One Summer Sunrise, page 12
‘Excuse me, young lady!’
Maisie swallowed the last bite of her shrimp, then turned her attention to the source of the voice. ‘Yes?’
‘I see you’re eating from the buffet,’ pointed out the slightly irate, pink-in-the-face gentleman in the cream linen suit, who’d been eyeing up the food since they arrived. ‘Therefore, I think it’s only right that I should be served one of those beef wellingtons.’
Maisie smiled sweetly. ‘Sorry, sir, the buffet isn’t open yet.’
‘But that’s ridiculous,’ he blustered. ‘It’s not as if you’re doing anything else with your bloody time.’
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Janice hear this, puff up and step forward, like a boxer about to go into the ring. Damn. This wouldn’t end well.
Maisie leaned over, so that she was closer to the obnoxious git. ‘Sir, I mean this in the most polite way. Bugger off. And then, when you’ve done that, bugger off again. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a very important call to make.’
With that, she turned on her heel, pulled out her mobile phone, clicked on her contacts and found Nathan’s number.
Then she called him.
14
Kelly
The sound of the gravel crunching as they pulled into the car park at Lomond House shut down the scene that had been replaying in Kelly’s mind for the last two and a half months, but it didn’t delete the image of Carson’s expression as she’d asked him whether he wanted her to stop kissing him.
‘Mum!’ Carny, standing beside her, held the car door open. ‘Honestly, Mum, you’re in a fog these days. If the roles were reversed, you’d be searching my bags for marijuana or tequila.’
‘I would never do that – that’s such an invasion of privacy!’ Kelly objected, resolving to get a grip and stay in the moment.
Carny was going for amused cynicism. ‘Really, Mother?’
‘Okay, but only once a month and I was careful not to leave traces.’
‘Mum, I knew. You always tidied my tampons.’
A florid-faced, suited gentleman getting out of a Volvo Estate next to them almost choked as he overheard the end of that conversation.
‘Did we miss something?’ Scott asked, as he and Carson came round from their side of the car to a coughing bloke and Kelly and Carny in fits of giggles.
‘Nope, nothing at all,’ Carny said, with utterly convincing innocence. ‘I think that bloke had something stuck in his throat.’
Kelly felt her laughter turn into a wince of pain somewhere in the solar plexus. It was less than eighteen hours before her daughter was going to board that 8 a.m. plane to London tomorrow morning. How was she going to get by without seeing this girl… no, this woman… every day? Without listening to Carny’s daft jokes and sharp put-downs. The house would be so quiet. At least for the next six and a half months.
She’d almost told Scott about the baby earlier, but Carson had chosen that moment to interrupt them. In hindsight, she was glad and relieved that she had put it off for a little while longer. This day was for her daughter and nothing should overshadow that.
She linked arms with Carny as they made their way from the car park, across the lawn, to the area that had been set up to greet the guests.
Two members of the official college fundraising committee had offered to come along and help out, allowing all of the drama team who’d organised the event to relax and enjoy it. They were sitting at a table at the roped-off entrance so Carny stopped to have a chat with them and check all was going well. Happy that no disasters were afoot, Kelly handed over the family tickets. Scott and Carson headed straight off to the bar, while Kelly and Carny strolled across the lawn, passing two waiters with trays of drinks. Carny thanked them and lifted two white wines.
‘There you go, Mum. I know you’re driving home, but you can have one, can’t you?’ Her shoulders slumped a little as she handed a glass to Kelly. ‘I’ve just realised this is our last day on the bubbly together. If I’m not singing “Wonderwall” and telling you how much I love you by six o’clock, there will be something far wrong.’
‘Just another normal weekend night then,’ Kelly teased her, wondering how she was going to get away with not actually drinking the alcohol in the glass. Another thing she hadn’t thought through. Between the sickness, the baby, the close proximity to Carson and the prospect of her daughter leaving tonight, this really was a motherload of a day. In every sense of the word.
