Rosie, her first cousin once removed, sounded as cheerful as ever. Jenna could picture her clearly: strawberry-blonde hair tumbling in waves past her shoulders; big blue eyes, always heavily made up; tight jeans and an even tighter top; bangles rattling on her arms, rings flashing on her fingers. She was pretty and lively and fun, and just hearing her voice made Jenna feel happier.
‘Hi, Rosie. Are you busy?’
‘Always busy me, love, but never too busy to chat to you. What can I do you for?’
Jenna smiled at Rosie’s turn of phrase, despite her nerves. ‘Well, I know it’s short notice and a bit of an odd request, but I was wondering if there were any caravans for hire at Tide’s Reach over the summer holidays? I know it’s an owners’ only park,’ she added hastily, ‘but they do let owners rent them out, don’t they?’
There was a pause, then, ‘Well, no, love. That’s why it’s called owners only. I mean, Gavin lets us lend them to friends and family sometimes, but he’s pretty strict. It’s to keep the park more secure and safe, you see. And it means the caravans are better looked after, too.’
Jenna closed her eyes. She should have known that. Stupid of her. Desperation, however, drove her on.
‘But friends and family… Are any caravans empty for the summer? Do you think the owner would let me stay there with the twins if I paid them quietly, without Gavin knowing?’
‘Jenna Trent! I can’t believe an upstanding citizen like you would suggest such a thing!’ Rosie laughed, but then her voice softened. ‘Is everything okay, love? Why do you need a caravan in a hurry?’
‘Oh…’ Jenna did her best to sound nonchalant. ‘I just thought it would be nice for the twins to see more of Mum and Mac during the holidays. I should have booked somewhere sooner, of course.’
‘There might be some vacancies in Millensea,’ Rosie suggested. ‘Quite a few caravan parks there and none of them are owners only. Well, I don’t think they are anyway.’
‘Yes, yes that’s an idea,’ Jenna agreed. ‘I’ll ring round and see what I can find.’
‘Hmm.’ Rosie hesitated. ‘Look, I’ll have an ask around and see if I can find anything going here. There’ll be a lot of people in the clubhouse right now, having their dinner, so I can make a few discreet enquiries. Can you give me an hour?’
‘Yes, of course. Thanks so much, Rosie. I’ll hold off from ringing the Millensea parks until I hear back from you.’
‘No worries. Speak soon.’
She ended the call and Jenna sat very still for a moment, wondering if she’d done the right thing. Had she sounded convincing enough?
She thought about Millensea. It was definitely a possibility, although she had a feeling that she’d left it too late even for that. The smaller parks were full of caravans that owners either stayed in all summer or rented out months in advance. The bigger parks were run by holiday companies who’d started taking bookings the previous year. She’d be lucky to find anything either way.
‘I could always pitch a tent in the vicarage garden,’ she murmured, thinking of Rosie’s brother, Niall, who was the vicar at St Saviour’s in Millensea. He and Kendra, his wife, were lovely people and wouldn’t say no.
She laughed a little at the thought of it. The twins would probably love it, but Jenna wasn’t prepared to holiday anywhere that didn’t have its own shower and a flush toilet. Deal breaker.
She glanced at the clock as she realised Rosie had mentioned lunch. Well, she called it dinner, as did most of her family. Dinner at lunchtime and tea at dinnertime. Jenna had grown up saying the same thing, but living with Joel all these years had changed that.
The twins needed feeding. An imaginary picnic in the imaginary caravan wouldn’t cut it.
She hastily made some ham and tomato sandwiches for them, along with slices of their favourite quiche that she’d had in the fridge for days and which needed to be eaten. She poured two glasses of lemonade, emptied two packets of crisps into a bowl, and carried the whole lot on a tray into the garden.
‘Knock knock,’ she called as she stood at the door of the Wendy house.
The flap was pushed aside and Ada peered out. ‘Who is it?’
‘Takeaway delivery,’ she said.
There was a shriek from Hallie. ‘Let her in!’
Jenna carefully got down on her knees and handed Ada the tray.
‘Oh, thanks Mummy!’ Ada said gratefully.
Hallie crawled over and examined the food. ‘This looks yummy. Are you coming inside, Mummy?’
‘No, thank you. I’ll feel like Alice in Wonderland trying to get in there,’ Jenna said with a smile. ‘I think I’m a bit too big to be comfortable. But enjoy your lunch and leave the tray outside when you’re done. I’ll collect it in half an hour, okay?’
The twins nodded, already chomping on the sandwiches. Jenna was quite impressed. She’d imagined they’d start on the crisps first.
