"I'm not a charity case," Rosa hissed quietly.
"Mum, are you coming?" Imogen called out as the girls all crowded around the desk while Meredith organised their booking.
"Two minutes," Rosa called back, before her smile for her daughter faded as quickly as it had appeared, and she picked up the swimsuit in her size.
"I wasn't offering charity, Rosie," Billy said, using the old nickname without thinking. "I just…over the years I've missed a lot…a ton of stuff I should have been involved with, including all of your birthdays and Christmases."
"We divorced years ago, Billy. I wasn't your responsibility when we were married. I'm certainly not now." Rosa turned towards the cashier, Billy following behind.
"It always felt like it," Billy said.
Rosa stopped and turned so suddenly that Billy almost knocked her over. "What does that mean?"
Billy shrugged. "Just that…I guess back then, I felt very much like you were my responsibility. You were having our baby, carrying a child we made together, and I was…it felt like I was failing at everything. I was useless to you, when I should have been the backbone of the family."
"We,is the operative word, Billy.Wemade a commitment,wemade a family,wewere equal…Youfelt like a failure.Youleft.Wedidn't fail.Ididn't leave."
"Mum!" Imogen called again.
Rosa smiled at her. "Just coming." She handed the swimsuit over to the cashier and pulled her purse from her bag, taking her card out to pay.
She glanced over her shoulder at Billy. "We're not having this conversation here. We're going to walk in there, smiles on our faces, and act like we like each other."
"I thought wedidlike each other," Billy said, taking the bag from the cashier and carrying it. Rosa snatched it back.
"I can carry my own bags."
Billy shrugged off the rebuff. "For what it's worth…I like you," she said to Rosa's retreating back. "Always have," she said to herself, adding, "That's the problem, isn't it?"
She blew out a frustrated breath and followed on, her own bag slung over her shoulder. To the outer world, she was the epitome of nonchalant.
"Billy? Get a move on." Imogen laughed. Robbie and Janka were bouncing on their feet.
"Why are you all so interested in how long it takes us oldies?" Billy grinned.
"Speak for yourself. I'm not old," Rosa said.
"I thought you were all skiing?" Billy continued, ignoring the slight jibe from Rosa.
"We are, but Grandma booked it all as a group, so we have to go in together. Then we can get changed and leave you all to it," Imogen explained, glancing at Robbie, who nodded and smiled.
The receptionist handed over bright orange wristbands to the girls and blue ones to Billy and Rosa. Whilst they were all focused on putting them on, Meredith's phone rang.
"Hello?" she said, before listening a long moment. "Oh, no, really? I can't believe I forgot. It's the excitement of having my family visit." She went quiet again, then said, "You can? Okay, I guess I can do that."
"What's wrong?" Billy asked, frowning.
"I missed my dental appointment, and they're so hard to get, but they have a cancellation in one hour and I can take that instead." She smiled regretfully. "You don't mind if I skip out, do you?" She was already kissing Imogen and hugging Robbie and Janka. "I'll meet you all for lunch after?"
Billy nodded. "Sure, if you need to go then… We'll be fine."
“Wonderful.” Meredith grinned at everyone. “I won’t be long. You know where to go, don’t you, Billy?”
“I do,” Billy assured. “Go on, we’ll be fine.”
They all waved and watched as Meredith headed towards the doors, pausing to wave before she disappeared out into the cold.
“Shall we?” Billy asked as she held the door open before leading them all into the changing rooms, single file.
