‘You just need to give yourself time. Dating someone new was always going to be a big step after Spencer. You guys were just so disgustingly in love.’
‘Maybe that’s it,’ she said, nodding. ‘Maybe I’m overthinking things.’
Little Spencer began to fuss and wriggle, so Teresa took him from Anna, strapped him into his pram and stood up so she could rock it backwards and forwards. ‘And he looked after you, took you home without a fuss, after what happened with Gayle last Saturday night. Patient and understanding are not qualities to be sniffed at.’
Anna’s eyes widened. ‘You heard about that?’
‘My friend Megan – she was wearing that spectacular silver dress – told me about a fight she’d overheard in the corridor. She’d had a few martinis by then, so it wasn’t completely clear who she was talking about at the time, but the penny finally dropped. I would have called you earlier if I’d worked it out sooner.’
Anna sipped her cappuccino and gave a one-shouldered shrug. ‘There was no need. You didn’t do anything.’
‘I’m surprised you didn’t tell me yourself.’
‘I did think about it. I just thought maybe that you’d…’
Teresa’s expression grew even more serious. ‘That I’d go along with Gayle for a quiet life?’
Anna nodded silently, feeling slightly ashamed, and looked down into her coffee.
‘Oh, Anna…’ Teresa leaned over, still pushing the pram back and forth, and rubbed Anna’s arm. ‘I must admit that has mostly been my strategy for dealing with Gayle since I got serious with Scott, but I’ve come around to the fact that my strategy needs some drastic revision. I don’t think we can let her get away with this stuff anymore. It’s not good for her and it’s certainly not good for us. What do you think we should do? Call a family meeting or something?’
Anna shook her head and swallowed. ‘I don’t think I’m ready to talk to her yet.’ She wasn’t sure if she would dissolve into tears or have another outburst, and neither option was desirable.
‘Do you want me to say something? Because I will!’
Anna smiled. She didn’t doubt that. ‘Not on my behalf. As much as Gayle is not my favourite person at the moment, she’s already lost one son. I don’t want her to cut you and Scott out too. Besides, I’m hanging onto the hope that this little man is softening her up a little.’
Teresa raised an eyebrow and Anna laughed.
‘Well, maybe only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.’ Anna said.
Little Spencer began to grizzle, and Teresa sighed. ‘I think I’d better get him in the car and see if a drive will put him to sleep for a bit.’ She picked up her handbag and slung it over the handlebar of the pram. Anna walked beside her as they headed through the sprawling garden centre and out to the car park.
‘Listen,’ Teresa said, as they reached her car. ‘Christmas is still weeks away,but you know how much of a planner I am, so humour me… Would you like to spend the day with me and Scott and this little monster? I can put Gayle and Richard off until Boxing Day.’
Anna stepped in and gave Teresa a hug. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly, ‘that’s a really lovely thought, but I’ve actually just booked a flight to Canada. I haven’t seen my parents for about eighteen months and I just feel I could do with getting away.’
Teresa nodded. ‘That sounds like an amazing idea. Just remember: if plans fall through, you know where to come.’
Chapter Forty-Three
ANNA YAWNED. IT was late. She checked the clock on her bedside table. It seemed that, while she’d been reading, Monday night had slipped into Tuesday morning. She put the book she’d been holding down on the bed. She really should turn out the light if she was going to make it to work on time.
A fortnight or so after her break up with Lee, Gabi was still at a loss as to what to do with herself. She’d called around just after Anna had got in from work the day before, bearing a bottle of wine and insisting they have a girls’ movie night. They’d started withGreen Card, then had gone on toMoonstruck. Even though Anna had been ready to call it a day after the second film, Gabi had pleaded with her to squeeze just one more in as she’d foundSleepless in Seattleon Netflix. Anna hadn’t had the heart to say no.
Gabi was currently sprawled across the bed in Anna’s spare room, snoring softly, but Anna had come up to bed and hadn’t been able to resist picking up the book on her bedside table before she’d closed her eyes. Two hours later, she was still reading.
It was Brody’s book. Or, to be more accurate, it was the fourth book in Brody’s children’s series. Anna had already read the first three.In just over a week. The lady in the bookshop was starting to recognize her. The last time Anna had gone in, the sales assistant had reached below the counter and produced the book Anna was looking for before she’d had the chance to amble down to the children’s section.
‘Th-thank you,’ Anna had stuttered.
The lady had just smiled. ‘It happens a lot with this series,’ she’d explained simply. ‘Although I must say, you’re coming in faster than most. Your little one must be a voracious reader.’
Anna had just nodded and tapped her debit card on the machine.
It was hardnotto read these books voraciously, she’d discovered. They were set in a fictional kingdom where magic and the unexpected were orders of the day. She understood completely why any child would be entranced by them. There were dragons and knights, elves and giants, gorgons and gryphons – along with some fantastical creatures she’d never even heard of and was convinced had come straight from Brody’s imagination. These books were full of adventure for the central character, Pip, a poor stable worker’s daughter who had dreams of being a knight, but there was also an elegance in the writing, a wistfulness. And wisdom too. Brody didn’t talk down to his young audience but credited them with the capability to understand that life had both triumphs and disappointments. No wonder they’d been popular with hundreds of thousands of children and their parents alike.
Anna opened her mouth to yawn and then shut it again, trying to stall it, which only made her want to yawn more desperately. She stared at the cover of the book, which showed a little girl with short blonde hair, wielding a sword in the face of a hydra.She still couldn’t believe that Brody had written it, that it had all come from his imagination. And there was no doubt it washerBrody who had written these words; she could hear his voice in her head as she read each sentence, hear the rhythm and pattern of his speech, certain turns of phrase that were uniquely him.
