Divided Loyalties (54 page)

‘You mean you’re not going to walk me home?’ Bobby demanded, horrified.

‘You can take your chances.’ Dan laughed. ‘It was a great meal. Thanks a lot.’

‘You’re welcome,’ Bobby said warmly. ‘It was long overdue.’

‘Better late than never.’ Dan bent down and kissed the top of his wife’s head. ‘I’ll warm the bed for you.’

‘I won’t be long,’ she assured him.

‘Do you know what I’d love?’ Bobby said dreamily a little while later.

‘What? You couldn’t possibly eat anything else.’ Shauna eyed him in amazement.

‘I’d like a mug of hot chocolate.’

‘Oohh, that sounds nice.’ Carrie perked up. ‘I’ll make us some.’

Ten minutes later the three of them were sitting in the firelight under the glow of the Christmas tree, sipping steaming hot chocolate and nibbling mince pies.

‘It was a great day, wasn’t it?’ Carrie said appreciatively.

‘Poor Dad. The snores out of him before I even left the house, and it was only half nine. He was wrecked.’ Bobby blew bubbles in his froth.

‘Chloe had a great time. She can’t remember the last Christmas we had at home,’ Shauna said. ‘This one was so different,’ she added dryly. ‘No Greg and no
Freeloaders.’

‘How did you feel? Were you very lonely?’ Bobby sat on the edge of her armchair and dropped an arm round her shoulder.

‘Sometimes. But not as much as I thought I’d be. It really helped that we spent last night and tonight here. Poor old Chloe was very apprehensive that Santa wouldn’t realize
that she was here. There’s notes everywhere in the apartment and Greg was instructed to leave notes all over the one in Abu Dhabi before he went to Hong Kong. She was ecstatic when she found
her toys on the end of her bed this morning. That was hard to beat.’

‘Stay as long as you like,’ Carrie invited.

‘Thanks, but it’s great that I’m only down the road. I might take you up on it when Greg comes to visit at the end of January.’

‘How do you feel about that?’ Bobby asked.

Shauna shrugged. ‘I’m glad for Chloe’s sake. And I want him to see her whenever he wants. I’ll even take her out to Hong Kong at Easter if he wants me to, but
that’s it. I’ve decided to ask him for a divorce,’ she said quietly.

‘Have you?’ Carrie looked startled.

‘When he took the job in Hong Kong, and I knew that he would, that was the end of it. I might have muddled along with him if he’d come home to live with us. At least I would have
known we were important enough for him to make the effort. But that’s not Greg.’ She sighed.

‘Bastard!’ Carrie said hotly.

‘Ah, no, Carrie, it’s not all his fault and I don’t want him to take all the blame,’ she said firmly. ‘I was as much to blame in some ways as he was. I married him
because I thought he was so different from Dad, but in his own way he was just as controlling. And I didn’t listen to him when he said that he didn’t want any more children. So I have
to accept some responsibility for the mess we’re in. But I don’t want to live with him again, not after what he did to me. And I certainly don’t want to live in Hong Kong.’
She shuddered. ‘I need to make a fresh start. Chloe’s settled in well here. All her toys and stuff have been freighted home from Abu Dhabi, so now it’s time for me to decide what
I’m going to do with myself. I want to get a job and earn my own money. I want to put down roots,’ she told her siblings.

‘Wow. A divorcee
and
a homosexual in the family! Poor, poor Dad,’ Bobby said wickedly.

Shauna giggled. ‘You’re awful.’ She dug him in the ribs.

‘No, hold on, you might be entitled to a Church annulment, according to Dad. I didn’t tell you this before, I didn’t think you were ready for it, but to all intents and
purposes poor old Greg’s now become a eunuch,’ Carrie informed them, straight-faced.

Bobby nearly choked on his hot chocolate as he guffawed. ‘Oh, my God, that’s the
best
I ever heard. Oh, he’s
priceless
,’ he said fondly, tears of mirth
streaming down his cheeks.

Shauna started to giggle and then she was rolling around in the chair, splitting her sides laughing. Carrie joined in and they laughed their heads off, happy to be in each other’s company
again.

‘Oh, that
was
a tonic,’ Bobby declared as he wiped his eyes.

‘Are all families like us or are we unique?’ Carrie demanded.

‘Oh, I think we’re unique. Let’s face it, who else has a eunuch for a brother-in-law?’ Bobby hooted and they all started laughing again.

‘Well I’d rather be us than anyone else,’ Carrie said tipsily, raising her mug. ‘To Family,’ she toasted.

Shauna and Bobby leaned over and clinked their mugs to hers. ‘To Family,’ they echoed, smiling at each other, as the wind howled outside and the rain lashed against the
windowpanes.

THE END