Chapter 30
MAYA
I couldn’t sleep a wink that night. When we had left the O’Dowds’, I had been so busy trying to keep the peace between Hugo, Liv and Jay and making sure Elliot didn’t cause any more trouble that all I had cared about was getting out of there as quickly as I could but now that I was home, the anxiety had started to set in.
I had lain awake all night, worrying about the situation and thinking about what I should say to Liv.
She had become such a good friend and confidante to me and I didn’t want this to come between us.
As I wrestled and tussled with what was the right thing to do, I eventually decided I would call over to their house the following morning to apologise.
The thing was, although Hugo was adamant that Elliot would never have deliberately hurt Finn, I wasn’t so sure.
Hugo didn’t spend as much time with Elliot as I did and he probably hadn’t noticed the recent shift in our child’s behaviour.
Since he had started school, he was acting out more, throwing tantrums when things didn’t go his way.
He had also become territorial and possessive with his toys.
And something else had happened. Something that niggled inside me and made a little voice in my head say that maybe Elliot wasn’t entirely innocent in all of this.
Just last week, Ms Higgins had phoned me to say that he had hit another child in the yard at break time.
I hadn’t told Hugo about it; I wasn’t too concerned at the time and then it had gone out of my head.
I had put it down to the huge adjustment that starting school takes for a child, the overload and tiredness that this new stage brings.
When I had suggested this as a possible reason for his behaviour, his teacher had agreed with me that sometimes, it took children a little while to settle.
But what if it was something more? It seemed too coincidental that a similar incident should happen only a few days later.
What if Elliot had picked up on the tension between Hugo and me and this was his way of expressing himself?
I got up that morning and got dressed. I didn’t tell Hugo where I was going; I knew he’d be furious if I told him I was calling over to apologise so I just said I was going out for a while.
I sat into my car and headed straight to the florist that was at the top of the road.
I chose a bunch of blush-coloured roses.
She wrapped them in brown paper and then I set off towards their house.
I had to go right down to the end of their street before I eventually found a space.
I parked parallel with the footpath, then I got out and walked to their door.
A dog barked and a persistent house alarm pierced the air.
When I arrived at the door, I took a deep breath to steel myself before pressing the bell.
Jay answered the door to me. His hair was tousled and it looked like he wasn’t long out of bed. He was wearing shorts that I suspected were pyjama shorts. They were loosely tied and his belly hung over the drawstring, peeking out just beneath his t-shirt.
‘Maya,’ he exclaimed. ‘I-I wasn’t expecting you…’
‘Sorry, I can come back later if this isn’t a good time,’ I said, thumbing over my shoulder towards where my car was parked.
He ran a hand through his long hair. ‘No, no, of course not, come in.’
I stepped inside.
‘Liv?’ he called upstairs. ‘Maya’s here.’
After a minute, Liv appeared at the top of the stairs wrapped in a huge, fleecy dressing gown which she had belted around her waist. Her hair was wet and hung lank around her shoulders.
‘Maya!’ she exclaimed, making her way down the stairs towards me. ‘This is a surprise. Jay got up with Finn this morning so I had a lie-in. I’ve just had a shower,’ she added to explain why she was still in her dressing gown.
‘I should have told you I was coming,’ I apologised. ‘But I just wanted to drop these in.’ I handed her the flowers.
‘Oh,’ she said, taken aback. ‘What are these for?’
‘I just wanted to apologise… for last night…’
‘You didn’t need to do that.’
‘I wanted to.’
‘Well, they’re beautiful. You shouldn’t have done that; you brought flowers yesterday too. We’ll be opening a florist at this rate.’ She laughed. ‘Come on in.’
I followed her into the kitchen where Jay was stirring a teaspoon around two mugs.
‘I thought you two might like a coffee,’ he said.
I noticed a jar of Nescafé stood with its lid off on the countertop.
He took the spoon out, dripping coffee across the worktop, before laying it on the counter where it made a small pool.
I had to restrain myself from picking it up and putting it in the dishwasher.
He placed a coffee in front of me and handed one to Liv.
‘Thanks, love,’ Liv said, reaching in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
‘Do you take sugar, Maya?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘I’m sweet enough already.’ I cringed as I trotted out the timeworn response.
They both indulged me with a smile.
‘Thank you, Jay,’ I said, taking the mug gratefully and taking a sip. Even though it was instant, it wasn’t as bad as I feared.
