Chapter 4
4
Wendy was trying not to watch every mouthful of food that Zara ate, but it had been hard to relax around her youngest daughter ever since Chloe had forced her to face the possibility of Zara having an eating disorder. She spent far more time in her room than Wendy would have liked, whenever she was at home, but she knew from Alice’s teenage years that it was normal behaviour for girls of that age, and it didn’t mean she was harbouring some deep, dark secret. But as much as she was desperate to hold on to the hope that Chloe might be wrong, there was no denying that Zara had lost weight. The jeans she’d insisted she’d just had to have, which had cost more than Wendy had ever spent on an item of clothing – including her wedding dress – were hanging off her.
‘Why do you keep staring at me?’ Zara shot Wendy a look when she caught her mother watching her eating scrambled eggs at a pace a sloth would have found frustratingly slow. The eggs must have been stone cold by now, and both Wendy and Gary had polished off a full English breakfast in the time Zara had been picking at her food.
‘It’s just nice to have you here for a full day and not have to worry about you rushing off for college, or me heading to work.’ Wendy reached forward and brushed a strand of hair away from her daughter’s face. ‘What do you fancy doing today?’
‘Actually I’m going out.’ Zara had the good grace to look sheepish. ‘I’m sorry Mum, I didn’t realise you’d want to do anything. You should have said.’
‘I didn’t think I had to, seeing as it’s my weekend with you.’
‘I live here. Dad and Clo are the ones I have weekends with; you get me all the time.’ Zara pulled a face and stood up, as if she was already preparing to leave. ‘So I didn’t think you’d mind, because we can do stuff anytime, and this is a one-off.’
‘What’s a one-off?’ Wendy raised her eyebrows; her daughter was probably about to claim a trip to the shops with her mates was some kind of rare event, but they both knew otherwise.
‘Chloe is going to pick some things out for the baby’s nursery, and she wants me to go with her.’ To Zara’s credit, she hadn’t lied, but Wendy almost wished she had. At least then it wouldn’t have hurt so much.
‘Why couldn’t she have done it on a weekend you’re at your dad’s? I can’t think why on earth you want to go and look at furniture for a baby’s room, anyway. When I tried to get you to come and look at some wardrobes for your own bedroom, you acted like I was violating your human rights.’ Wendy wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, at the absurdity of it all.
‘It’s not just a baby’s room, it’s my little brother’s room. And going shopping with Clo is different.’ Zara sighed, and Wendy tried not to resent the way her daughter shortened Chloe’s name. It sounded so familiar and affectionate, which was exactly what it was. ‘She knows how to make it fun.’
‘I see.’ Wendy stood up and took her plate to the sink, so her daughter wouldn’t see how upset she was. It was all she could do not to snap back that she was sorry she didn’t make professional-looking videos of every shopping trip they had, or that she was apparently not fun. She was frightened she’d burst into tears if she said anything much at all. But then Zara wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist from behind.
‘I’m sorry Mum, I really didn’t think you’d mind, and Chloe’s only doing it this weekend because there’s a sale on at one of the places we’re going to. Dad’s playing golf or something, and Clo said we could go out for lunch afterwards, and we didn’t have any plans, did we?’
‘No, we didn’t.’ Wendy turned around and pulled her daughter towards her. She needed to be more grateful for moments like these. Not every seventeen-year-old would cuddle their mother the way Zara still did, and Chloe had promised to talk to her about her eating. She might have decided that this time alone together would give them the perfect opportunity. Either way, Wendy wasn’t going to stand in the way of them spending time together, even if it stung that her daughter clearly preferred spending time with Chloe. This wasn’t about Wendy, it was about Zara, and having a good relationship with her father’s girlfriend was a huge positive, logically she knew that. Wendy just wished she felt as happy about it as she should.
‘You’re eating more blackberries than you’re picking.’ Wendy couldn’t help laughing as she looked at Gary, whose purple lips gave him away, before he shrugged and grinned in admission.
‘Two for me, one for the pot. That’s fair, surely?’
‘Just remember that when there’s not enough fruit for me to make a crumble.’ Wendy shook her head, but she was still smiling. Stealing the fruit was the worst deception she had to worry about with Gary, which was something it was very easy to forgive.
‘There must be enough here for a crumble, especially if we’re having apple with it.’
‘Maybe, but the priority is to have enough fruit for my blackberry jam. I want it to be ready for Christmas. We always have croissants and homemade jam first thing, it’s one of our traditions, and I want everything to be perfect this year. It might be the last Christmas Day we get with the girls.’ Wendy focused on reaching up for a berry, so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
‘Why would you think that? Last year was the best Christmas I can remember in a long time. Having all four of our kids together, and seeing how well they get on, especially how good Zara and Alice are with Albert, treating him like he really is their nephew.’ Gary turned Wendy to face him. ‘All of that could have been so much harder than it has been.’
‘The girls adore Albert, and he is their nephew as far as they’re concerned. I know they love spending time with Drew, Beth and Tom too. But when their little brother arrives, the draw of being with him at Christmas is going to be even stronger, especially when Beth and Tom take Albert to spend Christmas with his family, or with Rachel.’
‘I don’t think either Beth or Drew will ever want to spend Christmas with their mum. And even though you’re right that Beth and Tom will want to go to his family for Christmas Day some years, Christmas isn’t just one day. We can have our family celebration on Boxing Day, or any other day in December, and still make it every bit as special.’
‘Do you really think so?’ Wendy wanted to believe him. ‘It’s just that the magic of Christmas is about little children, isn’t it? When Mike and Chloe have their son, they’ll have all that magic to come again. I missed it so much when the girls outgrew it, and I don’t think Christmas was ever the same again for them either. Albert brought it back for all of us last year and I loved every minute of it, but we can’t offer that when he’s not here. Mike can, though.’
