Last Christmas (26 page)

‘Eve,’ Gabriel swallowed hard. This was so completely unexpected. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘You could invite me in,’ said Eve.

Gabriel stood uncertainly in the corridor, wishing that he had something more substantial than a towel wrapped round him. Familiar feelings of tenderness, exasperation and incredulity at Eve’s behaviour were churning up with pleasure at seeing her again, and a deep white fury that he had been suppressing for months.

‘I could,’ he said stiffly. ‘Or I could tell you to bugger off.’

‘I wouldn’t blame you if you did,’ said Eve, turning her piercing blue eyes on him, bright with unshed tears. ‘If I say I’m sorry, I know it’s not enough, but I was in a bad way back then.’

He’d forgotten her fragility, and the breathtaking beauty of her porcelain skin, the vulnerability that she barely concealed. It tugged at his heart and he was fighting to resist the urge to comfort her, to look after her, as he always had.

‘Stephen didn’t deserve that,’ said Gabriel, reining in his emotions. However much he cared about Eve, he couldn’t forgive her yet for what she’d done to their son.

‘I know,’ said Eve. ‘And I know I probably don’t deserve a second chance—’

‘You don’t,’ said Gabriel flatly.

‘—but I do want to see our son.’

‘What if he doesn’t want to see you?’ Gabriel knew it was cruel, but he couldn’t resist the impulse to wound.

‘What are you going to do?’ taunted Eve. ‘Pretend I haven’t been here?’

Gabriel paused. He’d lied to Stephen once about Eve. He didn’t think he could do it again.

‘How do I know you won’t hurt him again?’ he said.

‘I won’t,’ said Eve. ‘I promise I won’t, not this time.’

Gabriel leant heavily against the door.

‘I can’t be sure of that,’ said Gabriel, ‘you’ve let him down so many times before.’

‘This time it’s different.’ Eve was pleading now, and he felt himself weaken as he saw the tears shining in her eyes. ‘I know I’ve not always been there for Stephen, but I am his mum. And he needs me.’

Eve looked so lost and forlorn as she said this, Gabriel felt his resolve crumble, and the old urge to look after and protect her shot right through him. She was right. Whatever Eve had done to him and Stephen, she was still Stephen’s mother, and he knew Stephen was capable of a great deal of forgiveness.

‘Daddy, who is it?’ Stephen had obviously got bored with what was on the TV and had come out to the hall. Gabriel had been shielding the door with his body and talking in low whispers.

But now Eve pushed the door open. ‘Stephen?’ she said tentatively. Gabriel’s wavering emotions immediately veered towards protection. He knew Eve deserved Stephen’s rejection, but he wasn’t sure he could bear to watch if his son didn’t want to see his mother.

Stephen stood uncertainly in the hallway, as if not quite sure what he was seeing.

Gabriel tensed.

‘Mummy?’ Stephen whispered. ‘Mummy, is that you?’

‘Yes,’ said Eve, the tears falling now. ‘I’ve come back to say sorry.’

‘Are you really back?’ Stephen said, as if he dared not believe it.

‘I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere ever again,’ said Eve.

Stephen ran down the hall and flung himself in her arms, and Gabriel leant back in relief that Stephen had accepted his mother’s return, but felt a gnawing worry about where they went from here. For months all he’d wanted was for Eve to come back and for them to be a family again. But that was before Marianne. If he chose to have Eve back he was going to have to hurt Marianne. But if he chose Marianne, he wasn’t sure his son would ever forgive him.

Noel was on his way home when Cat called with the news about her mother. Suddenly his anxieties about telling her he’d lost his job seemed meaningless. Cat sounded tearful and upset, not at all like her calm, controlled self. Noel wanted to go straight to her but knew that, first things first, he had to check how the children were.

Regina was cooking tea and organising homework when he arrived.

‘Get along with you,’ she said, when Noel suggested taking the children home. ‘I’m fine here for another couple of hours. I think Cat needs you right now.’

Noel protested, but Regina wouldn’t hear a word of it. ‘Come on,’ she said, ‘remember the time when I’d had my Caesarean when Ollie was born, and Cat took the kids to school for me for weeks?
Weeks.
That’s what we do, Noel. We help each other out when we can.’

‘I’ll give my mum a ring and see if she can come round,’
said Noel. ‘That way at least we won’t be imposing on you for too long.’

