CHAPTER THIRTEEN
My birthday arrived, which was fine. But so did Ada’s party. Not so fine.
I’d spoken to her a few times on the phone about the arrangements, and I was trying hard to sound upbeat about it, but deep down, I really wasn’t looking forward to it. It was my twenty-fifth birthday – which was a milestone, no matter what I’d said to Ada – and a father should be there, shouldn’t he? To toast his daughter’s quarter century? But Ada was clearly determined to remain tight-lipped.
Skye seemed to think I was imagining things, suspecting Ada of lying about her supposed one-night stand. I’d asked her about Mags’s former husband, Ray... did she remember him? And did Skye think it was possible he and Ada could have had a fling when they were both living in Edinburgh that year? She listened to the theory and said maybe, although I didn’t think she really believed it. I think she thought I was just clutching at straws in my desperation to find my dad.
I remained convinced that Ada knew far more than she was letting on, and it was continuing to put a strain on our relationship. We’d have to put on a show of mother-daughter togetherness at the party, something I was dreading.
Also, I’d invited Billy and Jenna, but I was starting to worry about Jenna’s influence on my friend. Every time I thought about having to see them together as a couple at the party, I had an urge to invent a bout of flu and tell everyone the evening was cancelled!
But in the end, I dressed in jeans and my best sparkly top and heels, put a smile on my face and went along with Rori and Kurt for support.
The room Ada had hired wasn’t the big, sterile function suite I’d pictured but a cosy room with soft lighting, a bar at one end, and little tables with candles in pretty glass jars. But as people started to arrive and I greeted them with Ada and Rori, somehow I couldn’t quite relax.
‘Why do you keep glancing at the door?’ asked Rori at one point. She smiled suggestively. ‘Have you invited a mystery man we don’t know about?’
‘What?’ I laughed. ‘A mystery man? No! The champagne’s obviously gone straight to your head.’
‘You might be right.’ She laughed, her cheeks rather flushed. ‘But there’s definitely something up with you. You keep fiddling with your hair and that’s always a sign you’re nervous.’
‘Oh.’ I folded my arms awkwardly. ‘Well, I guess... I suppose I’m dreading seeing Billy’s girlfriend, Jenna. She’s not exactly my favourite person, as you know.’
‘That’s a shame because Billy’s such a good friend.’
‘I know. Why couldn’t he have chosen someone I could get along with?’ I grinned. ‘So bloody inconsiderate of him!’
Rori leaned closer and murmured, ‘Tell me to shut up if you like, but I actually thought you and Billy would get together.’
‘What?’ I felt myself blush. ‘Billy and me? Why on earth would you think that? We’re friends. That’s all.’
She shrugged. ‘You like him, though?’
‘Of course I do. But not like that!’
‘Okay. Whatever you say.’ She smiled mischievously, and I felt immensely relieved when Kurt came over and her attention was diverted.
It was weird, though. If Rori had thought there might be something between Billy and me, maybe she wasn’t the only one. Was everyone looking at us and mistaking our (admittedly quality) banter for something more than friendship? It gave me a strange feeling, thinking about this...
‘Blossom. Hi! Happy birthday!’
I spun round and there was Gary, looking so different, my eyes widened in astonishment. I was used to seeing him in jeans and a green polo shirt at work. But tonight, he was looking stiffly formal in a dark suit, grey shirt, lemon tie and a too-tight red and yellow tartan waistcoat. At first, I wondered if he’d hired the outfit specially, but then I realised a button had popped on the waistcoat. He must have had the outfit in his wardrobe, bought perhaps for a wedding, although it was clearly a while since he’d worn it.
I’d mentioned my party to him but knowing he hated social gatherings, I hadn’t really expected him to turn up.
‘Gary! I’m so glad you came. You’re looking... amazing.’
‘I feel like a trussed-up turkey,’ he muttered with a grin. ‘But I thought I’d better make the effort for Maureen.’
‘Maureen?’ I looked at him in surprise. ‘The woman I saw you talking to that time?’
He nodded, looking a bit bemused. ‘I invited her out for dinner and when I picked her up, I asked if she liked parties and she said yes immediately and that she’d been wanting a reason to show off her new dress.’
‘Oh.’ I grinned. ‘So she’s not shy, then.’
‘Not at all.’
I glanced around. ‘So where is she?’
‘I’m here!’ The woman called Maureen – dark-haired and petite – materialised beside Gary and beamed at me. ‘What a super party. You must be Blossom, the birthday girl?’
‘I am. And it’s lovely to meet you.’ I leaned forward, intending to shake hands, but Maureen – in a little black dress and pearls – drew me into a perfumed hug instead.
