Just seeing him made her heart swell. He was in his work clothes – black cargo trousers and a black polo shirt with McGonigle Electrics embroidered on the left side of the chest, his fair hair cut short at the back and sides, with a fringe that was swept back to keep it out of his eyes. She’d always thought he had a bit of the Freddie Flintoff about him – same height, same blue eyes, same cheeky smile. All he was missing was a fan club and an aptitude for cricket.
Netta felt her shoulders relax. Although she didn’t see enough of him, they’d always had an easy relationship, a close one, even when he’d been married to Gayle. Netta hadn’t been a fan, but, of course, she’d never told him that, not even when Blair had discovered that while he was working all hours to support them, Gayle had been having an affair with her boss. And when they’d split up, all Netta had cared about was that Blair and his toddler, Lyle, came out as unscathed as possible.
‘It was good of you to come, son. Your dad would have appreciated that.’
Blair let out a sad chuckle. ‘Would he though? He’d probably have told me to get back to work and stop slacking.’
‘Yep, that too,’ Netta acknowledged. Fergus had never been one for emotional exchanges or sentimentality with his son either. ‘I know he didn’t show it, but he loved you. Loved all of us.’
Netta wasn’t lying. Fergus had loved them all… he just didn’t know how to express it. At least, that’s what she’d told herself all these years.
‘How’s the wee one?’ she asked, changing the subject.
Blair nodded. ‘He’s doing great. I’ve got him this weekend. Maybe I’ll bring him over?’
‘I’d like that. So, still no significant other on the horizon then?’ She said it with a cheeky grin that made him smile as he shook his head. ‘Noooooooo, thank you. Staying well clear. Once burned and all that. And I realise that’s not the best saying for an electrician to use.’
‘You know, son, you can’t let what happened stop you from looking for love again…’ There was the irony again – she could give out advice, but couldn’t take it herself.
Before she could finish her thought, Blair’s phone buzzed and he checked the screen. ‘It’s the Academy. The electrics have blown in the sound studio. I need to go, Mum.’
‘Of course. I’ll maybe see you later if you’re still there when I start at four o’clock.’
He gave her another quick kiss on the cheek, then turned towards the headstone a few feet away. ‘See you later, Dad.’
He took off jogging down the path, leaving Netta with a knot in her stomach. She worried about him. He was only a young guy, and he deserved so much happiness. He was in danger of letting life pass him by.
She made a mental note to talk to him about that. Maybe it was time to stop being just a sounding board and an open heart and to actually be proactive in giving life advice and steering her loved ones in the right direction, just as Mandy had tried to do with her all those years ago.
A long time ago, Netta had decided to accept the hand that fate had dealt her. She’d stayed in an unfulfilling marriage for decades because somewhere along the way, she’d forgotten that what mattered was a life filled with love and passion and joy.
It was too late for her to find those things now.
But she just wanted to make sure her son and daughter didn’t make the same mistake.
7
KIKI
As the temperature rose in the bus, Kiki wished she’d been able drive to the boutique for today’s half-shift, but her car was currently parked outside the high rise, and if she had to diagnose its condition, she’d say it was end of life. The last twice she’d driven it, it had clapped out – once on the motorway, when a passing traffic cop had stopped and got it started again, and once at a busy junction in the city centre. If she closed her eyes, she could still hear the irate horns of the cars that queued up behind her for what felt like a week and a half, until two kind blokes jumped out of their transit van and pushed her up onto the pavement. She’d then had to spend over a hundred quid to get a repair service out to tow her home. One of the teachers at work had a husband who was a car mechanic, and he’d given it a look over and said it was something to do with the spark plugs. Or was it the alternator? He’d managed to do a temporary fix, but that had only lasted a couple of days, and then it had refused to start again.
Thankfully, the boutique was only fifteen minutes away on the bus, and that would give them plenty of time to get home, and changed before they headed to the screening at the drama academy. Just thinking about that place, and about going there tonight, about seeing him, confronting him, demanding that he acknowledge her, made her stomach churn, so she diverted her thoughts, nudging Ava, who was shoulder to shoulder with her in the double seat.
‘Any word from your dad?’ she asked, trying to sound breezy, as if this wasn’t one of the pressing issues they were dealing with today. She’d had a quick glimpse at her phone when she’d first got on the bus and saw that Kev hadn’t even opened her message.
Ava’s huge brown eyes lifted from her phone and met hers. ‘Nothing. He must have got held on the rig, Mum. It’s the only explanation.’
Kiki didn’t want to counter that she could think of a few other explanations. Maybe that Kev had bailed on them yet again. Or that he didn’t want to spend the money it would take to come down here. Or to buy the new outfit that he’d promised Ava. It was a belated birthday present, supposedly to make up for the fact that on her actual birthday last month, she’d received a card and a two-minute phone call full of promises.
She fanned her face, not sure if the sudden heat rising up her neck was caused by the temperature on the bus or the fact that she was about to tell a whopping big porkie to the person she’d always taught never to lie. ‘I’m sure you’re right, honey. He wouldn’t miss this. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that he gets here.’
‘I’m manifesting it,’ Ava told her.
The corners of Kiki’s lips raised in amusement. ‘Manifesting it?’
‘Yep, I forgot to tell you that it’s my new thing. There’s an influencer on TikTok called Bryony Browne – she’s really famous, Mum – has a million followers. Anyway, she came to the Academy to teach us all about manifesting. You just have to put the energy out there, imagine it happening and you’ll attract whatever it is you want to bring into your life. All the students at the Academy do it and some of them swear it works. When Casey Lowen came to the Academy to star in our last show, she said she manifested a part onThe Clydeside, and she got it, and now she’s a huge star.’
‘In that case, can you get to work on a lottery win and a car with four legal tyres, a working engine and less than 90,000 miles on the clock?’
