‘Oh, Dad!’ Hannah jumped up from her seat and rushed over to his side, putting her arms around his neck. ‘I’ve hated it, us not being friends. I was so cross with you for leaving Mum that I felt as though I didn’t want to talk to you again. But I suppose I was being childish, expecting you to stay together when perhaps you weren’t happy.’
Tess pressed on her lips and averted her gaze. She hadn’t been unhappy in her marriage and hadn’t realised Charles was until he dropped his bombshell.
‘I was happy, though, that’s the thing, but I suppose it was a case of me having my cake and wanting to eat it too,’ he said, looking at his plate, with the barely touched cake, forlornly.
‘You idiot, Dad!’
Tess felt an anxiety grip her chest. Ordinarily, Charles would have reacted immediately and fiercely to such a comment from his daughter, but now he just nodded sagely as though agreeing with her entirely.
‘I was a fool to act the way I did, but as your mother keeps telling me, I made the decision to leave and there’s no going back.’ He gave a hopeful glance towards Tess in expectation of a change of heart on her part, but she simply shook her head. Charles fell silent for a few moments before he added, ‘I do miss you all terribly. Barney. Marjorie. How is she getting on now?’
‘She’s not too bad, a lot better than she was.’ After a spot of ill health earlier in the year, Marjorie seemed to be thriving, especially as she now had a new hobby to occupy her. ‘She sends her best wishes, by the way.’ Although Tess elected not to mention Marjorie’s comment that it was karma that had sent Charles into hospital.
‘Ahh, that’s nice. Well, send her my love, won’t you? I don’t want to be joining her in the care home just yet. I suppose I’m lucky. Melody is a lovely girl. She’s been looking after me, although I’m sure she hasn’t found it easy. She certainly didn’t sign up for being a carer to an old geezer like me, but hopefully, I’ll be back to my normal self soon. I hope you’ll come to accept her eventually, Hannah.’
‘At least we’ve met her now. She seemed okay.’ She gave a nonchalant shrug. It was probably the best Charles could expect from Hannah at the moment.
‘Yes, well, I wanted to say sorry to you both for the upset I’ve caused. Perhaps I wasn’t always the best husband or father, but I’m hoping I can make it up to you going forward. I know we won’t be living together as a family, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t play a part in each other’s lives.’
Charles must have caught the imperceptible lift of Tess’s eyebrows.
‘I know you have your own life to lead now, Tess, but we were together for over thirty years. I will always care for you deeply. When you turned up at the hospital to visit me, it meant the world to me. It would break my heart if I was to lose you totally from my life.’
Tess could hear how his voice was filled with emotion as he spoke, saw the gathering tears in his eyes. His recent illness had clearly hit him hard physically and emotionally.
‘It’s been a difficult year for us all, but it’s time to move on,’ she told him.
‘Yes, you’re right.’ Charles gave a small shake of his head as if to get his emotions under control. ‘Are you still seeing the same fella?’ he said, picking up his mug of tea and taking a sip, sounding much more like the old Charles.
‘Rob? Yes.’
‘Well, I hope he treats you well.’
Tess gave a wry smile. ‘He really does.’
‘And you know I’m seeing Billy again, don’t you?’ Hannah said, taking advantage of Charles’s more conciliatory mood today.
‘Yes,’ he said with a resigned sigh. ‘So I understand. And does he make you happy?’
‘He really does, Dad.’ She clasped her hands together and held them to her chest, her face lighting up in that way that it did every time she mentioned Billy.
‘Well, I expect that’s all we can hope for,’ he said begrudgingly. ‘Mind you, if either of these men in your lives treat you badly, you do know I’ll be coming after them. You can tell them that from me!’ he said, a fire shining in his eyes.
Tess and Hannah exchanged a glance and smiled. It was only a matter of time before Charles was back to his usual irascible self.
31
Open House
We’d love for you to join us for seasonal drinks and nibbles on Saturday 1 December between 11a.m. and 3p.m. at Hollyhocks Cottage.
Love
Tess and Hannah
RSVP
Tess picked up the card from the dresser and turned it over in her hands, a satisfied smile spreading across her face, before putting it back in its rightful place, where it had sat as a reminder since she sent out the invitations a couple of weeks earlier. Now the day was finally here. She had hesitated about gathering her friends for drinks at Hollyhocks when the Alexanders’ annual Christmas party was somewhat legendary, how could she possibly top that, but then she realised she didn’t need to. She could do exactly what she liked when she liked. Besides, she reckoned it was early enough in the month not to actually qualify as a Christmas party and instead, she would make it an informal gathering with only a select number of guests. Anyone who had been on team Charles in the aftermath of the break-up was immediately struck from the invitation list.