Then she linked Gary’s arm. ‘Doesn’t he look handsome?’
‘He does indeed.’ I winked at Gary and he grinned rather awkwardly. I noticed he was sweating a little in the shirt and tie, and I wanted to tell him to take off the waistcoat and tie, roll up his sleeves and relax. But it was so lovely that he’d wanted to impress Maureen...
‘Gary invited me out for dinner tonight but we just had to call in and say happy birthday on the way to the restaurant,’ she said.
‘Well, I’m really glad you did. Help yourself to drinks over there.’ I indicated the bar.
And just then, my smile slipped. Over Maureen’s shoulder, I’d spotted Billy and Jenna walking into the function room, arms around each other.
They made a striking couple, I admitted to myself grudgingly.
Jenna, her flaming hair loose over her shoulders, was wearing a fabulous gold mini dress and perilously high heels, which showed off her long legs to perfection. Billy, dark and really quite handsome, was looking almost as much the film star as Jenna. His sessions at the gym were clearly having an effect. Usually a devotee of baggy shirts, tonight his fitted white shirt was tucked into pale chinos, and he had an air of confidence about him that I hadn’t seen before. In fact, with Jenna giggling and whispering in his ear, it was all rather nauseating. Billy looked like the cat that got the cream. He was lapping it up.
‘Billy’s looking good,’ said Rori. ‘Has he lost weight?’
I shrugged coolly. ‘I suppose he must have. Oh, they’re coming over.’
‘Well, hi, there, Flossie!’ sang Jenna, making a beeline for me. ‘Wow, don’t you look... retro! Blue jeans. Still, I guess they never really go out of fashion, do they?’
‘Er, thanks. And it’s Blossom, actually,’ I muttered.
‘Oops.’ She laughed and made an exaggeratedly ‘guilty’ face at Billy. ‘Not a great start, getting the name wrong. So sorry.’
‘No problem at all, Joan,’ I said, quick as a flash, and I saw Billy hide a smile.
Jenna shot me a look of suspicion and opened her mouth to say something, but I swept on, ‘Anyway, really great to see you both. Do help yourselves to drinks over at the bar. I really must go and find where Skye and Saul have got to.’ I gave them both a big, beaming smile and headed for the door, just wanting to escape.
Rori followed me. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Yes, I’m fine. And I really do want to know where Skye is. Have you seen her and Saul?’
She shook her head. ‘Saul’s got a job on that he said might finish late, but he’s coming along as soon as he can. But Skye should be here by now. Ada went off to try and find her.’
I felt a twinge of worry. Skye hadn’t been quite herself since our argument at the garden centre and I’d assumed she felt bad about her behaviour that day. I’d had a feeling she was trying to avoid me. But surely she’d still come to my party?
I stood and talked to Rori and Kurt, and a couple of my old friends from school for a while, and then Gary and Maureen came over and said they had to go if they were to make their dinner reservation in time. We said our goodbyes and I watched them go off together, feeling happy for Gary. Perhaps his life would start opening out, now that he’d met Maureen...
‘I’m going to see where Ada is,’ I murmured to Rori. ‘Can you get me a softie? I think I’ve drunk too much champagne.’
‘On it!’ She stuck up her thumb, and she and Kurt went off to the bar.
I’d intended to visit the Ladies, but as I was walking along there, I heard raised voices.
It sounded like Skye and Ada.
Rounding a bend in the corridor, I saw that a door had been opened into another function room, this one empty, and Ada and Skye were standing over by the window, talking. They seemed to be arguing about something. Concerned, I approached silently, wondering what on earth was going on. They were so engrossed, neither of them noticed me as I approached silently on the thick-pile carpet of the corridor.
They were both turned slightly away from me, and I reached the door just in time to catch the expression of blazing anger on Skye’s face in profile and her words as she shouted at Ada: ‘Yes, she might well hate you once she knows! And who could blame her? Why do you think I’ve kept the secret all these years? To be honest, if I were in Blossom’s position and I finally found out the truth, I’d probably hate you, too.’
I gasped in a breath and held it, frozen to the spot. Ada was speaking but there was a strange whining noise in my head that was making it hard to hear her. Feeling dizzy, I reached for the door frame and clung onto it to steady myself.
Skye knew the secret?
So she’d known all along who my father was, but she’d kept up a pretence of being completely in the dark about it?
I felt my world shift. The floor beneath me seemed like it was tilting and I was having difficulty breathing.
Skye had known all along!
‘I truly despise the decision you made back then, Ada,’ she was shouting. ‘Yes, despise! Having to stay silent on the subject has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I know you’re terrified, but the time for cover-ups is over.
‘She needs to know, Ada.’