Chapter 34
One school day afternoon, exactly four weeks after running off, Lydia turned up at Jane’s house unannounced with her luggage, a new haircut, and an apology in her eyes. Lily, who had answered the door, just stood there.
“Who is it?” Aunt Jane called out—and then she saw. “Lydia!”
Jane stood motionless, long enough for doors upstairs to open and voices to call down asking who that was and if they’d heard right.
“Well, can I come in, then?” Lydia asked somewhat snappishly as Rosie and the cousins thundered down the stairs.
“Of course. Of course. Martin, get your aunty Lydia’s bags.”
Jane ushered her in and Lydia, Lily, and Rosie stood silently in the hallway and stared at one another while Aunt Jane and the cousins fussed around them with doors and bags.
“Well,” said Lydia finally. “This hallway’s obscenely big, isn’t it? Jane, your hallway’s like a ballroom.”
“What are you doing here, Mum?” Lily asked.
“I’m on my way home,” Lydia said. “Wherever that is. I mean, I think it’s Pippi. I hope it’s Pippi.”
She looked hopefully at Jane, who was attempting a tasteful retreat while waving at her children to take bags away and making signs at Lydia to talk to her daughters now. Lydia took the hint and faced her children.
“Anyway. Pippi’s not home without you.” And she hugged her girls tight and cried a little. Shortly after, they all settled into a very large meal, during which she complained about how cold it was in Sydney and how bad the food was in Queensland.
“They put egg in the risotto! Can you believe it?”
No one mentioned Alex. Lily didn’t ask any questions. She was still too angry with her mother and resentful that she should again be put in the position of having to take the lead. This time, she wouldn’t.
She remembered what Aunt Lizzie had said. Lydia would do what she wanted to do and Lily couldn’t force her to admit to anything, or to apologize for anything, or to change. Lily felt she had finally accepted that. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t upset.
A few days later, after many long and serious behind-closed-doors discussions among the aunts from which Lily was excluded, Lydia and her girls returned to Pippi on the condition that Lydia start paying proper rent.
Other details were kept secret and Lily knew nothing about what had really gone on.
Her mother’s return instantly undermined Lily’s newly won feelings of power and independence.
Once again, she felt shielded and infantilized.
Lydia patched up her feud with Birdie-Round-the-Back and returned to work with minimal public complaint—although plenty in private—and Rosie, overjoyed, returned to her beloved local high school, bubbling with gossip about her truly terrible experience at a private girls’ school in the city.
Lily marveled at their ability to slip straight back into their previous lives and willfully ignore its recent disruption.
For Lily, it wasn’t that simple. On the surface the routines were the same, but unasked, unanswered questions hovered in every room.
The name Alex King hadn’t been uttered once.
Then one weekend Lydia’s phone rang in the kitchen.
“Who is it?” Lydia yelled from the next room.
“Alex King,” Lily said after a beat.
Lydia appeared in the kitchen in a flash, her face pale.
She fixed her gaze on the caller ID and pressed reject.
Lily and Lydia stood there a moment and stared at the phone.
As Lily wondered if now was the time to ask for the full story, the phone rang again.
Alex. Lydia pressed reject again. Almost immediately, the phone rang for a third time.
“Slow learner,” Lydia muttered, and turned away.
But Lily didn’t want to let him off that lightly. She picked up the phone.
“Yes?”
“Lydia?”
His voice on the line was urgent.
“No, it’s Lily.”
“Oh, hey!” He affected some of his old charm. “How was Melbourne?”
“What do you want, Alex?”
“Wow. Okay. Um—can you put your mum on?”
“No.”
He changed gear again.
“Look, Lily … I know you must think I’m such a loser. And I’m glad you answered, actually, because I’ve been meaning to call you.”
“Why?”
“I’ve been thinking of you. I wanted you to know how much I care about you.”
Lily’s skin crawled.
“And your mum,” he continued. “She’s an amazing woman—”
“Why are you calling?”
“I just told you! Because I care.”
She could hear the lie in his voice and a flicker of anger at being challenged.
“To tell you the truth, I’m in a bit of a situation here in Queensland. I did something stupid … like I always seem to do.”
He attempted a self-deprecating half laugh, but Lily stayed as silent as a statue.
“Anyway, I’ve been let off with a fine. A huge fine, actually. And Lily … I’ve got no one to turn to and nowhere to go. I’m swimming in debt, I can’t afford a place to live, my parents have cut me off—”
“Alex—”
“And to be honest, none of it would have happened if—”
“Alex!”
He stopped talking at Lily’s firm tone.
“We’re not doing anything to help you.”
Lily glanced at her mother. Lydia bit her lip and clenched her fists as if to stop herself from grabbing the phone and saying she would do anything, anything! Tell her what he needed and she’d make it happen! But Lily stood firm and shook her head.
There was a short silence on the other end of the line and Lily knew Alex had finally realized none of his tricks would work.
“Unbelievable,” he scoffed quietly. “After everything. I can’t believe you’re being like this.”
Lily felt rage slice through her.
“After everything? Everything? Alex, you took my mother away from my fifteen-year-old sister—”
“She left her! How is that my fault?”
Lily caught her mother’s eye and saw the shame in her face. In that moment, they were both done with Alex King.
“She chased me, for the record. She seduced me.”
“Don’t you—”
“Go on, ask her! I did her a favor!”
“Ever—”
“You know what she’s like! She owes me!”
“I know her and I know you too, Alex King. You called to ask for money. You’re not getting it. I’m blocking your number and if you call me or her or anyone I know again, I’ll report you to the police.”
And she hung up.
Lydia stared at Lily, mouth agape.
“Did I do the right thing?” Lily asked. She was shaking.
Lydia flew to her daughter and enveloped her in the tightest hug.
“You are perfect,” Lydia said. “And I’m going to make it my life’s mission from now on to be worthy of you.”