Page 21 of Just the Beginning

‘He might get a chance to grab a few minutes here and there.’ Jago turned to Rachel. ‘What do you reckon?’

She beamed at him. ‘I think it sounds wonderful, but perhaps we should book for sixteen just in case Liam and Caroline can make it.’

‘Don’t get your hopes up about that, love,’ Jago warned her.

‘Well, we can at least ask them. It’s not until next month so it’s plenty of notice.’

‘I’ll give him a call over the weekend,’ Rick offered. Not that he had much hope he’d be able to persuade his brother to come home for a visit, but at least he’d be able to soften their mum’s disappointment when the invitation was inevitably rebuffed.

Rachel’s expression brightened and her initial enthusiasm returned. ‘Give him our love when you do speak to him. and in the meantime I’ll text Helen and we can get the ball rolling.’

As she pulled her phone out, Ed leaned towards Rick and whispered, ‘You know she’ll find an excuse for them not to come.’

Rick nodded. ‘Doesn’t mean we stop inviting them, though. Liam is one of us.’

Ed gave him an I-don’t-know-why-you-bother look then turned to their mum. ‘I’ll work on the seating plan, shall I?’ Turning back to him, Ed gave Rick a wink and leaned in once more. ‘Play your cards right and I’ll fiddle the seating plan and put you next to Anya.’

‘Dickhead,’ Rick muttered under his breath, refusing to rise to the bait.

‘Oh, darling, that’s a lovely idea, thank you!’ Rachel said, eyes on her phone, fingers flying, as she continued to text with Helen. ‘We should go through the photo albums and put together some memories for Ma.’

Her enthusiasm was infectious and Rick could already picture his grandmother’s delight, but even as he felt himself getting swept up with the idea of a big family celebration, a black cloud loomed heavy on the horizon. How was he going to sit and smile and enjoy the evening with Uncle Davy at the table and only the two of them knowing the truth?

12

‘But it’s going to be very hot today, sweetheart; you won’t need a jumper on the beach,’ Anya said, trying her best to keep her frustration to herself. ‘Go and get changed into the things I left on your bed, please.’ She checked her watch and swallowed a groan. They were already ten minutes overdue. Her aunt had suggested they take a picnic down to the beach and Anya had been happy to accept the invitation.

‘No! No! No!’ Freya’s protest ended in a high-pitched scream as she burst into tears. She stomped her foot, not an easy task in a pair of too-small frog-faced wellies Anya could’ve sworn had gone into one of the charity donation bags when she’d been clearing out ready for their move. Teamed with her sparkling blue Elsa princess dress and a thick Nordic-style red jumper covered in a pattern of white snowflakes, her daughter cut quite the picture.

Anya stared at the tiny bundle of outrage in front of her and wondered if she should summon a priest to perform an exorcism. Freya was prone to the odd outburst, but nothing like this. Doing her best to keep her tone as calm as possible, she triedagain. ‘You won’t be able to go swimming without your costume and you’ll spoil your pretty dress if it gets covered in sand.’

All she got for her efforts was a fresh round of tears and another wailed, ‘Nooooo!’

Give me bloody strength. Arguing the point was only making them later, so Anya took a deep breath and turned away to finish packing a large shop-for-life carrier bag with the endless paraphernalia any trip with a small child required. She’d just returned from fetching a packet of wet wipes from their tiny bathroom when Aunt Helen tapped and opened the door.

‘I just came to see if you needed a hand,’ she said, her bright smile fixed on Anya.

‘Everything’s fine, as you can see,’ Anya replied, not sure whether to laugh or join Freya, whose screams had subsided slightly into funny little hiccup-sobs.

Helen’s smile was full of sympathetic understanding. ‘What can I do?’

‘Persuade Freya to put something else on if you can. She won’t listen to me, but perhaps you can talk some sense into her.’ Anya folded up a couple of towels and added them to the bag, then headed to the fridge to grab a flask of juice she’d made up earlier.

‘Why don’t you let her wear what she has on?’

Anya returned to put the flask in the bag.There was something else she was forgetting…

She jerked her head up as her aunt’s words registered. ‘You have seen what she’s wearing?’

Helen shrugged. ‘She’s old enough to learn that actions have consequences. Stick a change of clothes in the bag and once she realises she’s made a mistake, she can get changed.’

Anya supposed that would be easier than arguing. ‘And what if she doesn’t admit she’s made a mistake?’

Her aunt shrugged. ‘Then she’ll have to put up with being too hot.’

Anya sighed and shook her head. ‘I just don’t know what’s got into her. She never normally makes a fuss about what to wear. She likes to pick things out for herself, but she usually listens to suggestions as well.’ She frowned at Freya, whose tears were now little more than sniffs as she watched the two of them warily. Knowing the wrong word would set her off again, Anya decided to take her aunt’s advice and admit defeat. ‘Go and wash your face, please. It’s time to go.’

Freya lit up like a Christmas tree, which Anya supposed was apt given her festive choice of jumper, and skipped off to the bathroom to do as she was told. Again Anya wondered how she managed to move so easily in those boots, but settled instead on retrieving the swimming costume, sundress, hat and sandals she’d laid out earlier. A couple of minutes later and they were out of the door and heading across the garden to meet the others, who were waiting patiently.

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