Chapter 44
JED
Friday afternoon brought news from Billy that Ingrid was back in Whitsborough Bay and not in a great way – full of cold, drained from the jet lag, contrite, humiliated, heartbroken.
Since arriving home she’d done nothing but cry and clearly needed a few days before she’d be ready to have that discussion about the way forward.
Pam had spoken to my parents who’d collected Piper and Savannah for the weekend.
I genuinely felt sorry for Ingrid but I wasn’t going to give her an easy ride when I saw her.
Even though she’d presumably had the message from Pam and Billy that her actions had been deplorable and selfish, I would also be giving her a piece of my mind.
What she’d done to her children, her parents, my family and me was completely unacceptable.
I’d have preferred to have the conversation sooner but it would be an emotional one so there was no point going into it with Ingrid tired and on edge.
Tara was convinced that there was no way Ingrid could possibly refuse me access to Aaron but Ingrid had always been unpredictable.
Billy and Pam were fully supportive of me being in Aaron’s life and had assured me they’d read the riot act to their daughter if she wasn’t…
but Billy and Pam had rolled over to Ingrid’s demands on more occasions than I dared to remember so, much as I loved the pair of them, I wasn’t convinced they had it in them to stand up to her.
Or that she’d listen to them if they did.
Not that I – the man who’d emigrated to Australia for her – had any right to get on my high horse.
I wandered over to the front window in my studio and looked across to The Chocolate Pot. Tara was on the first floor wiping a table by the window. Smiling, I sent her a message.
To Tara
You’ve missed a bit! x
I watched her take her phone out and laugh.
From Tara
The only thing I’m missing is you. See you later x
She looked out the window, waved and blew me a kiss.
I blew her one back and returned to my easel.
Hopefully the conversation with Ingrid would happen by the end of the weekend.
After that point, life might finally calm down.
It had been a heck of a storm but it had been so much easier with Tara by my side.
We’d certainly been tested with bad news, unexpected family commitments, and struggling to find time to ourselves but we’d survived it all.
If anything, we were stronger, not that I’d ever had any doubts about our relationship being one which would endure.
I looked down at my work in progress and set it aside. It was time to return to the project I’d started back in February before any of this kicked off. The timing still wasn’t quite right for the execution of it but I wanted to be ready for when it was.