Chapter 65
‘Gabriella!’
It was Phoebe, in her pyjamas, bursting from the door of her bedroom, Mr Darcy at her side.
‘Good morning, Pheebs. Good morning, Mr Darcy. Breakfast is nearly ready.’
‘But, Gabriella, it’s past nine o’clock. You didn’t wake me and we’re supposed to get Mr Darcy to Eric by eight so he can settle him in the garage before his shift and—’
‘Relax,’ Gabriella said. ‘Breathe in the fresh winter New York air and centre yourself.’
Phoebe sniffed. ‘All I can smell is bacon.’
‘I know,’ Gabriella said, grinning. ‘It’s great, isn’t it?’
Mr Darcy barked with a good degree of appreciation.
‘Did you hear what I said about Mr Darcy?’
‘Yes, Phoebe, but, I thought, today Mr Darcy could spend the whole day with us and we don’t do this pet-hiding comedy skit with luggage trolleys and diversion tactics. As fun as that’s been. Kind of.’
Mr Darcy gave a woof of excitement like only he could understand.
‘But what about Cheyenne?’
‘I think it’s time Cheyenne met the newest member of the Felix family, no?’
Phoebe’s eyes widened and brightened all at once but then, just as quickly, the excitement was reined in a touch and a question came next.
‘Does this mean… we can keep him?’
Gabriella watched Phoebe, fingers fussing Mr Darcy’s fur, her expression giving off hope and anticipation but, equally, ready for disappointment.
She stepped out from behind the kitchen island and got closer to her niece. ‘We need to find out how we do it. So I can’t make any guarantees and I have no doubt he will need jabs and health checks and maybe some kind of quarantine or something but, yes, we can—’
The rest of her sentence didn’t meet the bacon and sausage-fuelled air as Phoebe flew into her, wrapping her arms around her and squeezing with the force of an industrial lemon juicer. Two hugs in as many days and this one a cuddle instigated by Phoebe.
‘Thank you, Gabriella! This is the best Christmas present ever!’
Gabriella closed her eyes, holding Phoebe tight and remembering the promises she had made to her sister last night.
Just then the doorbell of the suite rang and Gabriella let Phoebe go. ‘That will be Cheyenne. Why don’t you go and get dressed and when you’ve done that, breakfast will be nearly ready.’
‘OK,’ Phoebe said.
‘Take Mr Darcy for now. I’ve saved him some sausages.’
When Gabriella opened the door, Cheyenne was armed with her iPad and a stack of newspapers.
‘Morning,’ Gabriella greeted.
‘Good morning, Gabriella,’ Cheyenne said, stepping inside. ‘I’ve got the papers and my notifications haven’t stopped, just so you know.’ She marched to the table that was set for breakfast and put everything down, knocking a knife and fork aside.
‘Cheyenne,’ Gabriella said, moving fast back to the kitchen and multitasking, turning the heat down on everything she was cooking. ‘I know we spoke late last night but I just wanted to say again that I am sorry for locking you in the storage cupboard.’
‘You see, Gabriella, I don’t think you are. I think you thought it was a necessary thing to do so you and Phoebe could speak freely without any input from me. So you could have your honesty and your truth.’
‘Cheyenne—’
‘No, I get it,’ she interrupted. ‘I mean, I didn’t. And neither did All Chapters. At all. But.’ She began spreading out the newspapers across the plates and the condiments, then pressed icons on her iPad. ‘This, Gabriella, is positive press. Look.’
Gabriella stepped towards the table with a degree of caution she really shouldn’t be having. It didn’t matter what the press thought about her truth. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought.
‘So,’ Cheyenne said. ‘One of the UK newspapers has gone down the “fraud” and “fake” route but all the others have reacted with sympathy and empathy. One of them even said, and I quote “the Felixes gave an intimate insight into love, life and unbearable loss” and “a literary talk turned into a story of one woman’s courageous battle told by her closest two warriors fighting for change”. ’
Gabriella released a sigh of satisfaction. She hadn’t done it for anyone but her, Phoebe and Lulu, but the realisation that there was still part of the world open to people owning their mistakes, forgiving a grief-stricken misdirection, it was more than she could have hoped for.
‘I think we can do something with this and I think All Chapters will agree,’ Cheyenne said. ‘I think we can work towards moving Zero Fucks Given from self-help, to something more peopley, more inclusive, more community-driven, more actually caring.’
Woof!
Phoebe and Mr Darcy were back in the room. Cheyenne screamed and Gabriella had to catch the iPad before it crashed down to the floor. Phoebe’s hands went to her ears and Mr Darcy barked again.
‘Oh, Cheyenne,’ Gabriella said. ‘Let me introduce you. This is Mr Darcy-Felix.’
And then the doorbell rang.
‘And I will let Phoebe continue the introductions because that will be Luca and Errol.’
Cheyenne tentatively put a hand out towards Mr Darcy. ‘Is… Errol another dog?’