But Vince was gone. An image of Rick Colville floated into her mind, the sad lines on his face on the three occasions she’d seen him. She couldn’t imagine him being as good a dad as Vince, because she couldn’t imagine having a dadotherthan Vince. Even if Rick was living proof that she did have.
She lay on her turquoise sofa, trying to decide what to do about Valentina. Ezz could have just turned up at Thistledome, but when your big sis was so pissed off that she refused to dine with you, it was obvious that she needed time to cool down.
Finally, late in the evening, she sent Valentina a text.I hate this. Can we meet up Sunday a.m. and talk, please? You could come here so we won’t be disturbed. Xx
But no text pinged back across the village.
Slowly, Ezz turned out the fairy lights in the lounge and the kitchen, and went to bed.
A text alert woke her at eight on Sunday morning. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Ezz scrabbled to read Valentina’s reply.Sorry, we left early. We’re at Dornie already.Typical of Valentina, there were no fibs such asdidn’t see your message till noworwe have to get back because Barnaby has a play date.No. She’d left early and was more than half an hour away already.
It was, in anybody’s eyes, a snub.
Unfortunately, the bad news wasn’t over, because Thea phoned, uncharacteristically subdued and anxious. ‘I’m going to need time off.’
Ezz, who’d made it out of bed but not out of her pyjamas, smothered a sigh and reached down a coffee mug from the kitchen cabinet. It felt as if it was going to be a constant-coffee type of day. She’d intended to wait until Thea was safely home this evening to break the news that Valentina knew Ezz had been driving Thea’s car that fateful day, and was furious, but mainly with Ezz. Now it sounded as if there was something else to deal with first. ‘What’s up?’
Thea’s voice caught. ‘I had some bleeding. I’ve been in Dumfries hospital. I’ve had a scan and the baby’sheartbeat’s still there, but they’ve advised me to stay off work and rest, and not to travel home yet.’
Instantly, everything else vanished from Ezz’s mind and her heart went out to Thea, imagining the crushing threat of loss and disappointment on the horizon. Her eyes pricked with tears. ‘Oh, no. But the heartbeat’s everything. Cling on to that, sweetie. Can you stay with Dev’s family?’
‘There’s not much room, so we’ve taken an Airbnb, so I can rest quietly. Dev’s nieces are lovely, but noisy.’ Thea’s voice dwindled to a thread.
Ezz gripped her phone, feeling it cut into her palm. ‘I’m so sorry this has happened, Thea. Don’t worry about work. I’ll sort it out.’ And no way would Ezz let on about Valentina’s huff now. The last thing Thea needed was stress. ‘What else can I do?’ she asked, feeling as if her life had turned to a bad dream in the past couple of days. ‘Shall I tell Valentina for you?’ If Thea said no, Ezz determined that she’d try and call Valentina before Thea could, to tell her not to give Thea shit, imagining Valentina seeing Thea’s name on her screen and jumping straight in with her hurt feelings even before saying hello.
But Thea said a dreary, ‘Yes, please.’ Ezz breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Dev’s with you all the time, is he?’ she asked, feeling as if she had some headspace now for anxious enquiries. ‘Are you in any pain?’
‘Yes, he’s here, and there’s no pain,’ Thea said. ‘I’m just going to flop on the sofa and watch TV.’
‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do,’ Ezz urged. ‘Sending you all my love.’
When she’d ended the call, she brushed away her tears, sustained herself with several gulps of coffee, then called Valentina, who at least picked up straight away with a neutral, ‘Hello.’
Ezz gazed out of the kitchen window at her weather-flattened grass and bare trees. ‘I’m not on speaker, am I?’
‘No.’ Valentina sounded quiet and strained.
Plunging on, Ezz said, ‘This is about Thea, not me. She’s just been on the phone and she’s not sure she’s going to be able to hang on to her pregnancy.’ She provided the details she knew.
Valentina sounded as if she was trying not to cry. ‘That’s horrible. Thanks for letting me know. Obviously she didn’t feel I warranted my own phone call.’
Any patience Ezz had snapped. ‘Stop laying it on. I was protectingherfrom calling you and finding out that you’re upset and angry, andyoufrom letting her know you’re upset before she had a chance to tell you that she has worse things to worry about. We’ve got to think about her and the baby at the moment.’
Valentina’s silence lasted several seconds. Then, sounding as if she might have thawed a couple of degrees, she said, ‘OK. I understand.’
It was obvious that Valentina was a long way off seeing things from Ezz’s point of view yet, but Ezz was sure her lovely big sister would forgive her sooner or later.
It just might be later.
