CHAPTER SIX – SYLVIE
“Thank you,” Beth said when I sat back down after making my phone call. “For getting me out of there so quickly.”
I waved a hand dismissively. “I had a feeling it was a conversation you didn’t want to have there and then, especially not with that dense prat.”
She shook her head, fiddling with the edge of a napkin. I still had a quarter of my sandwich left so I picked at it while she switched between toying with the napkin and the teaspoon she’d used to stir extra sugar into her tea.
She kept glancing at me. Little flicks of her gaze here and there that were full of uncertainty and hesitance.
“It’s none of my business,” I told her, dabbing at the corner of my mouth. “Truly. I just saw a way to get you out of an uncomfortable situation and did it. And you really did look as though you needed to get out of the shop for a bit.”
She smiled weakly. “Thank you. That was kind.”
“Not entirely. I knew it would piss off Thomas, and given a choice, I’ll always choose that option.” I grinned, sitting back in my chair. “Nothing pisses him off more than thinking I’m getting involved in his business.”
“Are you sure it’s not some kind of weird sexual tension between you?”
I shook my head. “Aside from one misguided crush in my teen years, absolutely not.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why don’t you get along?”
My lips quirked. “He threw a cricket ball at my head when I was nine, and I’m a pro at holding a grudge.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yep. There’s a scar just above my eyebrow to prove it.
” I tapped the scar close to my temple on my right.
“I ended up in A&E and left with seven stitches in my face. By the point I’d gotten over it, our relationship existed solely on sarcasm and bickering, so I never bothered to tell him I’d forgiven him. ”
Beth laughed, reaching up to re-do her ponytail. “That’s insane. Have you really never told him that you’re over it?”
“Nope. I moved away, and it seemed rather pointless after that.” I bit a slice of cucumber. “So, naturally, I think he still assumes I’ve never forgiven him and that I think he did it deliberately.”
“Did he do it deliberately?”
“Depends on who you ask.” I propped my chin up on my hand with a grin. “Once, I’d have said yes. With the benefit of hindsight, I think he just had dreadful judgement throwing a cricket ball for a casual game of catch and a terrible aim.”
“He still has a terrible aim.”
“That doesn’t surprise me at all. He couldn’t hit a skyscraper with a water gun in New York City.”
Beth laughed, and some of the tension she’d been holding almost visibly disappeared from her shoulders. “Gosh, I needed this. Thank you.”
“Anytime. I’m here all month.”
She sighed, and the sadness settled back almost immediately. “I can see why you moved away. There’s not much in Castleton, is there?”
I hesitated.
No, there wasn’t. Especially not if you weren’t from here.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” I asked. “How long have you lived here?”
“Three years. I met Zara at uni in Liverpool, and we moved back here when her dad fell ill. She wanted to be nearby, and I was okay with it because it meant Danny would get to spend more time with his family.”
I tilted my head to the side. “So is Danny… Sorry, I don’t really know how to ask that, but I didn’t know she had a baby at any point.”
Her lips twitched. “He’s our son. Obviously, we used a sperm donor, but Danny is mine biologically. We planned to have two children—one from her eggs and one from mine. Barring any issues, we wanted to carry each other’s biological child from the same donor.”
Okay.
That made sense.
Using the same donor meant their children would be biologically related, and carrying each other’s embryo meant they were equally involved.
“So… assuming I’m reading your reaction to Thomas right, then that’s Zara’s embryo, right?” I asked, pointed vaguely at her midsection.
Beth nodded. “It’s… not ideal. We moved here right after Michael’s cancer diagnosis.
We decided Zara would keep her job in London as she earnt more than me, and she was able to move to a sixty-forty schedule where she mostly worked from home.
I decided to take over the lease of the florists when the previous tenant retired, and it worked.
Emily was thrilled to have Danny around and spend a lot more time with him, and it was nice for him to have some stable male influences in his life through Michael and Thomas. ”
I nodded.
So, cancer was what had taken Thomas’ dad.
“It wasn’t supposed to be long term, hence Zara keeping her job. We all thought Michael would recover.”
“But he didn’t,” I said softly.
“No. He was diagnosed three Christmases ago. A year later, we found out it was terminal, then Thomas’s fiancée broke things off, and we didn’t feel like we could leave anymore.
