At his hesitation, Layla had glared and withdrawn her hand. ‘Fine. Be like that then. Hope you’re very happy in your new life.’ She’d given the pub a scathing glance. ‘Though personally, I think there’s fat chance of that.’
She’d jumped into her little Fiat and driven away, leaving Sam staring after her. He hadn’t seen or heard from her since.
So that had been the end of that, and he couldn’t imagine he’d ever find another girlfriend now. There was no one suitable in Kelsea Sands, and when did he get the chance to go anywhere else?
He’d really thrown himself into his new life, trying hard not to grieve for his old one. He’d worked long hours and in his spare time he’d done odd jobs for the locals. Many of them were getting on and there was no bus service in the village any longer, so he offered to take them to appointments or shopping, or he’d do their shopping for them. Sometimes he’d weed their gardens or unblock a sink… Anything they wanted, really. It was a great distraction from the fact that he had no life of his own.
But nagging away at him was the thought that maybe he’d made a terrible mistake. He’d really expected his dad to be back behind the bar by now, but Seb showed no signs of wanting to work, and his grief had settled into depression. A depression he refused to see a doctor about or get help with.
There was only so much Sam could do, and he felt like he was failing all the time.
And meanwhile, his own life was passing him by. He was thirty-three now and it felt as if nothing was ever going to change. How much longer could he continue this way?
As he buttoned up his shirt and stared at his reflection in the bedroom mirror, Sam had to admit that he just didn’t know the answer to that.
4
Jenna wasn’t sure how she’d got through the rest of the week. She was pretty certain she was running purely on adrenaline, as she hardly slept and ate very little. She’d tried ringing Joel twice since she’d called him at the office, but he’d not picked up, and there’d been no text messages.
The girls had enquired once or twice about his whereabouts, and she’d had to lie to them, explaining that Daddy was away doing something important for work and might be gone a few weeks.
They hadn’t seemed too concerned, and although she was sad that he clearly didn’t feature much in their everyday lives, she was also relieved that they weren’t upset or missing him.
She suspected that his absence bothered Ada more than it did Hallie. Hallie seemed quite blasé about the whole situation, but now and then Ada would ask wistfully when Daddy was coming home, and couldn’t he at least ring them to talk to them?
At those moments she hated Joel. It was bad enough that he’d left her to cope alone with her misery while caring for the twins and somehow turning up for work every day, but to abandon his girls the way he had…
He needed space and time. Huh!
Didn’t they all? She could do with some space and time for sure. She was just relieved that she’d finally finished work and had over six weeks ahead of her where she wouldn’t have to drag herself into school and put on a brave face.
If she could keep the twins busy enough, none of them would have time to worry about Joel’s whereabouts. And maybe, just maybe, by the time school term started again in September he’d be home, and this whole mess would be behind them.
Needless to say, the twins were beside themselves with glee when she picked them up from their after-school club. End of term was always a giddy day for all of them, and she usually took them out for tea to celebrate.
Today, though, she just wanted to get home.
‘But we always have tea at The Ginger Cat Cafe on the last day of term,’ Ada protested. ‘Please, Mummy!’
‘I’ve been looking forward to chocolate cake all day,’ Hallie groaned. ‘I think you’re being really mean.’
Low on energy, Jenna caved. ‘All right, all right. Tea at The Ginger Cat Cafe it is,’ she agreed.
At least she wouldn’t have to make dinner tonight, and there’d be no washing up. And what was there to go home to, anyway? An empty house and another night of making excuses to them for their dad’s lack of contact? She’d rather take them out, even though she was tired and hardly in the mood to celebrate.
The twins were as lively as ever, though, and had a blast ordering their favourite fish fingers and chips and informing the smiling waitress, Marie, that they’d be wanting chocolate cake straight afterwards, and orange and lemon cake for Mummy because it was her favourite. Marie could see their delight at being set free from school at last. She was used to these end-of-term celebrations, having worked at the cafe for several years, and was aware of the twins’ holiday ritual.
‘Back again? I don’t know. These holidays come around faster and faster,’ she told them as she wrote down their order. ‘Chocolate cake, did you say? Oh, isn’t that a shame! We’ve just sold the last slice.’
There was a shocked silence and the waitress burst out laughing. ‘Bless you, I’m having you on! Don’t worry, my loves, there’s plenty for you. I’ll make sure we keep a couple of fat slices till you’re ready to eat them. Now, what would you like to drink?’
The twins, much relieved, ordered milkshakes. There were protests from both girls and the waitress when Jenna said she only wanted a coffee and nothing to eat. After much persuasion, she gave in and ordered smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches.
As she’d been surviving on the odd bowl of cornflakes the past few days, her meal felt like a banquet, and she took ages to eat it. Luckily, she didn’t have to make conversation as the twins were so excited and lively that they wouldn’t have heard her even if she’d tried to join in.
Instead, she watched sadly as a couple across the aisle sat chatting happily to their young children. She couldn’t remember the last time she and Joel had taken the girls out together. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she and Joel had gone out as a couple. For a long time, their family had been divided into three separate units: Jenna, Joel, and the twins. At least now she felt she was part of the twins’ little unit, but Joel was still alone, on the outside of the family.
Worse than that, she couldn’t deny that it was his choice. Whatever he said about working hard to further his career, she didn’t really believe him. There was much more to his repeated absences than that. Even when he was home there’d been an emotional distance between them.
