Winds of Change (29 page)

This wasn't a woman who didn't care about people, who abandoned them without a word.

What had really gone wrong to separate her birth parents?

When Regina and Tim got to the hospital they found Nikki sleeping, and the nurse who took her things from them didn't encourage them to linger.

‘Best thing she can do is sleep undisturbed.'

Nonetheless they waited for half an hour, then Regina said briskly, ‘Come on. We're doing no good here and I'm sure we've both got better things to do.'

Tim shook his head stubbornly. ‘I'm staying. She might wake and need to see someone she knows.'

‘OK. She was upset to be in hospital. Will you be all right? Have you money for a taxi home if you leave after the buses stop running?'

‘I can walk.'

‘It's too far. Here.' She stuffed a couple of notes into his hand and patted his shoulder.

He looked at her earnestly. ‘I do love her, Ms Fox. I know you think we're too young, but you can truly love someone at any age.'

‘I know. Been there, done that.'

She felt sad as she walked out to her car. She felt pretty certain that Nikki didn't have the same depth of feeling for Tim.

When she stopped the car, she looked at Miranda's cottage in surprise, because she hadn't made a conscious decision to come here. Then she pulled a wry face and got out. Why not?

Her sister came to the door, beaming at her, then the smile faded. ‘What's wrong?'

And Regina, who prided herself on being sensible and practical in all situations, burst into tears.

Sebastian sat at his desk, drumming his fingers, unable to concentrate. He didn't know when he'd been as angry as he was now – with Miranda, of course, always with Miranda. She had given the family nothing but trouble over the years.

Dorothy said it wasn't worth getting so het up and he should just concentrate on other things, but the anger wouldn't go away, nor would the image of Miranda letting the family down by acting foolishly in England.

He'd spent years planning how to manage that money and make sure it came to his sons in the end, and was anyone grateful to him? No. His sons hadn't been across to visit him for several years now, nor had they been particularly welcoming when he suggested going to visit them in the eastern states; a plane flight of nearly five hours, so not a journey to be undertaken lightly.

And whatever anyone said, if Miranda had slipped into depression once, she could do it again at any time. She needed someone to keep an eye on her for her own protection, as his father had agreed.

She'd sold most of the antiques and Dorothy had told him the prices she'd got. Miranda would waste the money, he was sure. And she'd presumably taken the jewellery with her to England as well.

And now the final straw, the cause for his fury escalating steeply, he'd been required to attend a meeting with an official mediator to discuss the will and the application to have it overset. Sally had been quick off the mark in lodging an application for this and must have pulled a few strings, because a judge had ordered them to try that path first.

The letter said that since one trustee was in favour of oversetting the will's provisions, it seemed worth trying to come to an agreement rather than going the more expensive route of a court case when the courts were overloaded with more important work.

He had no intention whatsoever of oversetting the terms he'd worked out so carefully, not under any circumstances. He would have refused even to attend, but Robert Courtenay, the head of his firm, was big on mediation and was making a name for himself in that area. He'd told Sebastian how important it was to try this route first.

Sally Patel must have got at Courtenay, since there was no other way he could be au fait with the case. Case! There was no case to answer. Minnie wasn't getting hold of that money. He'd make damned sure of that.

When she got home, Katie went straight to her computer to check her emails, but there was still no word from Darren.

She knew better than to contact anyone about her husband. If he'd wanted her to know what was happening he'd have told her. And if anything went wrong, if he was – her thought skittered away from the word ‘killed' and she substituted ‘injured' – well, the unit welfare officer had her mobile phone number and would contact her personally. That was how they did it these days.

No, she just had to carry on. Somehow.

She was glad when Brody rang to ask if he could drop by for half an hour after tea to see Ned. Her guess was that Brody also wanted to find out how she'd got on with Miranda. She wished she'd had more time to get to know her mother before discussing her with him and would have pretended to be busy.