He died at the end of November last year, and ever since her compassionate leave was over, Zara has thrown herself into work. ”
Thomas’s fiancée?
Wrong thing to focus on, Sylvie.
Sort yourself out.
God.
What a rough three years they’d had.
“She’s away more than she’s here. She’s been in London for about two months now, and she was supposed to come home two days ago for the rest of December, but I think it’s going to be at least another week.
” Beth looked down. “I didn’t want to do this without her, but she insisted.
Her dad’s illness already delayed our plans to have a second baby, and neither of us are angry about that of course.
We wanted to have a second baby sooner rather than later, but his illness and death changed things.
Honestly, I only agreed to this now because she said she was going to change her schedule back again. ”
“You’ve been doing it all yourself?” I blinked at her. “Beth, that’s a lot for one person to be doing. Not to mention running a business and basically being a single parent.”
“I… It is a lot,” she said quietly. “It’s been a stressful four months, and now it’s happened, and she’s not even here like she was supposed to be. I only took the test when I did because she was meant to be coming home.”
No wonder Thomas reacted the way he did.
There was a very slim chance I owed him an apology.
All right.
I did.
I owed him an apology.
“When Thomas said that… I just panicked. I’m really not supposed to be working as much as I am, never mind lifting anything heavy. It’s not the first time he’s helped me with stock at busy times, so I didn’t think twice about asking him. I just didn’t expect his response.”
“It was a shitty response from him, to be honest. The status of your uterus is absolutely nobody’s business but your own until you decide otherwise.”
“Thank you.” Her lips twitched into a small smile. “I’m sorry for unloading this on you. You’re a practical stranger, and I’ve just poured all my issues out over a sandwich.”
“I wouldn’t consider us strangers, just friends who haven’t spent a lot of time together in person yet.” I grinned and shrugged. “Clearly you needed to let them out. It doesn’t seem like you have anyone you can talk to.”
Beth hesitated. “Not really. Without Zara, I’m pretty alone. I don’t know many people outside of the store, and without Zara here, I’ve been juggling parenthood and supporting everyone as they grieve.”
“What about your family? Can they not help you?”
“No.” She grimaced. “They… don’t speak to me anymore. Not since I told them about Zara.”
Ah.
I knew exactly what she meant by that.
“Well, with any luck, they’ve gone back to eighteen-twenty-two where they belong,” I quipped.
Beth stared at me for a moment then burst out laughing, throwing her head back. It was a real, deep belly laugh that brought a smile to my face because it was so genuine.
“Now that,” she said, wiping under her eyes. “I needed.”
I grinned. “You need this, too.”
She looked at me, furrowing her brow in confusion.
I dug in my bag for my purse and pulled out one of my cards, then scribbled on the back of it. “I know you don’t have my personal number, so here. I might only be here for a month-ish, but you’re not the only one who doesn’t have many friends here.”
She took it from me with a watery smile. I didn’t know if the tears were from her recent laughing fit or from me giving her my number, but either way, I just wanted to hug the poor woman.
I knew how hard it was to live in Castleton without having many friends, but I’d always been lucky enough to have my family with me.
Beth didn’t even have that. The one she did have was grieving.
She turned around and motioned to the waitress with the universal sign for the bill. I reached back into my bag for my purse to get my card out, but Beth reached over the table and touched her hand to my arm.
“Please,” she said. “This is on me. Consider it payment for the therapy session.”
My lips curled to one side. “If you’re going to pay me in food, consider me your therapist.”
She grinned.
Yep.
I had a new friend.
***
“I don’t knooooow,” Hazel whined, dramatically leaning against Julian’s side. “This is so hard!”
I buried my face in my hands. “Hazel, you’ve had eleven months to come up with your songs. I need to know them in the next forty-eight hours.”
Julian slid his gaze towards her. “She’s not wrong, babe. We do need to figure this out.”
“There are just so many songs I love! What do I choose? Is a Christmas song too cheesy? If not, which one? Most of them are about wanting love for Christmas, but we’re getting married, so I can’t do that.
I don’t want love for Christmas. I already have it.
” Hazel groaned, hiding her face behind her scarf. “Julian, help me!”
He looked at me. “I’ve tried. I’ve offered at least thirty solutions that haven’t felt right for her. At this rate, I’m just going to suggest bloody Mariah Carey and be done with it.”
My eyes widened.
Talk about a declaration of war.