Noel dreaded ringing his mum. Normally he let Cat do it and have one of those mysterious female chats that went on for hours and which involved nothing more important than swapping recipes (he had a feeling some of Granny Nightmare’s favourites were going in the cookbook, though Cat had sworn she wasn’t going to call her that), or discussing
The X Factor.
If Noel ever did ring his mother, he kept it as short and sweet as possible so she couldn’t start telling him about how wonderful his sister and her offspring were and how inadequate he and his were by comparison. On a normal day, he’d never have rung her, particularly when he’d just lost his job. But today wasn’t a normal day. Noel loved Louise and couldn’t bear the thought of her becoming ill and old. He’d been so caught up in his own problems of late, he’d thought Cat might be exaggerating the nature of her mother’s illness, and now he felt ashamed of the thought.

‘Hi, Mum,’ he said as his mother picked up the phone. ‘It’s Noel.’

‘I’ve already packed my bag, and I’ll be on the first train tomorrow,’ said his mother.

‘Sorry?’ Noel was taken aback.

‘Catherine rang me from the hospital to tell me what happened,’ said his mother crisply. ‘You two are going to need a lot of help while Catherine’s mother is in hospital. And Catherine doesn’t need to have to worry about the children right now, so I’m coming to stay till you’re straight again. It’s all agreed.’

‘Oh,’ said Noel. He’d been gearing himself up for an argument about how she wasn’t at his beck and call, and here she was all ready to drop everything to come down. ‘That’s very good of you, Mum. We both appreciate it.’

‘That’s what families are for,’ said Mum. ‘If you can’t turn to me in a crisis, who can you turn to?’

Noel was still mulling over the unexpectedness of this when he got to the hospital. He found Cat by her mother’s bed, holding her hand.

Louise smiled when she saw him, but seemed a bit confused. ‘Catherine, you haven’t introduced me to this nice young man,’ she said.

‘Come on, Mum, you know who this is,’ said Cat. ‘It’s Noel. We’ve been married for fifteen years.’

‘Of course,’ said Cat’s mum. ‘Yes. Noel. That’s who it is.’ But she looked unconvinced and, by the time the nurse was calling for visiting time to be over, she seemed to have forgotten who he was again.

‘I’ll be in to see you tomorrow, Mum,’ said Cat. ‘And I’ll go and get you some things from home.’

‘Oh, thank you, sweetheart,’ said Louise. She looked tired and unsettled. Noel found it very disconcerting to see his energetic mother-in-law looking so frail and, well,
old
, lying in the bed. How could a fall have effected such a dramatic change?

‘The doctor thinks the bang on the head may have disorientated her,’ Cat said as they left the hospital. ‘And her blood sugar is incredibly low. She’s barely been eating apparently, which can lead to confusion. I’ll have to go round to sort out her place tomorrow. I don’t think she’ll be going back there for a while. If at all.’

‘Where will she stay, then?’ Noel hadn’t really thought this one through.

‘With us of course,’ said Cat, ‘where else can she go?’

‘Cat,’ Noel said carefully, ‘I know this has been an enormous shock to you, but are you really sure this is a good idea? You’ve got enough on your plate as it is.’

‘Are you saying you don’t want to look after my mother?’ Cat flared up.

‘No,’ said Noel. ‘I’m just saying think about it carefully. Maybe she’d be better off in a home.’

‘There’s nothing to think about,’said Cat.‘She’s my mum. And we’re all she’s got. I can’t let her go into a home.’

Noel backed off. Now was not the time to have this argument. He put his arm around her and kissed her on the head. ‘You never know,’ he said, ‘it might not come to that. I’m sure we’ll work something out.’ Though quite what, he had no idea.

Marianne was walking to school, pondering the Nativity problem, and wondering if there was any way she could wrest control of it away from Diana. Miss Woods had been immensely helpful in providing information about the old traditional Shropshire Nativity that had been handed down from mediaeval times and been played in barns and village churches right up to the turn of the last century.

‘It’s a derivation from an old mystery play,’ Miss Woods had explained. ‘I can remember taking part in it as a very young girl.’

It seemed so much more appropriate to take that traditional route somehow, particularly now they’d been given the go-ahead to use Hopesay Manor Chapel. The play itself was very simple and therefore suitable for children and, with the judicious use of some sixteenth-century carols, and the beautiful setting, Marianne felt sure they had a very good chance of winning the competition. If only she could somehow persuade Diana Carew.

