Chapter 28
TARA
I looked round the kitchen at the pale faces and strained expressions of Jed’s and Ingrid’s parents.
I wanted to gather them all in a group hug and reassure them that everything would be all right, but I wasn’t sure it would be.
So I did the one thing all Brits did in a crisis – I popped the kettle on and made everyone a fresh mug of tea.
‘What must you think of us?’ Pam asked, accepting her drink with a weak smile.
‘You didn’t do this,’ I said gently. ‘You can’t blame yourself. This was Ingrid’s decision and you’re making the best of a bad situation.’
Janice and Richie added their support for that and Janice, evidently noticing that the box of tissues on the breakfast bar was empty, retrieved a spare box from a cupboard and handed it to Pam who took one and blew her nose.
‘Would it be okay if I find Lucy and the twins?’ I asked.
To murmurs of approval, I left the kitchen.
I’d been to the house on several occasions but had never been upstairs so I wasn’t sure which one was Lucy’s room, but I followed the sound of the music.
There’d been a lot of noise earlier as though they were jumping up and down, but that had stopped a while ago.
I knocked on the partially open door and pushed it open. ‘Am I okay to come in?’
Lucy was sitting on the floor, propped up against her bed, and the twins were giggling as they did her make-up – or rather they were using their fingers to smear vivid colours from a large make-up palette across her eyelids and cheeks.
‘That’s very… erm… colourful,’ I said, smiling.
‘Christmas gift from my mother.’ The sarcasm in Lucy’s tone conveyed exactly what she thought of that gift. ‘So I thought the twins could put it to good use.’
I crouched down beside them. ‘Hello, my name’s Tara. It’s lovely to meet you both. What are your names?’
‘I’m Piper. I’m three.’ She held up three pudgy make-up-covered fingers. ‘I’m a fairy.’
‘I can see that. A very pretty fairy.’ I glanced at her sister. ‘And what’s your name?’
‘S’vannah,’ she said. ‘I’m three and I’m a fairy.’ She picked up her glittery wand and waved it at me.
‘You’re a very pretty fairy too. Are you turning Lucy into a fairy?’
They both giggled again and Piper dipped her finger into a deep purple lip gloss and drew a stripe across Lucy’s cheek.
‘Ooh! That’s lovely,’ I said, trying to stifle my laughter. Poor Lucy looked like something out of a horror film.
‘Where’s Dad?’ she asked.
‘He’s gone for a walk with Aaron.’
She nodded and I suspected she wanted to ask more but recognised that quizzing me in front of the twins wasn’t the best idea.
‘I think that’s probably enough make-up for now,’ Lucy said. ‘Let’s wash your hands and we can show everyone what talented make-up artists you are.’
They didn’t look as though they wanted to stop but Lucy’s suggestion that they also get some juice won them over.
I joined Lucy in the bathroom to help her wash their hands.
‘I’m not sure I dare look in the mirror,’ she said.
‘Probably best not to.’
Lucy settled the twins in the lounge in front of a Tinkerbell film she’d found on streaming. Billy had retrieved their non-spill cups from the car and they were sipping from those, looking pretty much unaffected by the events of the afternoon.
Aaron and Jed arrived back and Jed mouthed ‘he’s okay’ to everyone as he followed Aaron into the kitchen.
‘The twins are in the lounge with Lucy,’ Janice told them.
Aaron wandered into the lounge and I smiled as I heard a cry of, ‘Woah! That’s intense.’
‘The twins have done Lucy’s make-up,’ I told Jed. ‘It’s pretty special. You should see it for yourself.’
‘I should probably meet the twins properly too,’ he said.
I followed him into the lounge and he burst out laughing when he saw Lucy. She couldn’t have given the twins a better activity as everyone had laughed, lightening the tense atmosphere.
Lucy paused the film and Jed introduced himself to Piper and Savannah, just like I’d done earlier. Piper offered him a sip of her drink, which he politely declined, but said he’d accept a high five which elicited giggles when he whipped his hand away last minute each time.
The twins were adorable – pudgy-cheeked with blonde hair pulled back into high ponytails and contagious laughs.
They seemed so happy and relaxed which made me wonder about Ingrid’s parenting skills.
Erin and Lucy had painted a picture of a detached mother and, while I didn’t doubt that was how she’d been with them, it seemed the twins might have had quite a different experience.
