43
TARA
The fourth meeting of The Friendship Pod had been a quiz and for our fifth one tonight we were being a bit ambitious with three activities. Carly was running an Easter-themed cupcake decorating session and, even though attendees would be given half a dozen cupcakes to decorate, we knew it wouldn’t take them long. They were therefore also decorating some egg-shaped shortbread biscuits I’d baked earlier and I was running a crafting session where they could hand sew a felt chick or rabbit popping out of an Easter egg. It was optional whether they attempted all the activities and, as ever, the main purpose of the meeting was to encourage conversation and friendship.
It was good to welcome back several of the same people and it warmed my heart seeing the friendships forming. Each week we had new attendees and, if anyone returned after missing several weeks, it was encouraging to discover that it was either the appeal of the activity or other commitments that had kept them away and never because they didn’t feel comfortable. Of course, I couldn’t comment for those who’d only attended once and never returned. Some members shared that they’d met up outside ofWednesdays which was the whole point of running The Friendship Pod in the first place – to build those connections and help ease loneliness.
As I stood back for a moment during the break, I smiled to myself, a feeling of contentment enveloping me. One comment from Anastasia had led to a seed of an idea which had led to this – a room full of people talking and laughing. I got a buzz during the day whenever I heard feedback from customers about the food or the ambience but the buzz I felt from seeing the success of The Friendship Pod was next level. What we were doing here was life-changing.
The sound of a hearty belly laugh drew my attention to a group – Zoe and Bethany and a couple of newcomers of a similar age to Bethany – who were creased up laughing. The belly laugh was Zoe’s and my heart filled with joy at hearing it. She’d smiled and laughed more with each passing day but I’d never heard her laugh like that.
There hadn’t been any news from the police about her mother or Sol, not that we’d expected there to be as these things could take a lot of time, but the very act of reporting them had done wonders for her. She hadn’t self-harmed – something I could see for myself without even asking her because she’d started wearing short-sleeved T-shirts and tops, telling me that she refused to be a victim by hiding her scars away. She’d cut herself as a way of coping with the evil things others had done to her and she wasn’t going to feel ashamed of it because she wasn’t the one who’d done anything wrong. I loved that attitude. Her face and neck bruises had long gone and she’d had a haircut. The choppy shoulder-length style really suited her.
She’d announced at the weekend that she wanted to find her sister. Zoe didn’t have profiles on any of the social media platforms as she hadn’t wanted to be found so I’d logged into The Chocolate Pot’s account. Jacey wasn’t a particularly common name so a search only brought up a few profiles but none of them were Zoe’s sister. I thought she might be disappointed but she said she hadn’t expected to find her that way as she was probably off the socials for the same reason as Zoe.
‘Our paths will cross at some point,’ she’d said. ‘Probably when we’re meant to find each other again.’
‘What are you thinking about?’ Jed asked as he paused beside me with a tray of empty mugs.
‘Having a little revel in the success of what we’ve created here and thinking about how unrecognisable Zoe is from the scared young woman I first spotted at The Hope Centre on Christmas Day.’
He placed the tray down on the counter and gave me a gentle kiss. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ he whispered. ‘Like your award says – most outstanding person in the community.’
That wasn’t quite the title but it always made me smile when he said that.
Zoe now had the equivalent of a full-time job split between The Chocolate Pot and Yorkshire’s Best and it had been wonderful to see her confidence growing each day. Anastasia adored her and she’d fitted in perfectly with the team here. Jed and I had spoken to her about moving into the flat above the gallery and, after bursting into tears that we’d do something so generous, she’d gratefully accepted. Much as I’d loved her company, having a guest in my open-plan space wasn’t practical long-term. She’d cried again when I’d presented her with a large pink teddy bear as a moving-in gift.
‘I don’t know if it looks anything like the one your grandparents won for you,’ I said, ‘but I spotted it in Bear With Me and couldn’t resist.’
‘She’s not quite as big but she’s perfect,’ Zoe said, hugging thebear. ‘I’ll call her Princess Candy Floss II. Thank you. This means so much to me.’
With Ingrid about to return to the UK, it felt like the rollercoaster we’d been riding this year was finally plateauing and we could catch our breath and start planning for our future. There was still unfinished business, of course. What sort of relationship Ingrid would permit Jed to have with Aaron and the twins going forwards remained an unknown and any outcome from the email to my parents was also hanging in the air. I’d received a reply from Mum late on Monday – the day after I sent it – telling me they wereshocked to the core. Dad hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that my reaction after their lunch with Leanne hadn’t fully tallied with what I’d told them about the past and there might be more to it but they could never have imagined something like this. They had, as I’d suspected, wanted to rush round to see me but they assured me they’d respect my need for space. It would be good for them too as they needed time to process it all. Even though I’d said at the end of my email that they mustn’t blame themselves, this had been going on under their roof at the hands of their daughter and they were struggling to come to terms both with what she’d done and with their lack of awareness that anything was amiss. They shared that Leanne was going away the following day to stay with a friend so that would give them time to think about how to handle it with her.
I’d replied to reiterate that it wasn’t their fault but I was glad they could now see why I couldn’t have anything to do with Leanne ever again. That had been over a week ago. During that time I’d had athinking of youmessage from Mum, saying they were there for me whenever I wanted to talk. Dad had messaged a couple of days ago to say Leanne was still visiting her friend and they’d let me know when she was back but there was no indication of what they were going to dowhen she returned. I knew what they’d have done if Leanne wasn’t pregnant but a baby complicated things and my revelation would have given them serious doubts about the safety of the baby in Leanne’s care. Her grooming of me had, after all, been mainly when I was a minor.
44
JED
Friday afternoon brought news from Billy that Ingrid was back in Whitsborough Bay and not in a great way – full of cold, drained from the jet lag, contrite, humiliated, heartbroken. Since arriving home she’d done nothing but cry and clearly needed a few days before she’d be ready to have that discussion about the way forward. Pam had spoken to my parents who’d collected Piper and Savannah for the weekend.
I genuinely felt sorry for Ingrid but I wasn’t going to give her an easy ride when I saw her. Even though she’d presumably had the message from Pam and Billy that her actions had been deplorable and selfish, I would also be giving her a piece of my mind. What she’d done to her children, her parents, my family and me was completely unacceptable.
I’d have preferred to have the conversation sooner but it would be an emotional one so there was no point going into it with Ingrid tired and on edge. Tara was convinced that there was no way Ingrid could possibly refuse me access to Aaron but Ingrid had always been unpredictable. Billy and Pam were fully supportive of me being in Aaron’s life and had assured me they’dread the riot act to their daughter if she wasn’t… but Billy and Pam had rolled over to Ingrid’s demands on more occasions than I dared to remember so, much as I loved the pair of them, I wasn’t convinced they had it in them to stand up to her. Or that she’d listen to them if they did. Not that I – the man who’d emigrated to Australia for her – had any right to get on my high horse.
I wandered over to the front window in my studio and looked across to The Chocolate Pot. Tara was on the first floor wiping a table by the window. Smiling, I sent her a message.
To Tara
You’ve missed a bit! x
I watched her take her phone out and laugh.
From Tara
The only thing I’m missing is you. See you later x
She looked out the window, waved and blew me a kiss. I blew her one back and returned to my easel. Hopefully the conversation with Ingrid would happen by the end of the weekend. After that point, life might finally calm down. It had been a heck of a storm but it had been so much easier with Tara by my side. We’d certainly been tested with bad news, unexpected family commitments, and struggling to find time to ourselves but we’d survived it all. If anything, we were stronger, not that I’d ever had any doubts about our relationship being one which would endure.
