Sarah froze. All her breathing work undone, heat raced through her body, turning her face tomato red. She sucked in air, but it came in quick shallow bursts, which left her feeling dizzy. One woman turned round.
‘Sarah, thank goodness you’re here. I don’t know what kind of place this is, but the service has been terrible. And as for the food…’
After a lengthy pause, Sarah found her voice. ‘Mum, what are you doing here?’
‘You told us you worked here, so we thought we’d come and see the place for ourselves. Wish we’d gone with the group on their outing to Charlestown, though. This place is a rip-off. I’d like a word with your chef. He doesn’t know his arse from his elbow.’
‘Mum, I’m the chef today. It was me who made your food.’
Cynthia burst out laughing. ‘You made the food? Good God, whatever were they thinking, letting you loose in the kitchen?’
‘Sarah’s a superb cook,’ said Felix, stepping forward and standing by Sarah’s side.
‘A superb cook? A superb cook who can’t boil an egg.’ Cynthia and Marjorie giggled like schoolgirls. ‘I thought you were waitressing?’ she said, once the laughter had subsided.
‘I was, but then I started working in the kitchen and found I was rather good at it.’
‘I’ve heard it all now,’ said Cynthia, rolling her eyes. ‘Now, why don’t you run along and find that manager? We need to speak to her about what sort of discount she’s going to give us.’
‘There won’t be a discount, Mum. The food was fine, the service was fine, it was you who was the problem.’ Sarah’s legs felt like jelly. All her life, she’d done her mother’s bidding. Worse still, she’d admired her sharp tongue and forceful personality. Now, for the first time, she saw the woman standing in front of her not as strong, but as a bully.
Cynthia glared at Sarah from beneath her false eyelashes. She slapped a twenty pound note down on the counter. ‘You’re just like your father,’ she said, turning on her heel and storming out of the café, Marjorie in tow.
‘That woman’s your mother?’ said Felix once he was certain the coast was clear.
Sarah couldn’t look at him. A toxic mix of shame, embarrassment, anger, and despair swirled in the pit of her stomach. She turned on her heel and ran.
By the time Sarah reached the top of the hill, her lungs were burning, her limbs losing feeling. She slumped against a tree, pulling her knees up and placing her head between them. Her breaths came in painful gasps, sweat prickled her forehead, the world around her spinning as her vision blurred. Sarah grasped at her chest, the pain so severe it could be a heart attack. Would she die here, alone in the woods?
When they arrived, the tears brought some relief. How could Cynthia embarrass her like that? Sarah thought back to when she’d been at school. She remembered her mortification when Cynthia came in to complain to her teachers about inconsequential matters. All her mother achieved by her complaints was ensuring Sarah was disliked not only by pupils, but by staff members, too.
Now here she was, wrecking the first job Sarah felt good at. Tears of despair turned to tears of anger. Without a tissue in her pocket, Sarah blew her nose on a leaf, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. She couldn’t go back to the café again. How could she face everyone?
‘You’re a hard woman to find.’ Felix appeared through the undergrowth, a bottle of water in his hand. ‘Here,’ he said, holding the water out to Sarah.
She drank greedily, then passed the bottle back. ‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘Your Mum’s a piece of work,’ said Felix, sitting down on the forest floor beside her.
Sarah gave a joyless laugh. ‘Can you believe for years I admired her? I thought she was strong and brave. I thought my dad was in the wrong for leaving her, now I’m not so sure.’
‘It’s hard when we realise our parents aren’t the people we’d hoped them to be.’
‘Yes, but I expect most people realise that before the age of twenty-five. Thanks for sticking up for me back there. I appreciate it.’
‘No problem,’ said Felix.
‘Do you want to hang out this evening? As friends, I mean.’
Felix’s demeanor changed. ‘Ah, I’d love to, but could we do tomorrow instead? I’m afraid I have plans.’
‘Sure. Going anywhere nice?’
‘Um, no, just a drink with a friend.’
He was lying, Sarah was certain.
Chapter 33
