Page 21 of Amazing Grace

‘OMG, you aresogoing to get a seeing to on Wednesday. You’d best dust the cobwebs off your lady garden, Mrs. As they say at the fair, “Buckle up, baby, this could be the best ride of your life!”’

Grace’s heart dropped to the floor. It had been so long since she’d even found a man that she fancied, she hadn’t even thought about going that one step further until she went out with Tommy. She shivered at the thought of what might have happened if she’d gone back to his hotel room and then found out he was married. Mortifying. And really! How could she possibly let someone who wasn’t Mark see her body naked? She was so conscious of the fact that she’d put on weight that she didn’t even look at herself in the mirror any more. And she didn’t think she’d shaved her legs for six months. Even Archie had started commenting on her legs looking like a hairy monkey. Despite everything that Monica had done on the outside, she still felt old, fat, frumpy and unattractive on the inside.

‘Oh crap, Mon, I hadn’t even given that a thought! I’m going to have to call him at once and cancel. I can’t possibly go through that.’

‘You will do no such thing! You will be well prepared, de-fuzzed, sparkling and beautiful and you are gonna knock his socks off!’

‘It’s not his socks I’m worried about.’ She sighed. And then she remembered the picture in his wallet. Maybe she might be worrying for no reason. Maybe this wasn’t a date after all.

12

The week did not start well. She’d had to battle that morning with Archie to get ready for school on time, having to wrestle the iPad from him at one point, which resulted in him having a huge meltdown. Then, after school, two of his school friends knocked on the door and asked if he could go to the park with them to play football.

‘Can I, Mum? Can I?’ he’d begged her, pulling on her jumper.

‘I’m sorry, Arch, but I really don’t think you are old enough.’

‘I am though, Mum. I’m ten and you let me walk home from school now. How’s this any different?’

It didn’t matter how many times she explained to him that she wasn’t happy about him going to the park in the evening with boys she knew from school, but didn’t really know anything else about, he was still cross. They’d have main roads to cross and while she knew she had to let go of him sometime and increase his independence, this was not going to be that day.

He stomped off upstairs into his room and refused to come down for an hour. He seemed to have morphed into a teenager over the last few weeks. The only thing that brought him out of his room was the fact that they were going to visit Papa, who she hoped might talk some sense into him.

They drove the five miles to the retirement village in near silence, with Archie staring out the window and giving one-word answers to any questions she asked. She left him in the lounge with her dad while she went to make a cuppa for them all, and as she returned and stood outside the lounge door, she heard them talking.

‘But Mum never plays football with me any more, Papa. She’s always too busy cooking, or cleaning, or decorating. She never has time for me.Andshe never lets me go to the park with my mates, either.’

‘But you’re not really old enough to go to the park on your own yet, son. I know it’s hard when you see other kids doing it, but all your mum is trying to do is to keep you safe.’

‘If Dad was still with us, he’d be able to share jobs and then Mum would have more time for me.’

‘Your mum is working her socks off so that you can have all your fancy stuff. If you want Z-Boxes and aPads, someone has to pay for them, son. And if she doesn’t do the cleaning and cooking, who will? I don’t suppose you help her, do you?’

She looked through the gap in the door as Archie shook his head.

‘You need to cut your mum some slack. She’s trying her best. Now come over here and give your old papa a man-hug.’

‘I’ll try, Papa. I promise I’ll try.’

Grace promised herself that she’d do her damnedest to make more time for Archie, even if it meant having to stay up later to get the housework done. Who needed sleep, anyway? She’d already rocked his world by splitting with his dad. It was her job as his mum to protect him from hurt, and she already carried that guilt around with her, so she had to make sure that he didn’t end up resenting her.

* * *

Wednesday evening arrived. She’d told Mark that she was going out at six thirty and he did his normal trick of not arriving to pick up Archie until six forty-five, blaming the traffic. She knew he did it on purpose and had often thought he probably sat around the corner, deliberately waiting till he was late before arriving at her house. She used to get really wound up by his tardiness and say that perhaps he should have left a bit earlier, but it was obvious that he got a real kick out of winding her up, so now she took the high road and never mentioned it, much as she had to grit her teeth.

Grace always prided herself on being able to make pleasantries with everyone she met – even if she was busy or stressed. She knew that being kind and open cost nothing and got the best out of people. But Mark could wind her up in a way that no one else ever could. She wondered how someone could go through life constantly challenging people and being argumentative. It must be exhausting. She was quite sure that Mark could have an argument if he was in a room by himself. She wondered how he’d ever got the job he’d got, looking after the welfare of hundreds of children and countless staff, and how he actually got through a day at work. Unless he had a personality transplant every morning when he walked through the school gates? She spent her life trying to make sure that Archie didn’t adopt some of his father’s quirks and showed people respect. Luckily so far, he seemed to have far more of her in him than his father.

Mark walked into the kitchen and started rummaging through the post on the counter, seeming not to care that it wasn’t his home. Spotting the invitation, he raised an eyebrow. ‘You’ve been nominated for an award. Brilliant.’ He laughed and flung the invitation back down on the side.

Why couldn’t he say he was proud of her? They might not be together any more, but surely, as the mother of his child, he didn’t have to put her down all the time, especially in front of Archie.

‘Although, if you do go, I’m actually free the weekend after next, Grace, so I’ll come with you as your guest. It’ll be good for me to be seen at a local business event. I’ve always wanted to meet the Lord Mayor too; I could tap him up to come and present awards at the school, which will go down well with the parents. I’ll put it in my diary.’

Half of her wanted to smack him in the face for being so arrogant, while the other half of her thought that it might be good to go with someone, even if itwasMark. And he could be charming when he wanted to, able to make small talk with a whole host of people. It was only when he’d got that ruddy job that he had changed, turning into the arrogant man she saw in front of her now.

Grace knew Mark would be lovely to all the other people there, even if he couldn’t bring himself to offer the same courtesy to her. And at least if she went with him, she could stop worrying about finding someone to go with, which had been really stressing her out. She would need to find someone else to have Archie, though, as Mark was her back-up plan. Edward and Melanie had offered to pay for a babysitter but there weren’t many people she’d be comfortable leaving Archie with. If she could sort that bit out, she could be an adult for a night and grin and bear it. Another problem sorted.

She glanced at her watch.It’s a good job I’m not actually going out until seven thirty, she thought to herself as Mark drove off with a smirk on his face. She’d learned to adjust the times to suit herself months ago but hadn’t shared that with him. She was still reeling from her conversation with him before he’d left.

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