She’d told Jed that Declan had struggled with them so maybe she’d been very hands-on to compensate.
I wondered what was going through Jed’s mind.
I could imagine his thoughts and feelings around Ingrid’s vanishing act but I wasn’t so sure how he’d feel meeting the twins for the first time.
In the space of one weekend, what had seemed like a crazy suggestion from his ex-wife to raise them had turned into a real-life scenario of him needing to take some responsibility for their care.
Did he look at them and see Ingrid or did he see Declan?
I’d never seen photos of either of them.
I knew that Ingrid had dark hair and blue eyes but I didn’t know Declan’s colouring.
Jed wouldn’t hold their parentage against them, but it couldn’t be easy for him being around them.
Someone suggested ordering pizzas so Richie arranged that and, while we were waiting for them to be delivered, I introduced myself properly to Aaron and asked if I could see some of his sketches as I’d heard great things about them.
Whatever Jed had said to Aaron on their walk seemed to have chirped him up and we had a good conversation about his art and swimming.
He was particularly interested in my love for wild water swimming and my conclusion from our chat was that Aaron was a sweet kid who’d been dealt a tough hand and, understandably, his frustrations about that had affected his behaviour.
When the pizzas arrived, the four young ones ate in the lounge while the rest of us dined in the kitchen, not that any of the adults ate much. I was still full from lunch with my parents and I suspected the others were too worried to eat.
The conversation turned to the immediate practicalities.
Pam and Billy said it was no problem for Aaron, Piper and Savannah to remain at their house, especially as they’d been there for over two months already and were settled, but they would be grateful for some support.
There were no school runs to do because Aaron caught the bus and the twins weren’t of school age yet but Aaron needed taking to the pool each morning and to swimming club three evenings a week.
There was no way they could do all of that themselves while also looking after the twins.
We agreed we could share the sessions between us.
‘I hate to say it, but we’re not going to be able to look after the twins seven days a week.
’ Pam looked at Billy and he nodded. ‘They’re gorgeous little girls and they’re angels most of the time but, my goodness, the energy they have!
We have them for two days a week while Ingrid’s working and we’re exhausted by the end of the day. ’
‘We can help with them,’ Janice said. ‘Don’t worry about that.’
‘How about you take care of them in the morning,’ Richie suggested, ‘and we pick them up after lunch so you’ve got the afternoon free to hopefully speak to Ingrid and find out what her plans are?’
Ingrid’s parents agreed to that and thanked them for their help.
‘I’ll help where I can,’ Jed said. ‘It’s trickier because of work. I can’t leave Anastasia on her own but I can probably put a hold on my next collection and play with them in the flat. Although if Anastasia needs me downstairs, they’d be on their own and—’
‘Nobody’s expecting you to work miracles,’ Billy said, clearly picking up on Jed’s angst.
‘I know but it’s not fair for it to all land on you. We’ll see what Ingrid says tomorrow – assuming you can get hold of her and she does have answers – but, if it comes to it, I’ll hire someone to help Anastasia so I can take some time off.’
‘But you wouldn’t be able to draw if you did that,’ Janice said, ‘and you need to keep producing fresh collections. We can’t ask you to put your business at risk.’
‘I agree,’ Billy said. ‘But we appreciate the offer.’
‘I’ve got a day off each week,’ I said. ‘I can mind the twins then – full day, half day, whatever you need from me.’
I’d never looked after small children before but I’d babysat for Sofia and George – Maria’s daughter and stepson – and they were only a few years older than Piper and Savannah.
Granted, they’d already been tucked up in bed each time so I hadn’t needed to entertain them but how hard could it be to keep two three-year-olds amused for a day?
Pam, Billy, Aaron and the twins left shortly after and Lucy ran upstairs to remove her make-up.
Jed suggested they let Erin know what was going on so, when Lucy returned, he FaceTimed Erin.
When he recounted what he and Aaron had spoken about earlier – something we were all hearing for the first time – tears pricked my eyes at the raw emotion in his voice.
Erin was clearly shocked when she first heard what Ingrid had done but was fairly calm throughout the rest of the call.
Lucy, on the other hand, muttered disparaging comments about her mother throughout.
Erin offered to come home and help but Jed was insistent she remained focused on her studies.
After a request from Erin to keep her updated as soon as they’d heard from Ingrid, the call ended.