“Stop staring.” Jenny nudged Audrey in the ribs, almost spilling her drink in the process.
“Staring? I’m not staring, I’m observing. I’m feasting my eyes on a picture I’ve imagined in my head a million times.”
“I wish you’d keep your thoughts in your head, alongside those images.” Jenny stepped in front of Audrey, blocking her view of Will and Becky, who were chatting on the other side of the room, heads close together.
“You’re no fun at all.” Audrey tried to peep round the side of her. “They look so right together. Just look at the expression in her eyes. The way she’s looking at him. And Will is so protective, did you notice that? He’s not leaving her on her own for a moment. And his hand has never left her back.”
“Audrey—”
“Ithasto be serious. There is no way those two would finally take the plunge and announce they’re together unless they were sure that this is it.”
Or unless such an announcement diverted attention from something else entirely.
Jenny decided that this wasn’t the moment to voice her suspicions.
She’d naively assumed that worrying about your children would end when they grew up and left home but she’d discovered that as soon as the well emptied itself of the worries of childhood it was immediately refilled with other worries.
Like now.
She had no idea what was going on with her daughters, but at least Rosie and Declan had left the room together. That was a start. But it did nothing to alleviate her unease about Becky.
She was tempted to pull her aside and ask her directly, but Becky never liked talking about her relationships and Jenny had always been careful to respect that.
The best thing she could do for her daughter would be to somehow shift Audrey’s attention elsewhere. She felt guilty for not being able to protect Becky from the speculation.
She focused on her friend. “Will you and Paul be going to France next summer?”
“What? Yes, probably.” Audrey’s gaze was fixed beyond Jenny’s shoulder. “Although we’re obviously not going to book anything at the moment.”
“You’re not?” Jenny knew that her friend usually organized her holidays right after Christmas because she liked to have something to look forward to in the dark days of January. “Why?”
“Because there might be a wedding.”
“Audrey!”
“What? It’s not as if this is a whirlwind courtship, Jen. Not like your Jamie, or even Rosie. Will and Becky have known each other forever. They don’t exactly need time to discover if they’re right for each other. They’ve had their whole lives. They know. And don’t pretend you’re not scheming toobecause I seem to remember that you were the one who invited Will to stay for Christmas.”
Jenny was beginning to regret her actions. “You don’t think you’re jumping ahead?”
“Who is jumping ahead?” Phyllis appeared. “Don’t Will and Becky look adorable together? Becky looks so happy. I think this could beit.”
Jenny gave up her valiant attempts to divert attention. If her mother was joining in, then the battle to protect Becky was truly lost.
She turned her head, allowing herself to look at her daughter. Beckydidlook happy. And now she was starting to doubt herself. She’d been so sure that their relationship wasn’t real—that Will was somehow protecting Becky.
But looking at the two of them now, she started to wonder.
Maybe it was real. Maybe she was wrong. Or maybe she was right and the whole thing was about to come crashing down.
With that thought hovering at the front of her mind, she went to find Martin.
“Do you know what I want for Christmas?”
His look was one of alarm. “I’m not sure I want to know given that it’s too late for me to deliver on it.”
She shook her head. “It’s not a thing. Nothing you can buy.”
“Our bank account thanks you.”