Unfortunately Ned overheard the call and guessed who it was, jumping round her in delight, so she couldn't say no to Brody dropping in. Ned was getting very attached to his grandfather.

Brody turned up with flowers for her and a wooden puzzle game for Ned, who seemed to have an affinity for twisting and manipulating shapes.

‘You're looking a bit strained. How did it go today?' he asked.

‘Better than I'd expected.'

‘Oh?'

‘She seemed nice. As you said, she's a very gentle sort of person.'

He hitched his shoulders slightly, which could mean anything, but his lips pressed tightly together.

‘She hurt you badly, didn't she?'

Another shrug. He stared across the room to where Ned was fiddling with the puzzle.

‘She was in tears today.'

He looked straight at her then.

‘After I'd left, I looked back and she was sitting there in the café, all on her own, crying. I nearly went back to comfort her, only I had to pick Ned up, so I couldn't, but I felt awful leaving her in that state. I'm seeing her again in two days' time. I wondered if you'd like to join us?'

‘No.'

‘Shouldn't you ask her what really happened? I mean, all you have is what her brother said to you, and she didn't speak very well of him today. In fact, she called him an “arrogant bully”.'

‘She's telling the truth there, at least.' He changed the subject, so she didn't press the point.

‘Do you want to take Ned to the zoo at the weekend, Katie? If the weather's fine, that is.'

Ned must have been listening because he rushed across the room. ‘Say yes, Mummy. Say yes!'

‘As long as the weather is OK. I'm not tramping round zoos in the rain and nor are you.'

‘It'll be fine,' Ned said confidently.

Regina rang the hospital a couple of times, leaving messages, and went to see her daughter during her lunch break.

‘You're still looking pale.'

Nikki's voice was sharp. ‘Thanks for that compliment!'

‘Have they decided what's wrong with you?'

‘Pre-eclampsia, they think.'

‘That's not good.'

‘Tell me about it. I can understand now why you wanted me to have an abortion. Having a baby stuffs up your whole life. How am I to get good grades in my A Levels when I'm like this, Mum?' She rubbed away a tear.

‘I'm sure the doctors will be able to help you and then, once you're feeling better—'

‘They said I needed bed rest for the time being. In other words, lie here and go mad.'

‘Oh.'

‘And all Tim could say was we had to do what they said because of the baby. I'm doing it because of me, because I don't want to die of eclampsia. I'm starting to hate the baby, hate it!'

There was a gasp from the doorway and Regina turned to see Tim standing there looking horrified.

‘Go away!' Nikki screamed at him. ‘I told you to go away and not come back till tomorrow. Why will you not give me some space to get my head round this?'

He looked at her pleadingly.

‘
Go – away!
'

Her voice was so high-pitched a nurse came running.

Regina waved Tim away and he disappeared, but when she went to look out of the door, he was still standing at the end of the corridor.

The nurse was taking Nikki's obs and frowning. ‘You've got to calm down,' she said quietly. ‘I told you earlier it doesn't do you any good to get agitated.'

‘Then tell him to go away.'

‘I'll do it,' Regina said. She went out and joined Tim, not mincing her words. ‘You're upsetting her and making things worse. You have to go home and leave her in peace.'

‘You'd think she'd want me here with her.'

‘I don't think she wants any of us here. Most of all she doesn't want to be here herself, hasn't come to terms with that yet.'

‘How can she hate the baby?'

‘She doesn't. She just hates feeling helpless. Don't we all?'

‘What should I do, Ms Fox?'

‘What Nikki said: go home. Give me your mobile number and I'll ring you when I get back from the hospital.' As he still hesitated, she added, ‘You know that's all you can do, Tim. I've brought in her mobile, so she can ring you herself if she wants you here.'

‘I suppose so.' He walked off, shoulders hunched, looking so young and beaten her heart ached for him. She walked slowly back to the ward.

‘Has he gone?' Nikki demanded.

‘Definitely gone home, I promise you. He only wants to help. You shouldn't shout at him.'