Scanning the gorgeous gardens, she could see many of Carny’s friends and their families were already here. Just to the right of the pavilion, Kelly noticed that the stage had already been set up – a crazy collision of pop art and photographs from the over the years, all of them on the faces of LED edged-cubes that could be spun to represent a specific decade. Carny had designed a full-size version for the end-of-term show and it had been spectacular. Kelly watched as she cast a critical eye over it now, then subtly nodded her approval. She’d spent hours here yesterday setting it all up and was clearly still happy with how it looked.
The full musical performance would come later, but for now, there was a band on stage. Kelly had seen them before. It was a group of twelve from Carny’s year group, who’d merged a jazz band with a female vocal trio to form a fifties-style group who took current songs and gave them an old, jazz twist. Right now, they were doing a slow, jazzy cover of ‘Don’t Cry’, a song she used to love, by Guns ’n’ Roses. It was one of the first tunes Scott had learned to play on his guitar a million years ago. It was a bizarre moment, a random choice and for some reason it made her feel better. This was all going to be okay. The Scott she married was still there and they’d be fine, just like they’d been for the last twenty-odd years. If she could go back would she make another choice? Maybe. In hindsight. But that wasn’t how life worked.
‘Excuse me, have you seen a very talented set designer who owes everything she has to her favourite primary school teacher?’
Carny spun around and threw her arms around the red-headed woman who’d joined them. ‘Miss Danton, you came! I’m so chuffed. And you’re right. Those nativity sets we made started it all. Cotton wool sheep and Lego baby Jesus will be my inspiration for life.’
Kelly waited until Carny had released her favourite teacher, then she stepped forward to hug Verity too. Ten years ago, as Carny went into her final year of primary school, Kelly’s first impression of her new teacher, the recently qualified Miss Danton, had been that she was young, brusque and aloof. How wrong she’d been. After teaching Carny and a group of her friends that year, she’d kept in touch with them all through high school, even tutoring them when she thought she could help. It was after one of those tutoring sessions that Kelly had offered Verity a coffee and they’d ended up chatting in the kitchen for hours. After that, they’d gradually become good friends who went out once a month or so for a cocktail or two. Talking of which…
‘You don’t have a drink,’ Kelly pointed out. ‘Here take this one – I haven’t drunk from it yet and I’m driving anyway.’
She could see that Verity was about to object, so she just went right ahead and put the glass in her hand.
‘Did you get the voicemail I left on your phone earlier?’ Verity asked, before taking a sip of vino.
‘I didn’t. Sorry. It was hectic this morning.’
If there was a prize for understatement of the year, it was waiting for her right next to a non-alcoholic beverage.
‘No worries, it’s fine. At least, I hope it is. I’ve got a bit of a story to tell you.’
‘You’re getting married!’ Carny blurted.
Verity’s lips pursed with disapproval. ‘I’m single. No man on the scene for the last year. But thanks for reminding me.’
‘New job?’
‘Nope.’
‘Pregnant?’ Carny kept trying. That one caused Kelly to have a sudden coughing fit.
Verity was amused now. ‘Did you get the part about there being no man on the scene? Bit of an anatomical impossibility there.’
Carny shrugged, playing along. ‘I skipped all that stuff in science class. Too many bits of anatomy that held no appeal.’
‘Tell me the story,’ Kelly prompted, changing the subject, curious to know why Verity had been calling her. Over in the distance, she could see Scott and Carson propping up the bar. God, what a mess this was. ‘It can’t be any crazier than the way my day is going.’
Verity took another sip of wine. ‘I’m not sure about that. My sister Yvie called me this morning…’
‘The nurse?’ Kelly asked for clarification. Verity had three sisters and Kelly hadn’t met them, so sometimes it was difficult to keep track.
‘Yes. The one that’s Mother Teresa in her spare time. Anyway, you know she works in the geriatric ward at Glasgow Central, and she gets way too attached to her patients…’ Verity said that like it was a bad thing. ‘I mean, she brought two of them to my house for Christmas dinner last year.’
