‘I’ll go, after I’ve had my cup of tea,’ said Carol. ‘It will give me a chance to say hi to everyone. Do you want to come with me, Maisie?’
Maisie nodded as she sucked on the piece of fudge.
Although she hadn’t really needed the money – Carol had always been a saver and was mortgage free – she had worked part-time at the Co-op to keep her occupied. Along with her yoga classes at the church hall and with collecting Maisie from school a couple of days a week, her days were full.
On Sundays, Jess, Maisie and Carol would walk down to the beach for a picnic in the fine weather or have a Sunday roast at Carol’s house.
Jess thought that her mum’s life had been ticking over nicely, before her head had been turned by the handsome Pete Riley at that damn school reunion. He made it clear to her mum he would not return to Liverpool, so after being smitten by his charm she relocated to the Lake District. It seemed you were never too old to make mistakes.
Jess lifted the bag of fudge from Maisie, as she was about to take another piece.
‘That’s enough for now. Save one or two for later,’ she told Maisie, who protested mildly.
Jess had taken the day off work today, as the teachers at Maisie’s school were taking industrial action. Jess was worried that the country was grinding to a halt. It had been junior doctors the week before, and the train drivers before that. She would be in a right fix if the bus drivers went on strike. When Maisie skipped off to her room to play with her new dolly, Jess sat down opposite her mum.
‘So how are you, then, Mum?’ she asked as she sipped her tea.
‘I’m fine.’ Carol smiled. ‘I’ve already told you.’
‘I meanreally.’ She looked her mum in the eye, who had been averting her gaze.
‘I’m okay.’ Carol paused for a moment. ‘Most of the time anyway, but the truth is I’m finding things a bit difficult.’ She took a compact from her bag and reapplied some peach lipstick that complemented her chestnut-coloured hair.
‘Difficult? In what way?’ Jess frowned.
‘Oh, I don’t know. It’s just not the same in Pete’s house. It’s so quiet.’ Carol closed her compact and managed a smile. ‘You can hear the sheep in the morning, instead of the rumbling of trains. I suppose it will just take a bit of getting used to, for a city girl like me, that’s all.’ She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
‘Is that the only thing that is bothering you?’ Jess asked, hoping her mum would open up to her.
‘I’m not sure, is the honest answer,’ Carol replied, finally looking into her daughter’s eyes. ‘Everything is so different living with another man. Me and your dad were together for so long, I’m finding it hard to live with someone else.’ She sighed. ‘You just sort of rub along together in a long marriage. Althoughmaybe that was the problem. We got too comfortable, which is why he sodded off with Lisa from accounts.’
‘Oh, Mum.’ Jess’s heart broke for her mother.
‘Oh, don’t worry, I’m well and truly over things, but it’s made me realise how much I miss everything around here, especially you and Maisie.’ Carol sighed. ‘I was very flattered by Pete, and he was good for my self-esteem, that’s for sure, but moving in with him? Perhaps it was a bad idea.’ She shook her head.
Jess swallowed down a lump of regret, her heart breaking for her mum, who after over thirty years together never dreamt her husband would leave her for another woman. Jess was still having trouble believing it too.
She still carried the guilt of seeing her dad one day in a café with another woman, but not saying anything to her mum. He told her mum that he barely left the office, such was his workload, yet there he was smiling and drinking coffee with the woman in the café tucked down a side street. She had walked over to say hi, and his reaction was so cool as he introduced the staff member that Jess thought nothing of it. It had been the woman he ended up with.
‘Oh, Mum. Do you really think you have made a mistake?’ asked Jess, dreading the answer.
It had only been a few months since the school reunion, and, if Jess was honest, she did think things had moved a little quickly, but she was happy her mum had found someone else.
‘He’s still so good-looking,’ Carol had told Jess dreamily after she had run into Pete Riley in their old school hall. ‘A real silver fox if ever there was one.’ She had sighed, a besotted look on her face.
Jess recalled the red roses that would arrive at her mum’s door, and reservations for dinner at romantic restaurants. Her mum had sent her a selfie one evening from a skyscraper restaurant that gave a panoramic view of the city.
Now it would seem that Pete Riley was not all that he appeared to be. No doubt her mum would tell her everything when the time was right.
‘Yes, Jess,’ she said to her daughter eventually. ‘I think I have been far too hasty. But we can talk about that another time,’ she finished, as Maisie reappeared in the lounge.
‘We will definitely talk later. Are you sure you are okay?’ asked Jess once more.
‘I’m fine, love, really. Being here is exactly what I need,’ Carol reassured her.
‘Oh, and I hope you don’t mind, but Maisie is having a friend for a sleepover this evening. I thought they might keep each other entertained at the BBQ,’ said Jess.
‘Of course I don’t mind. In fact, that is probably a good idea as she might get bored otherwise,’ agreed Carol.
