Chapter 49
TARA
On Saturday afternoon – the first day of the Easter holidays – I was restocking the soft drinks fridge behind the counter when I heard a woman asking for a table for five. I was sure I recognised that voice and, when I turned around, there she was.
‘Krystal! I wasn’t expecting to see you again.’
‘Surprise! We’re on holiday. After we met, I went exploring and loved the town. I wanted Benedict and the kids to see it so we have a caravan booked for a week.’
She introduced me to her husband and children and, while Nathan – another of my student part-timers and Molly’s boyfriend – showed them to a table, she hung back.
‘Is there any chance we can talk in private at some point? It doesn’t have to be today as I’m conscious it’s a Saturday. Later in the week’s fine.’
‘To be honest, the café will be busy every day with it being the school holidays. I have the best cover on a Saturday so I can give you ten minutes now if you like. We can go to Castle Park again.’
‘Perfect. I’ll tell Benedict and get him to order something for the kids.’
We left The Chocolate Pot together a few minutes later and Krystal told me which caravan park they were staying in and how excited the children were about it. As soon as we reached Castle Park and sat down, she sighed heavily.
‘I had to see you to say how sorry I am about Leanne faking her pregnancy. I’d like to think I’m a good judge of character these days but I genuinely hadn’t seen any of that coming. I believed everything she told me and I feel like such a mug.’
‘Don’t blame yourself. She duped my parents too. How did you find out?’
‘She told me. When she moved in with your parents, we agreed I’d stay in touch at least once a week, which we did.
Then one day I rang her for our usual update and she told me that my God-squad crap was no longer needed because she wasn’t pregnant and never had been.
It makes no sense. She had a scan photo. She looked pregnant.’
‘The scan was presumably someone else’s and the reason she looked pregnant was that she was wearing one of those weighted body suits that mirror pregnancy.’
Krystal clapped her hand across her mouth. ‘But that’s… oh, my goodness… I can’t even… Your poor parents. I’m devastated that I brought Leanne back into your life and theirs and for any pain I caused you all. I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing it if I hadn’t truly thought she’d changed.’
‘I know you wouldn’t and, believe me, you didn’t cause us any pain. That was all Leanne.’
I told her a little more about how Mum and Dad had discovered the truth and we discussed how disturbed Leanne clearly was for doing something so deceitful.
I hated seeing Krystal so sad so I told her I’d been following her on the socials and that I deeply admired her for the amazing work she’d been doing in Suffolk.
‘It’s good to see someone genuinely change for the better,’ I said. ‘It’s a pity none of it rubbed off on Leanne.’
Krystal sighed. ‘Some people don’t want to change or aren’t ready to and there’s nothing you can do to force it on them. You just have to hope and pray that one day they will be ready and they’ll surround themselves with good people who can help them become the person they want to be.’
I could relate to that through Zoe’s situation and shared a little about that experience and that I hoped to be able to help others like her.
‘I’ve no idea how I’ll do that or where I’ll find future Zoes but that’s where my head’s at.’
‘I’m a great believer in things coming into your life when you need them to.
Benedict and I were in a similar position to you, knowing we wanted to create something special but not sure what.
We got hideously lost one day and pulled off the road onto a farm track while we tried to work out where we were.
It turned out we were exactly where we needed to be – in the place that’s now our home. ’
I smiled at her. ‘I love that. Hopefully something similar will happen for Jed and me.’
‘Would you mind if I pray for you?’
‘Go ahead. I’m happy to have all the help I can get.’
I needed to return to the café so we walked back up Castle Street together.
‘Will you keep in touch with me and let me know what happens next for you?’ Krystal asked.
‘I’d like that.’
‘I’m so relieved you said that. I was almost afraid to ask because we haven’t exactly had a conventional start but I think we could be friends.’
I smiled at her. ‘Me too. I struggled with the old Krystal – nothing in common with her – but I really like the new one.’
‘New and significantly improved,’ she said, laughing. ‘And if I’m totally honest, I struggled with the old Krystal too. I’m glad she’s gone.’
That evening it was Carly’s hen do – a pub crawl down Sandy Bank culminating in karaoke in The Smuggler’s Tavern on the seafront.
Bethany had organised T-shirts for us all with glittery cupcakes on them.
She’d drawn each one herself, tailored to aspects of our lives.
My cupcake was a chocolate one, of course, with rabbit ears sticking out of the buttercream swirls and Bethany’s was pink and blue with a cot mobile hanging over it.
I loved seeing what she’d picked out for all the hens but the best outfit was Carly’s.
It was a stunning fifties-style tea dress in cupcake fabric which Ginny had made and Carly looked amazing in it.
With her bride sash and a tiara on, she looked like she belonged at a prom.
Bethany’s friendship with Zoe had continued to blossom since they first met at The Friendship Pod and she’d been invited to the hen do too, the cupcake on her T-shirt being book-themed.
One of the pubs down Sandy Bank was the one Jed and I had nipped into on our way home from the traders’ pub crawl following the Christmas lights switch-on.
I glanced across at the table where he’d told me about Aaron and I’d shared my own life story.
A little later, we’d shared our first kiss.
Neither of us had any idea of all the bumps in the road ahead of us but every single one had made us stronger, more united.
A couple of hours later as we walked – or staggered – along the seafront on our way to The Smuggler’s Tavern for karaoke, we passed the harbour and I looked out at the lighthouse, as I always did, and thought of my parents.
I’d sent a wish up to them, asking them to send a miracle for Zoe.
Even though I still shuddered when I thought about what Griff did to her on her birthday, that assault had brought Zoe to me, asking for help, needing someone to believe in her.
She’d bravely shared her story with me and with the police and we’d since had an update to say that, while they couldn’t give us any specific information yet, things were progressing.
Zoe was gaining confidence every day and Jed and I were both really impressed with her work ethic and her customer skills.
Watching Zoe belting out Rachel Platten’s ‘Fight Song’ with gusto – a girl who knew exactly what it meant to fight – I had no doubt in my mind that my parents had answered my wish again.