Page 31

Chapter 19

Alyssa breathed a sigh of relief as the last of her surprise guests began to leave. It had been an unexpectedly uplifting morning, other than the general chaos and having to field interference in everything from her fridge contents to her clean undies. But now, she needed to hide in a cupboard and eat leftover cookies. She deserved it.

‘We should go to the quinoa bar!’ her mother piped up as Alyssa was handing over her Burberry trench coat. She’d apparently splurged on it after seeing Alyssa wearing one on Instagram. Alyssa didn’t like to say she’d grabbed hers for twenty quid on Vinted.

‘Hmm,’ said Alyssa noncommittally, her stomach clenching at the thought of hanging out with Pearl, consuming quinoa. And at a bar? What were they doing, turning it into mojitos? ‘We’ll do that soon.’ Or not.

‘Let’s go now.’ Her mum gripped her arm, her eyes wide with something that looked like hope. ‘We still haven’t caught up properly, just you and me.’

‘Erm.’ It didn’t feel good to worm her way out of it, and maybe they should make peace. She couldn’t unsee the image of her mum getting jiggy with Dominic, or unhear the lies that came before it to cover up her parents’ affairs. And quinoa? ‘I’m tired. Maybe another time.’

‘Tired? Nonsense! You’re always up to energetic things on social media. It’s so impressive.’

Pearl was squeezing her arm now, like she was proud of her. Her mum had always been too busy to care when she’d been boring Beryl.

‘I’ll tell you all about what that dishy Devan has been up to, since you left. Not that I’m one to gossip.’

Dishy. Alyssa rolled her eyes. Though maybe she should get the lowdown, in the interests of not being duped.

‘And we must talk about Teijo. He keeps asking me and your father about whether we have a connection to you, and some sort of exclusive?’ Pearl giggled. ‘You’ll have to give me media training on what I’m allowed to say!’

Damage limitation. Alyssa sighed and grabbed her umbrella and coat.

‘They do this wonderfully cleansing matcha and lychee tea,’ said Pearl, as she hustled Alyssa along the rain-damp main street of Taybury – their nearest big town. There was no way you could get matcha anything in Hartglove. Thank God. Maybe there was something to be said for the simple quaintness of Apple Blossom Lane. Though at least Taybury’s central shopping street wasn’t full of trees that tried to poke you.

‘I’m not really into …’

‘I saw you raving about the wonders of matcha on Instagram. Who knew it had so many protective polyphenols?’

Who knew indeed. Alyssa tried not to feel guilty that she never drank the stuff, because it tasted like something a cow would spit out. Though at least her healthy living images were doing other people a service.

Her soul drooped as her mum pulled her past the inviting smells of pizza places she’d much rather indulge in. All that delicious, melty cheese. The pure joy of a carb fest. Would it be so bad to steer her mum towards Pepperoni Franco’s? But that wasn’t the version of herself that impressed her mother. Or anyone.

It didn’t take long to shake off their umbrellas and settle themselves into The Keen on Quinoa Bar, where disappointingly, cocktails were not a thing – because right then, she could do with one. It was no more than a fancy café.

‘I ordered us chocolate quinoa cake,’ said Pearl, looking pleased with herself.

The teenager inside Alyssa was daring her to say ‘urgh, gross’ and ‘are you still shagging that bloke from the golf club?’ But she opted to wear her adult pants and stay open-minded. So many things had not been as she’d expected since she’d returned. Perhaps a miracle would happen, and her mother would turn out to be one of them.

While they sipped their smoothies and waited for the dubious cake, Alyssa instructed her mum not to tell Teijo or anyone else who she was or anything about her past in Hartglove. Their early press release had kept journalists off the scent, but Teijo was closer to the action and a touch too curious.

‘What are you ashamed of?’ Pearl asked, looking a little sad.

It was possible that something inside Alyssa panged slightly. Or it might have been smoothie brain freeze.

‘My past is not for sale, that’s all. It’s just … embarrassing.’

Her mother had the good grace to blush. Maybe Devan had caused the first wound, but like any dumped teenager, she could have festered at home and got over it, even if she would have needed a new circle of friends. But rushing home to find out her parents’ marriage and their entire ‘happy homelife’ was a sham had been too much to bear. Not to mention her ruined memories of the family sofa.

‘We’re so sorry about our extramarital thingamajigs, love,’ her mother said quietly. ‘And that very discombobulating scene in the front room. You were never meant to see that. Goodness knows, I’d have been mortified if I’d ever caught your gran doing the naked mambo.’

‘Wow.’ Alyssa baulked. ‘Thank you for adding that mental image to my back catalogue.’

‘It all feels like a lifetime ago now. Your dad and I both used to enjoy a bit of shopping around. But as we got older, we realised the plums are always juiciest at home. And now look at us, doing this love app challenge, just like you! Perhaps we’ll all fall in love again, together.’

Juicy plums? Alyssa pushed her drink away, suddenly queasy. She would not be falling in love with anyone. Love was a fantasy. A whimsical idea milked by film-makers and jewellery shops. And, in fact, by herself as a love coach – when she had any actual clients. Love was a fruitful business. But like Santa Claus and the tooth fairy, there was no tangible evidence it existed.

And she had plenty of evidence that her parents were massive liars – so who could tell what the truth was with them?