‘Marianne.’ She heard her name being called and, turning round, saw Gabriel running up the hill after her. They’d not seen each other for a couple of days, Gabriel having been tied up with sheep shearing and Marianne having given every spare minute to helping Pippa. Even when Gabriel had been helping out at Pippa’s they’d not had a lot of time
to spend together, and since Benjy’d died Gabriel had been warier of letting Stephen know what was going on between them. She hoped that wasn’t an excuse and he wasn’t getting cold feet. On the night of the flood, Marianne had really felt they were beginning to establish something together. She didn’t want to see their fledgling relationship wither and die before it had even properly got going.

‘Gabriel!’ she said gladly. She’d have loved to have given him a peck on the cheek, but was aware that hundreds of eyes were probably twitching behind the curtains as it was. Miss Woods and her cronies never missed a trick in Hope Christmas, even when their houses were recovering from flooding.

Marianne waved as Miss Woods went whizzing past. She’d noticed earlier, to her amusement, Miss Woods was taking her electric buggy out again. Since the flood they’d seen less of it than normal as the roads had been too slippery and dangerous.

‘Is it just me,’ said Marianne, ‘or does she get faster on that thing?’

‘She’s probably gearing up for next year’s Grand Prix season,’ grinned Gabriel. ‘Marianne, I wanted you to hear this from me before anyone else told you—’

‘Sorry, what were you saying?’ Marianne was distracted for a moment as she saw Miss Woods’ buggy topple sideways slightly, before she righted it. ‘For a minute there I thought she was going to have it over.’

Gabriel looked incredibly nervous. Suddenly Marianne’s heart was in her boots. She had the panicky thought he was about to tell her it was all over. Marianne felt a cold rush of reality flood over her. The most lovely man she’d met in her life, and she’d stalled at the first corner. When was she ever going to get this love thing sorted?

‘Marianne,’ Gabriel said clearing his throat.

There was a sudden screech of brakes, a thud, and a lot of shouting.

Marianne began to run to the top of the hill, and stared in horror over the other side. Miss Woods’ vehicle was lying on its side; she was emerging from it grumpily waving her stick.

‘Didn’t you see me?’ she demanded of a rather woebegone-looking Diana Carew, who was sitting on the floor nursing her shoulder.

‘Well, if I’d seen you, I’d not be sitting here like this, would I?’ was the acerbic reply.

Marianne and Gabriel went to see what they could do, but Diana waved them away.

‘I’m fine,’ she said tetchily. ‘No thanks to that ridiculous woman.’

‘It was an accident,’ said Miss Woods to no one in particular. ‘If people will not look where they are going…’

Stifling a grin, Marianne tried to make Diana more comfortable till medical help arrived, which luckily it did in the form of the local GP who happened to be passing. Breathing sighs of relief, Marianne and Gabriel beat a hasty retreat, as their presence clearly wasn’t needed.

‘What was it you wanted to say to me?’ said Marianne, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

Gabriel swallowed hard.

‘There’s no easy way to tell you this,’ he said, ‘but Eve’s back. And I think she wants to come home.’

Cat stared in dismay at her mother’s kitchen. Noel had offered to do the school run so Cat could go and get some things for Mum. While she was there, Cat had thought she might as well see if Mum had any food she could take in to the hospital. Louise’s kitchen, like the rest of her home, was normally pristine. One of the constants in Cat’s life
had been that calm, orderly home, always a haven of peace where she would come and recharge her batteries. It had been like that her whole life.

Now there was days-old washing-up in the sink, and a nasty smell coming from the dishwasher. Cat went into the cupboard under the sink for some dishwasher tablets, and found Mum had put the salt there, but no tabs were to be found. Rootling around in the other cupboards, Cat discovered Mum had for some inexplicable reason been storing up tins of cat food, though she hadn’t owned a cat in years.

Eventually Cat discovered the dishwasher tablets in the cupboard where her mum kept the flour, but not before uncovering everything in a state of complete and utter disorder. Not only that, half the contents of the cupboards were past their sell-by date, and by the time Cat dared venture into the fridge, she wasn’t at all surprised to see it covered in mould, with cheese and ham dating from weeks back, and at least two pints of milk that gone off. There could be no more poignant display of her mother’s infirmity. Cat wanted to weep for what had been lost.