‘There was clearly an imbalance of compassion distribution in the womb,’ Carny teased her.
‘I thought you didn’t do biology?’ Verity shot back a teasing dig, with pitch-perfect timing. ‘Back to my point. She’s had a lovely old lady on her ward for the last month – hip replacement – and it broke Yvie’s heart that she didn’t have a single visitor in all that time. Turns out she’s got no family at all because of some fallout a million years ago, and…’ She paused for dramatic effect. ‘Her surname is Bassett.’
‘You’re kidding!’ Kelly blurted, genuinely intrigued. ‘I’ve never met anyone with our surname before.’
‘Me neither. Yvie and I thought it was a bit of a coincidence! So… do you have any long-lost family members?’
Kelly was genuinely puzzled, and more than a little choked up at the thought of the old lady being alone. ‘I have no idea. I’d need to ask Sonya. Or maybe Scott would know. Although, if she’s a Bassett, then Carny’s grandad would be the best person to ask and he’s coming today, so that’s perfect. Is it pathetic that I really want her to be related to us?’
‘Mum, are you filling up again? What is wrong with you?’ Carny shook her head, amused and surprised that Kelly was being so emotional.
She wasn’t the only one. Kelly saw that even Verity was looking at her curiously.
‘Allergies,’ Kelly shot back, brushing it off, while blinking back the tears.
Verity covered up Kelly’s embarrassment by steering them back to the point of the conversation. ‘I hope she’s related to you too. It’s heart-breaking that she’s got no one in her life. She’s such a lovely lady and she’s had a terrible time.’
Kelly swallowed, clearing her throat. ‘Can you give me her number and I’ll call her? I’d love to find out more.’
‘Actually, I can do better than that. The reason I called you was to let you know she was coming along with us today. We had a couple of spare tickets because my mum and one of my other sisters dropped out. I hope that was okay?’
‘Of course it is! Where is she?’
Verity nodded. ‘She couldn’t stand for too long, so she’s sitting over at a table near the buffet with Yvie. Shall we go over?’
This was just what Kelly needed. A distraction. Something to keep her busy and out of Scott and Carson’s way for a while.
She was just about to agree, when she spotted Sabrina and Rick coming towards them and waved. Even at a distance, she could see Sabrina had been crying, her gorgeous face an incongruous frame for bloodshot eyes and red-rimmed lids.
Behind her, Rick’s shoulders were practically up at his ears and his forehead was ravaged with lines of stress, or fury, or some other emotion that definitely wasn’t positive.
Kelly’s spirits dropped like a stone. When they were growing up, living in the same street in Houseburn, the next village along from where Scott and Carson grew up in Frewtown, that was exactly the expression Rick had right before he did something that would get him grounded for a month. Hopefully, whatever it was, he’d save it for later and not bring it to a breezy garden party with two hundred students, parents, grannies and grandads all decked out in their finery.
As if they were mocking her, the band switched to ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ by Elton John.
Carny spotted them too, but thankfully she was too giddy on life to notice the black cloud above them. ‘Aunt Sabrina! Where’s gran and GG?’ Carny had called her great-grandad that since she was a little girl.
‘They’ve gone to the loos,’ Sabrina answered, and Kelly saw that her sister was forcing cheeriness. ‘Your gran said to say if she calls you come quick because it means she needs help with her Spanx.’
‘Great,’ Carny deadpanned. ‘It’s just one moment of glamour after another. Anyway, wait until you hear this. We’ve got a whole Long Lost Family situation going on here.’ She paused, turned to Kelly. ‘Did I tell you I used to really fancy Davina McCall?’
‘You didn’t,’ Kelly replied, ‘but I kinda guessed. You spent a whole summer watching her exercise DVDs while sitting in your pyjamas on the couch eating chocolate digestives.’
Carny nodded solemnly. ‘Gained eight pounds, but it was worth it.’
Sabrina, meanwhile, was clearly confused as she greeted Verity with a hug. She’d joined Kelly and Verity many times for cocktails, so they already knew each other pretty well. ‘We’re related to Davina McCall?’
