Page 17 of Don't Believe A Word

It was true, they hadn’t wanted to go, but Matthew had been so hurt by their reluctance to spend some time with him in LA over the holidays that Cristy had ended up talking them into going for New Year. And now, this.

Picturing them at Scott Dukes’s Laurel Canyon home, worrying about their dad, desperate to get away, feeling guilty about it and yet checking flights anyway, she said, ‘Use the emergency credit card, and ask Scott to arrange a ride to the airport.’

‘Thanks, Mum,’ Hayley said. ‘Sorry to put this on you now …’

‘Don’t worry about me. Just get yourselves home safely.’

A few minutes later Cristy was back in the kitchen – still no sign of David or Juliette – but Cynthia seemed to notice right away that all was not well with her.

‘Has something happened?’ Cynthia asked, drawing Cristy aside so no one could overhear.

Cristy gave a mirthless laugh. ‘Marley’s had the baby; Matthew’s been arrested and the children are flying home tonight.’

Cynthia regarded her steadily. ‘Maybe we need to sit down?’ she suggested.

Following her back into the summer room Cristy felt a moment’s overwhelming – even unsteadying – affection for the woman who reminded her so much of her own mother.

‘So which part of it are you the most worried about?’ Cynthia asked, as they took a chair each, overlooking the gardens.

Cristy smiled ruefully. ‘I guess, for the moment, I’m pretty focused on getting home in time to meet Hayley and Aiden off the plane. But they’ll be OK. Hayley has an emergency credit card so she can pay for the bus or a train to Bristol and from there they’ll be able to get to my flat.’

‘So that’s sorted. What about Matthew? How on earth did he get himself arrested?’

Such a good question – although Cristy wasn’t having much trouble imagining the chaos he’d created. ‘Apparently he got into a dust-up with a security guard at the hospital,’ she said, ‘becauseMarley won’t let him see the baby.’ Thinking of the tiny, innocent little creature at the heart of the madness, she became aware of a deep, churning sensation inside. It was dark and worrying and reminded her of how she’d felt when Aiden had first told her Marley was pregnant – as if a silent, raging tide was rising up to demolish what was left of her marriage. ‘It’s a boy,’ she added. ‘I don’t know his name.’

‘Why won’t she let Matthew see him?’

Cristy shook her head. ‘I’ve no idea. The last I heard Marley wanted Matthew to bring the child back to the UK when it was born so I could help him bring it up. Obviously that was never going to happen, apart from in Marley’s head. But apparently it’s all changed now and Matthew, who, as far as I knew, was dreading being a dad again, is in a prison cell for thumping someone who tried to get in the way of him seeing his son.’

Cynthia sighed as she pondered this bizarre set of events. ‘I don’t suppose any of this has been easy for him,’ she commented. ‘From all I’ve heard he now knows what a mistake he made in letting you go …’

‘It’s too late for that,’ Cristy interrupted, not wanting to hear it. ‘We have to deal with where we are now, except it actually isn’t my problem, is it? Or it wouldn’t be if he weren’t my children’s father, and I just know he’ll be on the phone to me as soon as he’s able to get to one.’

‘Expecting what?’

‘I’ve no idea. I just hope he doesn’t think I’m going to fly over there to try and talk some sense into his crazy wife.’ Cristy’s eyes went to Cynthia’s and after a beat she found herself almost wanting to laugh. It was all so messed up and farcical, and actually itwascomical, provided Matthew got out of prison, of course – and as long as it didn’t start impinging on her life the way he no doubt expected it to. But what about the press? Someone was bound to get hold of it sooner or later. With Marley being the daughter of a movie and theatre legend, and a successful actor in her own right, and Matthew’s much lesser fame as a news anchor (OK not in the States but he’d already won a lot of notoriety in the UK for destroying his marriage over a child superstar in the first place), this was a story that was going to excite the tabloids, that was for sure.

‘Why don’t you let David make some calls?’ Cynthia suggested. ‘You know he has contacts all over, even in LA, and he’ll arrange for a car to pick the children up at Heathrow.’

‘No, I don’t want to put him to the trouble …’ Cristy said, perhaps a little too quickly.

‘It won’t be any trouble. You just need to let us have the flight details … And I’m guessing you’ll be wanting to leave in the morning?’

Wishing she could go right now, Cristy said, ‘If there’s a flight, yes. I just hope the fog will have lifted by then or I’ll be stranded. Maybe for days. Oh God, what a mess.’

‘It’s going to be fine,’ Cynthia assured her. ‘When does Hayley return to uni?’

‘I think it’s the fifteenth, but she was planning to fly to Edinburgh on the seventh to meet up with her boyfriend. Aiden starts back to school on the eighth so I definitely have to be there for that, or knowing him he’ll find something “more interesting” to do.’

Cynthia laughed. Having got to know Aiden a little over Christmas, she, like everyone else, had taken quite a shine to him. ‘I’m sure we’ll get you off this island in time to keep him on the right path,’ she said. ‘Now, let’s go and track down David so we can—’

‘Actually, I’ll catch up with him later,’ Cristy interrupted, really not keen to find him if he was with Juliette – actually not even wanting to think about that. ‘Right now I should ring Connor and Jodi to let them know the children will soon be on their way. I’m sure they’ll insist on collecting them, or at least on putting them up until I can get back to Bristol.’

*

As it turned out Cristy was able to get a flight the next day. She left early, before anyone else was up, and after leaving a note for David, assuring him she’d be in touch as soon as she got home.Thanks for a wonderful Christmas and New Year,she added.Sorry I was asleep when you came up last night; and I didn’t want to wake you this morning. Your mum will tell you about Matthew and the children. Never a dull moment with them.

She’d struggled with how to end it, as she’d wondered, not for the first time these past twenty-four hours, how she really felt about him. The situation with Juliette was bothering her a lot. Having been cheated on once, by Matthew, she never wanted to go through anything like it again and if there was still something between David and his ex … Maybe she, Cristy, was getting too involved, too soon, taking things way too seriously. And when it came right down to it, did she actually want their relationship to continue? How could it when his life was here on this island and hers elsewhere?

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