Chapter 26
‘Hey Gran!’
Thea let herself in through the utility room door of Nightshade Cottage and headed through to the kitchen. Lorelai called back from the living room, and after making them both a cuppa, Thea mooched on through.
‘How did the nativity play go?’ Lorelai asked as Thea kicked off her shoes and got comfy on the sofa.
‘Really well.’ Thea smiled. ‘Only one member of Reception class forgot their lines and the angels’ haloes all stayed on, so I count that as a win.’
‘Oh, I remember seeing you and Tristan in your tea towels and tunics, back in the day,’ Lorelai said, a faint trace of nostalgia in her voice. ‘Tristan hated every minute of it, but you were a natural star. I could have sworn you were bound for the stage, from that moment on!’
Thea laughed. ‘I’ve still got the picture the school took of the two of us.
Tris looked like he was going to rip the head off the Baby Jesus doll, and I was blowing kisses to you and Uncle Phillip in the audience.
’ She was tickled that her gran remembered the event differently, having recently laughed, herself, with Nick about her brother’s melodramatic tendencies.
They chatted amiably about the children and firmed up a few Christmas plans before Thea worked up the courage to broach the subject she’d come to talk about with Lorelai.
She’d been flummoxed by Cora’s admission last night, and while she’d assured Cora that they’d find a way through, she really needed to talk to her grandmother about what that way might be.
‘So, you know I let Cora finally set up some social media accounts on her birthday?’ she began.
Lorelai looked briefly concerned. ‘Are you sure that was wise, dear? I hear such terrible things about social media these days. I know it’s a part of life, but she seems awfully young at the moment to have an account of her own.’
‘All of her friends have them, Gran, and I’m still policing her every move on that phone of hers, so hopefully it’ll be all right.’ Thea paused. ‘The thing is, someone’s got in touch with her, and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.’
‘Who is it?’
It was crunch time. Thea took a deep breath. ‘Her half-brother.’
Lorelai put the mug she was holding down on the coffee table with a thud. ‘Come again?’
‘Her ten-year-old half-brother. And you’d better believe that I was just as flabbergasted as you were when she told me that.’
‘But… how? When?’
‘Pretty bloody soon after Ed and I split, it would seem.’
‘Oh, darling.’ Lorelai went to hug Thea, but she shook her head.
‘It’s fine, Gran. I mean, it’s not like we haven’t been separated for years.
It’s just a bit of a shock that he’s chosen to get in touch now.
That he’s aware that he has a half-sister.
That bloody, frigging Ed never saw fit to tell me he’s started a whole new family!
’ Thea felt a spark of anger. It wasn’t that she wanted Ed back – he was a destructive influence, and she knew she was far better off without him in her life; it was more that he hadn’t had the courtesy to let her know that there was now at least one more child to consider in their complicated family dynamic.
‘What do you intend to do about this… connection?’ Lorelai asked as Thea paused.
Thea shook her head. ‘I really don’t know, Gran.
I mean, what can I do? These kids have made a link over Snapchat, and it would be so easy just to tell her to block him, but that doesn’t seem fair.
The trouble is, I’ve no way of contacting Ed directly.
The last mobile number I had for him doesn’t work, and he deleted his Facebook account when we split up.
’ She gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I don’t even know where he’s living any more. ’
‘And you’re sure this boy is who he says he is?’
‘I’ve seen some of the photos he’s sent Cora.
’ Thea sighed. ‘He’s the spitting image of Ed, with a little bit of Dylan thrown in for good measure.
And in one of them, he’s standing next to Ed.
’ Inexplicably, her eyes filled with tears, and she rubbed them in irritation.
‘It’s not that I’m hurt, exactly, but I’d have appreciated some indication from Ed that he’d started a new family.
I mean, when we separated, I still expected he’d maintain contact with the kids, but when he didn’t, I hoped it would be for the best. He was in a bad place, and I was so angry about all the money we’d lost that a clean break seemed like the right thing to do.
He had enough to sort out by himself, and when he didn’t keep in touch, even with the kids, I didn’t push it.
Now, it feels as though he, through this boy, has come waltzing back into our lives on his own terms, with no warning, and I’m expected to pick up the pieces, like I always had to when we were together. ’
Lorelai reached out a hand and squeezed one of Thea’s.
‘You looked after your family after he nearly destroyed it,’ she said gently.
‘You’ve been so strong, Thea. But if this young boy is who he says he is and wants to get in touch with his half-sister and brother, you need to think about how that might work in practice.