Verity rolled her eyes. ‘You lot make my crazy family look sane. No, you’re not related to Davina McCall, but you might be related to…’ She was still talking, but Kelly had lost concentration, because a hand had come from behind and grabbed hers. Before she even turned around, she knew who it belonged to.
Taking a step back, she scanned the others to make sure they were otherwise occupied. Sabrina was totally focused on the revelations Verity was sharing with her, while Carny was scanning the crowd for her grandmother and great-grandfather.
Another step back, then she slowly spun around to face him. His expression had changed now. Before he’d been emanating fury. Now he just looked hurt.
‘You’re pregnant?’ her brother-in-law and oldest friend whispered, his eyes locked on hers.
He knew her so well, she barely had to move her head to signal to him that he was right.
‘Fuck,’ was his reply, but he was smart enough to keep his voice low and his expression impassive. ‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’
Kelly’s stomach was on a spin cycle again. ‘I just found out this morning and…’
‘Yeah, I heard,’ he hissed, eyes blazing, his irritation building again. ‘Sabrina just told me all about it. Fucking hell, Kelly, I don’t believe you! It’s been the only thing on your sister’s mind for years and she’s devastated.’
‘I’m sorry. It wasn’t deliberate. You know that.’
‘I know, but it doesn’t help. Fuck.’ He ran his fingers through his collar length hair. ‘Look, Kel, I know our relationship is… complicated.’
That was one way of putting it.
‘But neither of us want Sabrina to get hurt. She just said to me that I would have been better spending my life with you because at least then I’d have kids.’
Kelly almost buckled with the pain of that. No one knew the full story of her feelings for Rick. Hearing him say that, and the way he was looking at her now, was forcing her to confront an alternative reality.
This whole situation had the potential to break them all. Because for over two decades she’d been holding open a door to a different life, too scared to take a step through and see what was behind it. More than anything, her heart wanted Rick to take that step with her.
15
Scott
‘That’s what I want to be doing,’ Scott said, using his beer bottle to gesture towards the band.
Carson lifted his bottle from the bar. ‘Singing Elton John songs at a garden party?’
Scott gave him a dig in the ribs. ‘Take the piss all you like, but I just want to give it a shot. Am I crazy?’
Carson took a swig of his lager. ‘Absolutely.’
Scott grinned. ‘Appreciate the support.’
There was a pause for a moment that neither of them felt a desperate urge to fill. Carson was the kind of mate who could sit by your side all day, fishing rods in a river, and not feel the need to prattle on about stuff that didn’t matter.
Surprisingly, Carson broke the silence first. ‘Are you definitely going to make the break, then? Definitely going to leave all this?’
While he pondered his answer, Scott stared at the water a few metres away. This place was stunning. He’d had no idea it even existed. It was the kind of place you’d bring someone you loved, to have a romantic weekend, or even to propose. It was so far removed from his own proposal to Kelly. In fact, there hadn’t actually been one. A pregnant sixteen-year-old has a way of galvanising your actions. One night he’d come home late after band practice and she was waiting on his doorstep. They’d been seeing each other for about a year or so, and yeah, they were crazy about each other. Every now and then, he’d get a bit jealous because she was always hanging out with that Rick bloke who lived next door to her, but other than that it had been pretty epic. He had no idea what love was meant to feel like, but he was fairly certain this was it – although that might have been swayed by the fact that they’d finally started sleeping together a few months before and it had blown his mind. Yeah, it was definitely love, the kind that made him want to see her all the time. That’s why his first reaction when he’d spotted her sitting on his step was to be glad she was there. His reaction to what she was there to tell him had been something else altogether.
It was no surprise that he’d gone straight to panic, freaked out and spilled the whole story to his mother. In fairness to his mum, she’d been great. It had always just been the two of them and he knew that while she might give him a good bollocking when he fucked up, she’d always stand by him and help him figure stuff out.