‘Well, he's not helping. No one can help me now. I'm trapped.' She began sobbing.

The nurse shook her head and mouthed, ‘
I'll get the doctor.
'

Regina waited. A tired-looking woman in a white coat came and checked Nikki. ‘I think we'll give you a sedative. What you need more than anything is rest.'

Nikki didn't protest, which made her mother realize how ill she was, but let them give her an injection and then lay back with her eyes closed.

‘You might as well go home too, Mum.'

‘I'll stay till you go to sleep.'

She opened her eyes and glared at Regina. ‘
Go – home!
What's with everyone? I do not, repeat, not, want to be on view every minute of the day. I want you all to leave me in peace.' She threw one arm across her eyes, her lips pressed together in a thin, pale line.

Miranda was enjoying living in the cottage, loving the peace of being on her own and happy to have a garden. She'd missed her garden so much.

When the time came for her to see Katie again, she wasn't as nervous as she'd been before. Her daughter seemed as friendly as could be expected, given the circumstances, but she didn't feel the situation was hopeless.

She found Katie waiting for her and hurried across the café. ‘Am I late?'

‘No. I'm early.' She looked down at a gadget she'd been fiddling with. ‘I've just been picking up my emails. I was hoping—' She broke off with a sigh.

‘That you'd hear from your husband?'

Katie nodded, then forced a smile. ‘Never mind. We army wives get used to this sort of thing. Tell me where you're living and what you're doing with yourself. Did you come to England because of me?'

Miranda explained that her half-sister Regina lived nearby and there was a daughter, too.

‘It's good to think of having more relatives. Mum and Dad don't have many close ones.'

‘Yes. Only Nikki is in hospital. She's pregnant and there seem to be complications.'

‘Poor thing. Her husband must be worried sick.'

‘She hasn't got one. She's only eighteen, is in her last year at school. So is the father.'

‘Ooh, that must be hard. Is your sister very upset?'

‘Yes. So is the baby's father. I thought I'd pop into hospital on my way home, see how Nikki is. We email one another fairly regularly. She knows I understand how she feels about the baby.'

‘You had me adopted. Is she going to do that?'

‘No.'

The phone rang just then and Katie said, ‘Excuse me a moment.' She checked her phone and looked at Miranda in horror. ‘It's the Unit Welfare Officer.' Her voice changed, became firmer. ‘Yes, it's Katie Parrish. No, I'm in a café, with a friend. Yes, I can rely on her. Look, just tell me what's happened!'

She listened again, then one hand came up to cover her mouth and her eyes filled with tears. ‘I see. But he's going to be all right . . . ?' She switched off the phone and sat with it in her hand, tears rolling down her cheeks.

In the end, Miranda laid one hand gently on hers. ‘I can see it's bad news. Can I do anything to help?'

‘It's Darren. He's been shot. In the leg. He's being sent to the UK for another operation. It's serious but it's not likely to be life-threatening.' She gulped and struggled to keep calm, clasping Miranda's hand now without realizing what she was doing. ‘I've been dreading this happening. I planned what I'd do, how I'd manage, only I can't remember now.'

‘It's shock. You'll calm down gradually. In the meantime, you're not on your own. I'll do anything you need to help you.'

Katie looked at her blindly for a moment, then seemed to see her properly. ‘I . . . can't ask you to help. We've only just met.'

‘What has that got to do with anything? The tie that binds a mother and child is not something you can switch on and off. It's just . . . there . . . even when the child is invisible.' She looked at her watch. ‘What time do you need to pick Ned up?'

‘Not for half an hour, but I want to go and get him now, tell him. He keeps expecting his father to phone us, you see, keeps asking.'

‘I'm sure they'll let him out of school early but I don't think you should drive. You might not be calm enough. Will you let me drive you? We'll come back for your car later, once you've had time to grow used to . . . the news.'

She had to wait for Katie to think about this and then nod. It was as if the younger woman could only process information slowly.