Chapter 53
FIFTY-THREE
JESS
‘Mum!’ exclaimed Jess when she glanced at the customer approaching her till on Monday morning. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Thought I would surprise you.’ Her mum smiled as she placed her basket down at the end of the conveyor belt.
‘Well. You have certainly done that,’ said a delighted Jess.
‘I thought I would make you and Maisie my spaghetti bolognese tonight. I know how much you like it,’ she said. ‘What time is your lunch break?’
‘Literally in fifteen minutes,’ said Jess as she scanned the items in her mum’s basket.
‘Great. Meet me in the Costa over the road,’ said Carol as she unfolded a tote bag from her handbag and packed some mince, spaghetti and garlic bread into it. She knew Jess had a cupboard full of herbs and tins at home.
Jess thought her mum looked a little red eyed and wondered whether she had been crying. She didn’t have time to think too much about it, though, as a steady queue was building at the checkout.
When she got to Costa, Jess squeezed her mum in a hug before taking a seat opposite her in the café with the red walls.
‘So when did you get here?’ asked Jess as she took a seat opposite her mum.
‘About an hour ago,’ said Carol. ‘I parked the car outside your apartment. I got the train in, as I hate driving in town,’ she said as she dropped a sachet of sugar into her flat white coffee.
‘Will you be going back to the Lakes?’ asked Jess as she took a sip of the cappuccino her mum had ordered for her.
‘No,’ said Carol, shaking her head. ‘It’s over between me and Pete. I am going to look for something to rent, and you and Maisie can come with me, if need be.’
‘Oh, Mum.’ Jess reached over and squeezed her mum’s hand. ‘And are you okay?’ she asked her gently.
‘Oh, I’m fine.’ Carol gave her a brave smile. ‘Actually, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders,’ she admitted. ‘More than anything, I just feel like a fool.’ She sighed.
‘Don’t be silly,’ said Jess.
‘And guilty,’ said Carol as she sipped her coffee. ‘Running off like that and leaving you and Maisie.’ She shook her head.
‘Oh, Mum, don’t do that to yourself. You are entitled to a life of your own,’ said Jess. ‘We did miss you, though,’ she added quietly.
‘And I missed you both too,’ Carol said, her voice cracking with emotion.
‘So what did Pete have to say?’ asked Jess.
‘Not a lot, truth be told.’ Carol sighed. ‘I think he knew things weren’t right between us. He never tried to persuade me to stay.’ She shrugged.
‘You looked like you had been crying earlier,’ said Jess. ‘Are you sure you are okay?’
Just then a toddler threw a soft toy snake from their pram that landed at Jess’s feet. She stood and passed it back to the child’s young carer, who she presumed to be the boy’s mum, who thanked her.
It reminded her of when she would take Maisie out in the pram and people would coo over her as she was such a cute baby. How quickly the years had passed.
‘Do I look okay now?’ asked Carol as she fished her compact from her bag. ‘I bet I look a right show,’ she said as she dabbed some concealer beneath her eyes.
‘Of course you don’t,’ Jess reassured her. ‘I was just worried you had been upset, that’s all.’
‘I was,’ Carol admitted. ‘I bawled my eyes out on the drive over here.’
‘Oh, Mum,’ said Jess, feeling saddened at the thought of her mum doing that all alone.
‘But don’t worry.’ Carol held her hands up. ‘Really, I am fine. I think things had built up and I just let it all out,’ she told her daughter. ‘A few slushy songs on Smooth Radio and I was gone.’ She smiled. ‘It was actually quite therapeutic.’
There was no need to tell her daughter that the break-up with her and Pete had dragged up all of the memories of the split with Jess’s father.
She felt like a failure somehow. Or at least a poor judge of character, but then she supposed Pete had given her a confidence boost when she needed it most. All the same, she could not help but feel that everything was her fault.
She would be fine, though. Being back here with her daughter and granddaughter was exactly what she needed.
‘I’m glad you’re okay,’ said Jess as she fished her front door keys from her bag and handed them to her mum. ‘Let yourself in; I will be home about five thirty.’
‘Shall I pick Maisie up from school?’ Carol offered.
‘Yes, that would be great. She is meant to be in after-school club, so it will be a lovely surprise,’ said Jess, imagining the look on the face of her daughter when Carol arrived to collect her.
‘So I am okay to stay? I will be looking for a place of my own, though, obviously,’ said Carol.
‘As if you need to ask.’ Jess rolled her eyes. ‘I have already told you, you can stay for as long as you need to.’
‘Thank you, darling. I will get another key cut on the way back to the train station,’ said Carol. ‘Oh, and I saw Declan this morning,’ she added. ‘He was just heading in as I pulled up. I don’t think he saw me, though.’
Jess wondered why he had taken time off work, but then it was none of her business.
‘Right,’ said Jess just as her cheese panini for lunch arrived at her table.
‘Is everything okay between you two? You never said much when I spoke to you last,’ said Carol.
‘Oh fine,’ said Jess, waving away the question. ‘Both busy working I guess, we are bit like ships that pass in the night.’ She smiled.
‘So you still haven’t been out on another date?’ asked Carol, looking puzzled.
‘No.’ Jess took a bite of her panini. ‘Look, I will fill you in properly later, Mum. I promise.’
‘Okay,’ Carol said, taking the hint not to ask any more questions.
They finished their lunch and chatted about the price of property in the area, and soon enough it was time for Jess to head back to work.
‘See you later, Mum,’ said Jess, giving her mum a quick hug. ‘We will have a good chat when Maisie is in bed this evening.’
‘We will,’ said Carol. ‘I will pop a bottle of white wine in the fridge to chill.’
‘Looking forward to it.’ Jess smiled, wondering how many more evenings they would be spending at Wisteria House. She was also not looking forward to revealing to her mother what she had discovered about Declan.