Chapter 38
38
T hat afternoon, Cally was on her way to check on Eloise. If Cally was truly honest, she’d been shaken by what had happened to Eloise. Despite everything that had occurred in her world, since the day Cally had met Eloise strawberry picking one summer, Eloise had just always been there for Cally. Eloise’s accident, careering her car into a wall and a van going into the back of her, played on a loop in Cally’s mind. Eloise, who was usually calm and composed, had not looked that way at all. In fact, she’d appeared very shaken, as if someone had really rattled her cage. In turn, Cally’s own cage had been rattled, too. The accident had shaken her more than she cared to admit. Eloise was a constant in her world and something threatening that made her have a long hard look at herself.
As she rounded the corner onto Eloise's street, Cally slowed her pace as the sight of her friend's blue car, usually parked in the driveway, was conspicuously absent. The car not being there was a stark reminder to Cally of how quickly life could change. She got to the house and rapped softly on the door. There was a moment of silence, then the muffled sound of movement from inside.
‘Coming!’ Eloise's voice called out, sounding strained. Eloise opened the door, looking pale and drawn. Her impeccable appearance was not as it usually was. She was slightly dishevelled, with her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, and she had dark circles shadowing her eyes. A large, angry bruise had bloomed on her left arm.
‘Yikes. You said you felt like you were bruised. You weren’t wrong. That looks really nasty.’
Eloise attempted a smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. ‘It looks worse than it feels,’ she said, stepping back to let Cally in. ‘I was just about to make some tea.’
Cally noticed a stiffness in Eloise’s gait. It was more than obvious that Eloise was attempting to hide aches and pains. Eloise used only her right arm to move the kettle to the sink, lift the lever on the tap, and then put the kettle back on its base.
‘Let me help,’ Cally offered, moving across the kitchen.
Eloise waved her off. ‘I'm not an invalid, Cal. I can manage to make tea.’
A few minutes later, Cally carried two steaming mugs and a plate of biscuits into the sitting room. As she put them down on the coffee table, Eloise lowered herself gingerly onto the sofa with a wince.
‘So, how are you doing? How was the night?’
Eloise's smile was tight. ‘I'm fine, Cal. Really. You don't need to worry about me.’
‘You don't have to pretend with me. That bruise looks painful.’
Eloise glanced down at her arm. ‘It's nothing. Just a bit of colour to liven things up.’ Eloise’s attempt at humour fell flat.
‘Doesn’t look like nothing to me. You’re black and blue on your arm there.’
‘It could have been a lot worse.’
‘Thank goodness it wasn’t.’
‘When I close my eyes, and I'm back in that moment, it’s quite scary. There was such a screech of tyres and then a crunch of metal. I can't shake it. I can’t believe I swerved like that.’ Eloise closed her eyes for a second.
‘Sounds traumatic.’
‘I'm mostly unharmed. I’m grateful.’
‘Yeah, it’ll take you a lot to get over it. A traumatic thing like that…’
Eloise wrinkled her nose. ‘You think? I’ll be right as rain tomorrow.’
‘You won’t. You just need to take it easy. Rest up and let your body heal.’ Cally instructed.
‘Sorry, are you now the wise one?’ Eloise joked. ‘I thought that was my role in this friendship.’
‘Looks like I’m telling you what to do for once.’
Eloise smiled. ‘When did you get so wise?’
‘I learned from the best,’ Cally bantered.
‘It’s weird. Last night, even though I’m okay overall, I felt so overwhelmed.’
‘Yep. When I was caring for my grandma, there were days when I felt as if I couldn't breathe. Sort of anxious or something.’
‘Yeah. This has really given me a bit of a reality check.’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, what if the van had been going faster? I might be telling a different story or not telling a story at all.’
‘Gosh, don’t say that.’
‘I’m not being dramatic, but all it takes is one silly little thing for your whole world to change.’
Cally nodded. She’d been thinking about Eloise’s accident a lot. It had made her reassess the situation with Logan. She’d thought about calling him and asking him if they could talk. The accident, even though, overall, it had been minor, had served as a wake-up call. ‘It made me think that, too. It's funny, isn't it? How it takes something like this to make us realise what's really important.’
Eloise leaned forward, wincing slightly as she reached for her tea. ‘What do you mean? Has my little mishap got you thinking about Logan?’
Cally nodded, her fingers tracing the rim of her mug. ‘Yeah, it has. Something like this can put things into perspective, you know?’
‘So, what are you thinking?’
Cally took a deep breath. ‘Well, I've been wondering if I've been too harsh on him. I mean, yes, he should have told me about his previous marriage. But life's too short to hold onto grudges, isn't it?’
‘It certainly is.’
‘I've been thinking about it for the last few days. The accident just pushed it to the forefront, I guess.’
Eloise nodded, taking a sip of her tea. ‘Okay, so talk me through it. What's changed?’
Cally leaned back. ‘It's like... when you called, my first thought was, “I need to tell Logan”. And then I remembered that I couldn't. And it just hit me, you know? How much I miss him, how much I want him to be part of my life.’
‘I did try to tell you this. It’s like you had a mental block about it.’
‘I know. I mean, yes, he should have told me about his ex-wife. But it was in the past, long before he met me. And he's never given me any reason to doubt him otherwise.’
‘Don't we all have things in our past that we're not proud of? Things we'd rather not talk about?’
Cally nodded. ‘Yeah. I was angry that he didn't tell me. But now, I'm wondering if I overreacted. If I threw away something good because I was hurt and scared. Then, your accident, and when I got home last night, I realised how stupid it all is. Life's too short, isn't it?’
Eloise smiled and shook her head. ‘Finally.’
‘Do you think I should message him?’
‘If you feel ready and if you genuinely want to try again, then yes.’
‘I need to try. I love him, El. I’ll think it through.’
‘Run, my friend, don’t walk.’