pooh to that. They’ve seen each other like three times in twenty-five years and now they’re getting married. Married , for God’s sake! Before Christmas!’
He put his hand on my shoulder. ‘Maybe, but sometimes you just know.’
‘Sorry, Arnaud. I shouldn’t be dumping this on you, but you did ask.’
‘Please. I am ’appy for you to dump.’ He went back to pumping air into the black-and-white balls.
‘Mum’s normally so sensible, so together. Yet when she’s with Dad… well, the thing is, they look like a couple. A very happy couple, unfortunately,’ I said, mesmerised by Arnaud’s muscleman arms and hands.
He stopped mid-pump. ‘If it makes you feel better, their euphoria probably won’t last more than six months. They too, will soon be immersed in the unpleasantness of everyday life like everyone else.’
‘I guess…’
Arnaud smiled. ‘Tell me what happened after I left the pub.’
I recoiled at the memory. ‘The party fizzed once you left.’
‘You looked to be enjoying yourself. What ’appened?’
‘Nothing.’
Arnaud put his hands on his hips.
‘Why? What did you hear? ’
‘There was a scuffle between Mara and Graeme, and she walked out, never to return to Delicious Bites again.’
‘Well, if they scuffled, I didn’t see it.’
‘But?’
‘But, yes, Mara’s taken stress leave and Fern’s worried.’
‘And?’
‘And nothing. Honestly. That’s all I know. At the pub everyone seemed to be getting along. You’d never have known Graeme and Mara had been fighting earlier in the day, and I’d never have suspected they were having an affair. At least that’s the rumour.’
‘Mara? I thought she’d have more style than to make music with ’im.’
‘It’s gossip.’
‘ Oui , but some truth, maybe? Grafton has been through most women at Image Ink. Has he not tried with you?’
‘I’m a mother.’ I tittered nervously. Time to change the subject. ‘You know enough about me and my dysfunctional family to write a book, and I know practically nothing about you.’
He stared at me. ‘I am boring and now I must warm up the boys.’
‘Okey-doke,’ I said as he walked away. Who says okey-doke, dingbat? (Or dingbat, for that matter?)
I turned. Lexi was beside me. ‘You look weird.’
‘Lexi! I was wondering where you were.’ A straight-out lie.
‘You were looking at Angus’s coach the same way the girls at school look at Hunter.’
‘I certainly was not.’
‘You had the faraway look in your eyes of girls in love.’
‘Don’t be silly.’
‘Gross, Mum. You’re married. ’
‘You have no idea what you are talking about.’ I didn’t need Lexi telling me I was gross. Or pathetic. I already knew that.
‘I wondered why you got so dressed up this morning.’
‘Nonsense.’ I glanced down at myself, shocked to find I was wearing ludicrously inappropriate blue suede sandals. Come to think of it, I had spent several extra minutes blow-drying my hair and applying mascara and lipstick. I hadn’t even realised. Looking around, I noticed all the other mothers were wearing sneakers. ‘Did you find Hunter?’
‘Nope.’
Had I really dressed up for Arnaud? I hadn’t gone out of my way to wear heels and apply make-up this morning. It wasn’t something I’d consciously thought about and conspired to do. But there was no denying the effort. I put it down to the fact I was working every day. It had become a habit. That was my excuse, and I was sticking to it.