‘We can start our own Christmas traditions. Zara will be eighteen soon, so a lie-in, followed by Buck’s Fizz and a slap-up breakfast, and then Christmas lunch in the pub later on, might appeal more than you think. I know it does for me.’
‘And what if it’s just the two of us?’ Wendy looked at Gary, knowing she was enough for him, but still needing to hear it.
‘That will be perfect too. We can have our family day on another day in December, and base all the celebrations around Albie, but I get the best present of all on Christmas Day. You to myself. We can still have the Buck’s Fizz, a big breakfast, and even a walk with Stan, because let’s face it, he’s not going to let us off the hook.’ Stan was Gary’s Border Terrier, who’d come as a package deal with his master, but he never left Wendy’s side whenever she was around. She and Gary had only been living together full time for three months, but she couldn’t imagine life without him, or the little dog, and the house wouldn’t have felt like a home without Stan. The girls were besotted with him too, having lobbied for a dog all their lives, but Mike had always been adamant that he didn’t want a ‘filthy creature’ in his house. Wendy just wished she’d stood up to him years before, but it was too late now.
‘So there’s nothing you’d do differently if it was just the two of us?’ Wendy gave him a mischievous smile.
‘Nothing except skip lunch in the pub, so that I can spend all afternoon in bed with the love of my life.’
‘I thought Stan wasn’t allowed on the bed.’ She laughed as he pulled her even closer, kissing her in way that left her in no doubt who the love of his life really was.
‘Get a room!’ The shout made Wendy step back, just in time to see a man race past on his bike laughing uproariously. They were halfway down the steepest hill in the village, and the cyclist had flashed past them so quickly she shouldn’t really have been embarrassed, but she was.
‘Oh my God.’ Wendy’s face was flushed with heat, but Gary was smiling.
‘Maybe we should take his advice. Have a weekend away, next time Zara is with Mike and Chloe, and we’re both off. Beth will look after Stan, or we can get a pet-friendly Airbnb. Make the most of our freedom.’
‘That sounds lovely, but only if it’s my treat, to thank you for putting up with me.’
‘Don’t be daft, I thank my lucky—’ Gary’s response was cut off by the sound of shouting and a high-pitched scream which made Wendy’s stomach drop. It sounded like terror, rather than excitement.
‘Just brake, Mia, for God’s sake brAKE!’ The terror in the man’s voice was every bit as obvious, as it carried down the lane. And, as Wendy turned, she saw the little girl on the bicycle careering towards them, her face a picture of fear.
‘Daddy!’ She screamed the single word. Before Wendy could even respond, Gary leapt into the path of the bike, stopping it hurtling out of control but knocking him backwards. He hit the road with a sickening thud, the little girl and her bike falling on to the ground next to him, just as Mia’s father caught up with them and dropped to his haunches beside his daughter.
‘Gary!’ As she rushed towards him, Wendy’s heart thudded in her ears. He’d hit his head and there was a chance he could have been seriously injured, but even before she reached him, he was struggling to his feet.
‘I’m fine.’ There was a gash on his cheek that was pouring with blood, and an egg-shaped lump had already appeared on his forehead, but in the split second that he’d hit the ground, she’d feared the worst and the relief flooding her body made her skin prickle. She just hoped the little girl was okay too, and that was clearly the only thing on Gary’s mind, despite his own injuries.
‘Oww, Daddy, it hurts.’ Mia was holding one hand in the other, her words punctuated by shuddering sobs.
‘I’m know, darling, and I’m so sorry, I should never have let go of the bike so close to the top of the hill. If someone hadn’t been here to stop you…’ All the colour seemed to drain out of the man’s face as he looked at Gary. ‘Thank you.’
‘It’s okay.’ He might have made it sound like nothing, but Gary grimaced as he knelt down to look more closely at Mia and there was no doubt he was in pain. ‘Do both of your hands hurt, sweetheart, or just one of them?’
‘Just this one.’ Mia was still crying and her father didn’t seem to know what to do with himself.
‘I want you to see if you can move your fingers on that hand and make a fist.’
‘Oww, howoww.’ Mia’s face twisted in pain as she tried to follow Gary’s instructions.
‘Okay, sweetheart. I think you might have broken a bone in your wrist, but we need to get you to the hospital so they can take an X-ray to make sure. Then we can give you some medicine to make you feel better and put a special kind of bandage on it so it doesn’t hurt any more.’
‘Are you a doctor?’ Mia’s father finally found his voice again.
‘A nurse. I’m Gary. And this is Wendy, who I’m going to ask to do us a big favour and go and get my car, to take us all to the hospital. It’ll be much quicker than waiting for an ambulance, and I’ve got a first-aid kit in there that I can use to stabilise Mia’s wrist, and ease some of the pain until we can get her injuries looked at.’
‘I’m just so thankful you were here. I can’t bear to think…’ Mia’s father couldn’t finish the sentence. ‘I’m Matt, by the way, and this is Mia.’
‘I heard you calling out her name, otherwise I might not have seen her in time to stop the bike. You did all you could in the circumstances; it was an accident and they happen to the best of us.’ Gary’s attempt at a smile turned into another grimace, and the relief that Wendy had felt about his injuries began to ebb away.
‘I’m getting the car now.’ Wendy didn’t even wait for Gary to reply and she broke into a run as she headed back towards their house. She had a horrible feeling that Mia might not be the only one who needed medical attention and she wasn’t going to waste a second making sure that Gary got it too. He meant the world to her, and suddenly she was more aware of that than she ever had been before.