“You did do that for her. I know you did.”
Cara laughed. “Once. You know who her dad is, don’t you?”
“Stan.” I didn’t bother with his last name.
“Stan the man. She’s met him twice. Thought he was wonderful even though he did fuck all for her.”
From what Liv had told me, Stan Jarmin could charm the birds from the trees and put them back again, if he hadn’t done a deal to sell them.
“Do you want to ask me anything about how she’s doing?”
Cara stared at me. “The social worker told me. I’m glad she’s okay. She’s another thing I fucked up on, but it doesn’t matter now. I’m going to be in here for years and she’s better without me anyway.”
“She’d be better if you hadn’t done what you did. What child needs to see their mother with a knife, threatening to hurt her?” Because that was what Cara had done, and that was what Mia would always remember.
Cara didn’t say anything, just looked at the door out of the room, the one that led to where the inmates were. “I wanted to see you to say thank you for looking after her. She told me she’d rather be with you than me anyway. Watch her – she’s going to be a nightmare when she’s a teenager, but she won’t do what I did. She thinks she’s too good for anything like that.”
“She’s a great kid.”
“Yeah. Well.”
I stood up, moving away from the table. “I hope you’re okay, Cara. I’m sorry it’s turned out this way for you.”
“I bet you are. You with your perfect life and everyone feeling sorry for you because your husband died.” She shook her head at me. “We were the same, you know, yet everyone loved you.”
“Probably something to do with other choices we made.” I wasn’t going to let her make me feel guilty.
Just like Mia, I held my head up and walked out of there.
I wouldn’t be going back to see her, even if Cara asked.
We spent Saturday on the beach, the weather still acting like it was summer. Mia talked more about her mum and said that she would write her letters, but there were no more questions asked about her or how long she’d be in prison for. There was a court hearing set for October, which Cassian would have to attend as a witness but Mia did not.
The sandcastles were built high and intricately, with demands for me to dig a moat and make a bridge. We had ice-creams with Fleur and her twins, whose favourite game was running in opposite directions, and we collected even more shells because the girls wanted to make another fairy garden in the schoolhouse grounds where we were going tomorrow, a whole bunch of the football team going in to help paint the bedrooms now they’d been replastered and the electrics brought into this millennium.
We had a picnic lunch with a cake from Amelie’s, and then walked over to the football fields where Cassian was playing for the Puffin Bay team. It was a cup game, and they were on a winning streak. The pressure was on for a win today, especially because they were against Beaumaris Town, who were their main rivals and league leaders.
We got there just after kick off, sitting far enough back from the pitch so the girls wouldn’t be a distraction, or overhear too much bad language.
There was a decent crowd, including Fleur and the twins, who were desperate to see Thane play. This was the first season he’d gotten involved and he was actually quite decent, hiding talents as a striker before, because, as Fleur had said, he was a moody sod.
I expected Heidi and Mia to get bored quickly, but they were spellbound by the ball.
“Did Daddy play football?” Heidi looked up at me, trying to steal one of my sweets at the same time.
I didn’t fight her off. “He did. He played in goal like Caleb does. You have to be a bit mad to play goal.”
“Was Daddy a bit mad?”
“He could be. He was fearless,” I said, as Cassian got involved in a sliding tackle, knocking the ball away from the defender’s feet and straight to Thane who launched the ball straight into goal, taking Puffin Bay one-nil up.
We cheered, Heidi using it as an excuse to be very loud. Gully jumped on Thane, looking like he was trying to get a piggyback.
Thane looked bemused.
“Am I fearless?” Heidi carried on with the questions.
“Yes. Can you tell me something you’re afraid of?” I was interested in this answer.
