52. Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Two
‘ W oah, hi, Emmy. You look… different.’
‘Hi, Aunt Liv. Mum’s in the kitchen.’
‘Thanks.’ My niece went back to her position on the sofa, pulling her headphones back on and picking up a magazine. The missing eyebrow had been consigned to the history books, as was the green hair. In fact, her entire goth phase seemed to have been binned, replaced by silver leggings, a Taylor Swift T-shirt and bubble-gum pink lip gloss.
‘Emmy looks different,’ I said, walking into the kitchen and kissing my sister on the cheek.
Cass rolled her eyes. ‘I can’t keep up. She’s now saying she hates her black walls and wants them repainted mint green. Unfortunately, Jake’s still firmly stuck in goth, so we’re going to end up with a bedroom that resembles a cross between a mint humbug and a mint Aero. I can’t keep up. Wine?’
‘Please. Did I tell you Bertie tried to achieve the same black look?’
‘No, you forgot that vital piece of information.’
‘He coloured in his walls with a black felt-tip pen.’
‘Oh God.’
‘Hmm, I salvaged it with chalk paint in the end.’
‘Does Marion know?’
‘No, thank God. But I expect she’ll find out when the letting agency refuses to hand back her deposit.’
‘At least you’ll be out of the firing line by then. Have you heard anything from her?’
‘No. I think she’s tried calling Rob, but I’m not sure he’s answered.’
‘Do you really think he can keep it up, this protest?’
‘Who knows? If it were down to him, I’d guess he’d be running back to Mummy and Daddy as soon as his money ran out, but Nicola doesn’t seem the kind of woman to give in that easily.’
‘Yes, she was a bit of a turn up for the books, wasn’t she?’
‘I know. I really liked her.’
‘Me too.’
‘Who are you talking about?’ asked Bertie, walking into the kitchen and helping himself to a can of Coke from the fridge.
‘Bertie, you need to ask Cass before helping yourself.’
‘Sorry. Can I have a can of Coke please, Aunt Cass?’
‘Of course you can.’
‘So, who were you talking about?’
‘Nicola. I was saying she seems nice.’
‘Yeah,’ said Bertie. ‘She’s cool.’
‘You’ve met her?’ asked Cass.
‘Her and Dad took me to the park yesterday. She let me have a double cone ice cream. You’d best not let Emmy meet her, Aunt Cass. She might get ideas about piercings.’
Cass contained her laughter until Bertie had left the room in search of Jake. ‘He seems to be coping with all this remarkably well.’
‘Yes, but I suppose me and Rob were never a very couply couple. And Rob was always at work, so I think Bertie will actually see more of him now we aren’t together. I’ve spoken to Mel at the school about getting him access to a counsellor, though. He seems completely fine, but there have been so many changes, it would be good for him to talk to someone outside the family.’
‘And you? How are you coping?’
‘OK, I think. I’m just so relieved to be moving forward at last. The thought of going back to Lowen Farm is scary, though. New residents have arrived since I left, and we were so happy there before. I’ve built it up in my mind as some kind of paradise, which, of course, it isn’t. I just hope we can make it work.’
‘It will be fine. And Seb? What’s happening on that front?’
‘Nothing much. We’re on friendly terms, at least. That’s better than I could have imagined a few weeks ago.’
‘Give it time.’
‘Where’s Jasper?’
‘Picking up a VIP.’
The front door banged, and I heard Jasper swear.
‘You might want to give him a hand,’ said Cass.
I walked through to the living room to find Jasper trying to navigate an unwieldy wheelchair through the small, cluttered room. ‘Dad!’ I bent down and wrapped my arms around my dad’s neck.
‘There’s a reason Alberto doesn’t come round very often,’ said Jasper, heaving an armchair into the middle of the room to create a clear path to the kitchen. ‘We need a bigger house.’
‘Let me help you.’ As hard as we tried, the doorway was just too small for the wheelchair to fit through. I helped Dad to his unsteady feet, his arm wrapping around my shoulder for support as I helped him shuffle his way to the dining table. Jasper collapsed the chair, unfolding it at the table and helping Dad back in.
‘Alberto insisted on being here,’ said Jasper. Dad looked up and smiled at me, taking my hand. He pointed to the bag hanging on the back of his chair. ‘Oh yes,’ said Jasper. ‘He brought someone else with him.’ Jasper pulled out the framed photograph of my beautiful mother, causing tears to well in mine and Cass’s eyes.
‘She… w… would be… p… proud of you,’ said Dad. ‘S… so proud… of… both of… you.’
Cass joined me by our father’s side. ‘I suppose we’ve not turned out too badly in the end,’ she said.
Bertie, Jake and Emmy rushed into the room, beside themselves at the sight of their Gramps, Bertie climbing onto his lap despite my protests.
Cass pulled a lasagne from the oven, and we squashed ourselves around the small dining table in my sister’s messy kitchen. It wasn’t so long ago that I’d been sitting in this very spot bawling my eyes out as my life spiralled out of control. Now here we were, about to embark on a new chapter that felt more exciting than at any other time in my life.
Jasper raised his glass, and we all followed suit. ‘To new beginnings,’ he said.
‘To new beginnings.’