‘I’ll find a vase for those,’ Jay said, taking the flowers from Liv and opening cupboards before locating one.
‘Where’s Finn?’ I asked, looking around.
‘He’s watching TV,’ Jay said. ‘I don’t know about Elliot, but Finn is addicted to TV.’ He rolled his eyes.
‘Elliot is the same; I have to limit his screen time or he’d never get off it.
’ I paused and took a deep breath. ‘Look, the reason why I called over was because I just wanted to say sorry for last night. I couldn’t sleep after we went home.
I didn’t see what happened between Elliot and Finn but I promise you both that I’m keeping a close eye on Elliot’s behaviour. ’
‘Aw, Maya please don’t worry,’ Liv jumped in, full of heart. ‘They’re five; they’re still figuring out how to play nicely. We understand.’ She turned to her husband. ‘Don’t we, Jay?’
He nodded in agreement but it was a reluctant gesture, like he wasn’t quite convinced.
‘And…’ I went on, dreading this next bit. ‘I also feel I should apologise for how Hugo handled it. I know he can be…’ I paused for the right word before settling on, ‘…difficult.’
‘It’s not up to you to apologise for him, Maya,’ Jay spoke up.
‘Well, still, I just want both of you to know that I’m sorry for how the evening turned out and I’ll be keeping a close eye on Elliot to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.’
‘Honestly, let’s just forget about it,’ Liv said. ‘I don’t want this to come between us.’
‘I’m sure it was an accident like Elliot said,’ Jay said, softening.
Liv’s head turned in her husband’s direction.
‘They’re kids; they’re not in control of their emotions,’ he went on.
Liv nodded in agreement.
‘Well, I appreciate you being so good about it,’ I went on.
‘How about I make you both some breakfast?’ Jay nodded in his wife’s direction. ‘Sleeping Beauty hasn’t eaten yet and you don’t want to see her when she gets hangry.’
Liv laughed. ‘That would be lovely, thanks, love,’ she said.
‘You’re a lucky woman,’ I nudged Liv. ‘There is nothing sexier than a man who can cook.’
Jay blushed. ‘I don’t know about that,’ he said shyly, ‘but I enjoy it.’
‘You’re too modest. The food last night was amazing. Hugo wouldn’t know how to make a bowl of cereal,’ I said.
They rewarded me with a laugh.
‘I wish I was joking,’ I added grimly.
Liv and I chatted while Jay moved around the kitchen pulling out ingredients.
He began frying some bacon and mashing an avocado, leaving a trail of bowls and discarded chopping boards on every surface as he worked but Liv didn’t seem to mind.
A few minutes later, he served me a tasty-looking plate of sourdough bread, heaped with avocado and crispy bacon.
‘Oh my goodness, this looks delicious,’ I exclaimed.
‘That’s homemade sourdough,’ Jay added proudly. ‘I started making it in lockdown and I’ve kept it going.’
Liv rolled her eyes. ‘That starter is like our second child.’
I laughed.
I used my knife to saw through the crust and brought a forkful up to my mouth. ‘This is divine. If I lived with you, Jay, I’d be obese.’ I laughed.
‘Life is too short to be worrying about calories. Food is meant to be enjoyed.’
‘Tell that to the scales.’ I groaned.
‘You’re in great shape, Maya. Why would you be worried about a few pounds?’
‘Well, thank you, but it doesn’t come easily at my age.’
‘Will you stop!’ he chided. ‘You’re still young.’
‘I’ll be forty next year.’
‘No way,’ Jay said in disbelief. ‘You don’t even look thirty.’
I slapped him playfully on the knee. ‘You can cook and you know how to flatter a lady!’ I turned to Liv. ‘Is there anything that he can’t do?’
Liv hiked her brows ever so slightly; it was so subtle that it was barely perceptible but I saw it as Jay made a big show of taking a bow and pretending to raise an imaginary trophy. Although she was smiling widely, I noticed that it didn’t quite stretch up to her eyes.
‘He’s quite the catch,’ she said eventually.
‘Lucky me.’ Her tone was sour and I realised that something had shifted inside her.
I had gone too far and crossed an imaginary line that I wasn’t even aware of and Liv didn’t like it.
I hadn’t intended to make her feel threatened – it was just supposed to be some good-natured banter.
I quickly lifted my hand from Jay’s leg.
‘You’re both lucky,’ I said, trying to keep the peace.