To Beatrice’s surprise, Eric had stepped up to the mark, and to her even greater surprise, he seemed to be enjoying it.
There he was now, hovering at the entrance to the ward.
He was looking at her parents, and Beatrice guessed that he was reluctant to intrude on their time with Sadie. But knowinghe was on his break and that he didn’t have long, Beatrice beckoned him in.
‘Mum, Dad, why don’t you take Taya to the shop and buy her and Sadie a treat?’ Beatrice delved into her bag for some money but her mum brushed her aside.
‘I’ll get it,’ Deborah said. ‘Come on Taya, let your dad have a chat with Sadie. You’ll see him later.’ She whispered to Beatrice, ‘He’s taking her bowling this evening, but don’t tell Sadie.’
‘Gosh, no!’ Beatrice agreed. Sadie would be furious if she knew they were going without her, and she made a mental note to suggest to Eric that he do something special with Sadie, just the two of them, when she was out of hospital.
Beatrice let Sadie and Eric have a few minutes alone, and she strolled over to the window. Yesterday had been the shortest day of the year, and today wasn’t much longer. It would start to get dark soon, and Beatrice noticed that some of the nearby houses had already switched on their Christmas lights.
She frowned as she thought of everything she still had to do in preparation for Christmas Day. She’d not wrapped a single present yet, and she needed to do a big grocery shop. At least they were going to her parents for Christmas dinner, so she didn’t have to worry about buying a turkey.
As she stood there contemplating Christmas, her thoughts drifted to Mark. She hadn’t seen him since Sunday when they’d made love (the brief glimpse she’d had of him on Thursday during the play, didn’t count) and she was missing him. He’d said he’d pop in to visit Sadie later, after her mum and dad had been, and she couldn’t wait – though how she would stop herself kissing him, she didn’t know. She hoped they could manage some time alone before he left Picklewick to go to his parentsfor Christmas, but with it being the twenty-second of December today, she wasn’t sure whether they’d have the opportunity.
Sighing, she rested her forehead against the glass, then stifled a shriek when an arm crept around her waist.
Assuming it to be Mark, she squirmed around, only to be confronted by Eric.
Moving aside, she slipped out of his grasp. ‘Don’t,’ she warned.
‘Bea, listen to me, please. Seeing Sadie like this—’ he gestured towards her bed and swallowed hard ‘— has been a wake-up call. I thought we were going to lose her.’
Beatrice gulped. So had she.
‘It made me realise how much I’ve lost and how much more Icouldlose. I don’t want to miss any more of their lives.’
‘You don’t have to. You can be as involved as you want.’
‘You don’t understand – I want to tuck them into bed at night and be there when they wake in the mornings.’
‘You work shifts.’ Her response was dry. If he thought he could guilt her, he could think again.
‘You know what I mean.’
‘Hmph.’ She’d heard it all before. He’d sung a version of the same song when she’d told him she wanted a divorce.
She began to walk away, back to Sadie who was busily colouring something and was thankfully not taking any notice of her parents’ exchange, but Eric grabbed hold of her hand.
Caught off-guard, she was pulled towards him and she came up against his chest. She put up her hands, but before she could push him away, he cupped her face and kissed her.
Beatrice froze. She was sorely tempted to knee him in the goolies for his audacity, but she didn’t want to make a scene. Instead, she tensed, her eyes open, her lips unyielding, as she waited for him to get the message.
Realising he wasn’t getting anywhere, he released her. ‘Just think about it,’ he pleaded. ‘We were good together once.’
She opened her mouth to utter a scathing retort, when she realised he was looking over her shoulder, an unreadable expression on his face. And when she whirled around, she saw Taya standing by her sister’s bedside, wearing a delighted smile.
Oh, sodding bloody fiddlesticks!
Mark staggered back from the doorway to the ward, the bag with the fairy outfit dangling forgotten from his nerveless fingers.Beatrice and Eric were kissing.
He felt sick and pain flared in his chest. He thought his heart was going to shatter with the force of it.
Taya glanced around and when he saw the happiness on her face, he wanted to cry. She looked ecstatic.
Mark wanted to stay and fight, to tell Beatrice he loved her, but he had to walk away. She had decided to make another goof it with Eric for the sake of her children, and he couldn’t do anything to jeopardise that.