It means you and Ed will probably have to come face to face again and come to some agreement about how that’s going to work. ’
‘It’s early days, Gran,’ Thea replied. ‘And who knows how this is all going to turn out? You know what kids are like. One minute they’re sending messages left, right and centre and the next they don’t speak for weeks.
’ She paused, feeling ashamed of herself for the thought that this young boy might disappear as abruptly as he’d arrived in Cora’s life.
‘But that doesn’t mean he won’t try to get in touch another time,’ Lorelai said reasonably.
‘And that could be when Cora’s more independent than she is already.
It might be a good idea to make contact, proper contact, now, while you’ve at least got some say in the matter.
In the blink of an eye, she’ll be off to university, or leaving home, and you won’t have any say. ’
Thea hated it when her grandmother talked sense, but she knew it was also what she needed.
‘You’re right.’ She sipped her tea. ‘Much as it galls me, I suppose, if the kids are interested in meeting each other, then Ed and I need to start communicating too. I just wish it wasn’t happening so quickly. ’
‘I’m sure you’ll do the right thing, love,’ Lorelai said. ‘And if Ed’s got any sense, he’ll try to make this as painless as possible for you all.’
‘Ed wasn’t exactly great at painless.’ Thea rolled her eyes. ‘The man I knew, at the end, would have done anything to get another fix.’
‘People do change, you know,’ Lorelai observed. ‘And no one’s suggested that you have to be too cordial with Ed. But for the sake of the children involved…’
‘I know, I know,’ Thea interjected. ‘We’ll all have to behave like adults. I just hope Ed realises that, too.’
‘So what are you going to say to Cora and Dylan, then?’
Thea sighed. ‘I suppose I’ve got no other choice than to let them meet their half-brother, if they want to. And if that means getting back in touch with Ed, then that’s a price I’ll have to pay.’
Lorelai leaned forward and squeezed Thea’s hand again. ‘Good girl,’ she said. ‘But try to put that out of your mind until after Christmas. You’ve got enough on your plate, and this isn’t going anywhere.’
Thea smiled at her grandmother. She’d learned a lot about compartmentalising things from Lorelai, who could juggle many things simultaneously without dropping any of them. Perhaps Lorelai was right: nothing would happen immediately, and she had plenty of time to work out the best way to proceed.
‘Cora did pop in and see me on the way home tonight,’ Lorelai said, after both of them had taken another sip of their tea. ‘She didn’t mention any of what you’ve just told me, but she did say a couple of other things.’
Thea’s heart sped up a little. ‘What did she tell you?’
Lorelai gave her a warm smile. ‘This and that. Mostly how happy she is that you and Nick Saint seem to be getting on so well.’
‘Nick and I are… well, to be honest, I’m not quite sure what we are.’ She paused and looked away, slightly embarrassed, from her grandmother’s gaze. ‘But whatever it is… it’s nice.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Lorelai let the words hang in the air.
It was an old trick of hers, from when Tristan and Thea were teenagers and she wanted to know more but was too clever to probe for details.
‘It’s good to see you happy, Thea. It’s also nice to know you and Nick have been getting closer again. ’
Thea smiled at her grandmother. ‘Yeah. We have been spending a bit of time together lately.’
Lorelai smiled. ‘That’s nice to hear. You seemed to sidle around each other when you were teenagers, and I always wondered if there was ever going to be more to it.
Whatever my differences of opinion with his father over Observatory Field, Nick was raised well, and he’s always had a soft spot for you.
’ Lorelai had had a few run-ins with Robert Saint when the housing development had been approved, and although they were on more cordial terms again these days, the history ran deep.
‘It’s not as if he’s been pining for me,’ Thea said quickly. ‘He’s had a whole other life, and a whole set of girlfriends, and I’ve had two kids, for heaven’s sake!’
Lorelai gave Thea a long look. ‘Don’t cut yourself off from potential happiness just because Ed might reappear like some deranged genie.
You mustn’t conflate these two things happening in your life.
Nick’s a good boy, and he’s fond of you.
If something happens and it makes you happy, then let it happen. ’
‘Nothing’s happened, Gran!’ Thea protested.
She wasn’t quite prepared to admit how pleasurably confusing the near misses with Nick had been.
‘But I promise you, if it does, you’ll be the first to know.
’ She finished her tea and kissed her grandmother goodbye.
She always felt better after spending time with Lorelai, and she left Nightshade Cottage smiling.