‘All done,’ he said, as he sat down at the table. He glanced round at them all, managing a smile of sorts. ‘So, how’s Kelsea Sands?’
To Jenna’s surprise the girls didn’t immediately burst into a long and detailed breakdown of everything that they’d done since they’d arrived in the village. Nor did they go into raptures about Jamie Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, or the ducks and hens, or ponies, or Mrs Beddows the cat. They didn’t even tell him about Carne’s latest escapades.
Ada said cautiously, ‘It’s lovely. We have a smashing bedroom, and we can see the river really clearly, and Kels Point, too.’
‘Grandma and Mac let us collect the eggs,’ Hallie said politely.
‘Sounds, er, great.’ He nodded without much enthusiasm and silence returned.
Jenna frowned. What was wrong with the twins? It was usually difficult to keep them quiet and stop them bouncing around. She couldn’t remember ever seeing them like this.
The arrival of the food was welcome, and the girls seemed to come to life as they fell on their burgers, fries and milkshakes with glee. Jenna watched them with relief. This was more like it.
Joel ate his own burger in silence, while Jenna sipped her coffee and wondered how things between them all had deteriorated so badly in such a short space of time. It was as if he was a stranger to his own children. They’d greeted Niall and Kendra with more affection and enthusiasm when she’d dropped them off at the vicarage for their sleepover. They’d reacted to Joel today as if he was some friend of hers who they’d never met before.
Joel startled her by suddenly leaning over and murmuring, ‘Good to see your mother’s done her work so thoroughly.’
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, noticing that his eyes were glinting with anger.
‘Come off it. Look at them! You can see she’s been telling them bad things about me by the way they’re acting. Does this seem normal to you?’
‘They haven’t seen you for over three weeks,’ she whispered crossly. ‘Don’t blame my mother for that!’
Joel pushed away his plate and wiped his fingers on the paper napkin. ‘Girls, I think it’s time we had a bit of a talk.’
The twins looked up, finally interested, while Jenna stared at Joel in apprehension. A bit of a talk about what, exactly?
‘This isn’t easy for me, and I’m sure it’s not going to be easy for you either, but I think it’s better to be honest with you both. You’re big girls now…’
They’re not even eight yet!
‘…and old enough to understand certain things.’ Joel smiled and nodded at them, while they stared back, clearly wondering what he was about to tell them.
‘The thing is…’ Joel looked over at Jenna, whose eyes widened.
‘Joel! You’re not – you can’t!’
‘The thing is, Mummy and I have decided to separate. Do you know what that means?’
Jenna fell back in her seat, completely dazed. How could he do that? How could he announce that to the twins when he hadn’t even discussed telling them with her? He had no right to do that!
She was vaguely aware of Hallie and Ada turning to look at her, but she was too shocked and upset to say anything just then.
The girls exchanged looks, then Hallie nodded. ‘It means you’re not going to live together any more.’
‘That’s right,’ Joel said approvingly.
‘You haven’t lived together for ages,’ Ada said. ‘So have you been separated all that time?’
Jenna pulled herself together and sat up straight. ‘It was… it was something we were thinking about,’ she managed. ‘Daddy moved out so we could see how we felt about it.’
‘So Daddy’s not going to come back home?’ Ada asked. ‘Ever?’
Jenna blinked away tears and gave Joel a pleading look. Surely he could see what he was doing to this family? Tohisfamily. He must realise what he was throwing away if he persisted in this manner, and for what? Some woman who’d no doubt flattered him and chased him and whom he’d tire of within a few weeks like he always did.
It was one thing expectingherto forgive and forget, but what about the twins? Would things ever be the same for them if their father moved out and then decided he’d changed his mind and moved back in? Because he would. He always came to his senses in the end. But how would they ever trust him again?Shedidn’t trust him. How could she after everything he’d done? But the girls… Little girls needed to trust their father. He should be the one man they could always rely on. Did he have any idea what he was doing to them?
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away, desperate that they shouldn’t see how upset she was by the situation.
