Page 13 of Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘But I thought you said you were on the way home now?’ Wendy’s spine went rigid as she waited for her daughter to answer, knowing what she was going to say.

‘I’m going to Dad’s first. I want to spend some time with Zara, and we’re going to see the new Marvel movie with Chloe. Then tomorrow she’s taking me to bottomless brunch in Port Tremellien, so I’ll need to sleep that off I reckon. Clo obviouslycan’t drink at the moment, so I’ll have to have enough mimosas for the two of us! As soon as I get up on Monday, I’ll head over to your place.’

It took all Wendy had not to respond to the fact that her daughter had described the home where her bedroom was asyour place,but she couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. ‘I’m working on Monday.’

‘I know, but we can have dinner together and watch a film on Netflix or something, before I head off on Tuesday morning. If Gary’s not working, can you ask him if he’ll make that Beijing chicken he does. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I had it last.’

‘I’ll ask him.’ Jealousy was prickling Wendy’s scalp and she had to clench her jaw to stop herself from asking why Alice had never wanted to do anything like go out for bottomless brunch with her mother; or why she’d rather do something like that with a woman who was currently tee-total. She knew the answer already. That would be embarrassing, or ‘tragic’ as the girls would probably term it. Whereas doing it with Chloe was more like going out with a friend. She was beautiful and cool, and someone both the girls seemed to want to be like, instead of a sad, middle-aged cringe-fest like their mother.

‘Are you okay Mum? You sound upset?’

‘No, I’m fine.’ Letting Alice know just how hurt she was would probably make the idea of spending time with an over-emotional, menopausal woman even less appealing. So, she passed her sadness off as something else. ‘I’ve just got a bit of headache that’s all.’

‘Okay then, I’ll see you on Monday evening. Love you.’

‘Love you too.’ As the call disconnected, Wendy’s whole body seemed to go into a slump that even the miracle bra didn’t stand a chance of reversing. She was never going to be able to compete with Chloe, and she was scared that she was alwaysgoing to come off second best to a woman who she didn’t want to be a part of her children’s lives, let alone her own. Suddenly she felt the opposite of beautiful and powerful, she was back to being plain old Wendy, rejected by her ex-husband and their daughters, and no amount of positive thinking or expensive underwear could ever make up for that.

When Joe had proposed to Esther, he’d asked Danni if it had upset her. He’d told her he was worried that she might not approve, given the warning she’d issued not to rush her best friend into anything she might not be ready for, after her broken engagement to St Piran’s most hated man. But Danni hadn’t been upset; she’d been delighted that two of the people she loved most in the world were getting married, and that her best friend – who’d she’s always seen as a sister – would soon be one for real. And it was obvious that Esther hadn’t felt pushed into anything. Her relationship with Joe might have progressed quickly, but they’d been friends for years and they’d already had such a solid foundation to build upon. When Esther had asked if Danni minded that she and Joe would be getting married first, now that Danni and Charlie had decided to wait until after the baby, she hadn’t needed to think about her response to that either. It didn’t matter one bit which of them was first, all that mattered was that they’d both found genuine happiness in the wake of Lucas’s attempts to come between them, and they were closer than ever. So her tears on the evening of Esther and Joe’s pre-wedding party, in lieu of the usual stag and hen do neither of them wanted, had nothing to do with her being anything less than thrilled about their imminent wedding.

‘Right, I’m finally ready. Sorry.’ Charlie dropped a kiss on the top of her head, as he came over to where she’d been waiting for him on the sofa. He’d been to London for a couple of nights to meet with his agent and a TV production company who had optioned one of his books for a Christmas special. The train he’d been due to catch home had been cancelled, and he’d arrived back almost an hour later than planned, which meant he’d had to rush in and get showered, while Danni waited for him in what passed for her best party attire these days. At five feet, ten inches tall, she’d never been much of a one for high heels, but pregnancy made comfort even more of a priority and she was wearing white pumps and an empire-line dress that made the most of her newfound bust, but gave the baby plenty of room to perform the kind of somersaults he seemed to be practising a lot just lately.

She’d gone through her handbag while she was waiting for Charlie, taking out the empty packets from her current obsession with ginger biscuits, and making sure she had enough Rennie to re-tile a bathroom floor for the inevitable attack of indigestion she’d get as soon as they’d eaten. That was when she’d found the envelope that Charlie’s mother had given her. Gilly had handed one to Danni, and one to Connie at the baby shower, telling them she’d had copies made of the best photographs from the first couple of years of Charlie’s life. Connie had seized on them, taking them out straight away and exclaiming in delight at the sight of the chubby-fisted little boy she’d felt she had no choice but to put forward for adoption. Danni had put the photographs away and tried not to look too closely at the ones Connie had waved around. She hadn’t taken her copies out of her bag since, but not because she’d forgotten them.

On the day of the baby shower, she hadn’t wanted to end up crying again over the fact there wouldn’t be any photographs ofher for their baby to look at when he got old enough to want to see what his parents were like as young children. Her mother hadn’t thought it worth keeping any of them when she’d sold the house after her father’s death. Danni had been too young to realise the impact of that back then, and now it was too late to do anything about it, but she hated the fact that Connie’s reaction had made her feel envious of Charlie. Even now, when she’d convinced herself that looking at the photographs wouldn’t be anything other than a wonderful glimpse of what their own son might look like, the tears had still slid out of her eyes. Brenda and Maggie had picked up on it straight away, with the Labrador resting her head on Danni’s knee and staring up at her with big soulful eyes. Brenda had emitted a melancholy howl, before lying heavily across Danni’s feet, in what she knew was an attempt to comfort her. She’d given herself a good talking to then, determined not to let Charlie see how ridiculous she was being, crying over the loss of something she’d never had. Danni had thought she was doing brilliantly; the tears had been wiped away by the time he’d come down from his shower, but Charlie knew her far too well.

‘Are you okay, Dan? You don’t look like your normal self.’ Joining her on the sofa, much to Brenda and Maggie’s disgust, he waited until Danni met his gaze.

‘I’m just being stupid.’

‘You’ve never in your life been that.’ Stroking his fingers across the back of her hand, he waited.

‘Okay, over-emotional then.’ Danni sighed as her vision blurred with the tears she was determined not to shed again. ‘I’m making a drama out of nothing.’

‘I hate the thought of anything upsetting you, so will you just tell me what’s wrong, please?’ Charlie’s tone was gentle.

‘It’s self-centred and ridiculous, but it makes me sad that I don’t have a single photograph of me as a young child. I’ve gota few copies of primary school photographs that my great aunt’s son, on my dad’s side, sent me after she died, but no one I’ve spoken to on either side of my family has one of me as a baby. My great aunt tried to pass off one of her grandson, Seb, as me but he had white-blond hair and loads of freckles and there’s no way I can have gone from that to this.’ Danni had a cloud of curly dark hair that it had taken her most of her life to learn to tame, and her skin was olive toned. Joe was curly too, but his hair was a reddish brown. Neither of them were the child in the photograph their great aunt had tried to give them. ‘It’s like no one cared enough to take one, and they certainly didn’t care enough to hold on to a copy if any were taken. I know it shouldn’t still matter to me now, but for some reason it does.’

‘Of course it matters and you’ve got every reason to be upset.’ Charlie pulled her closer to him. ‘I can’t do anything about the photographs from back then, but I can promise you that we’re going to make thousands of amazing memories with our little boy, and I’m going to document all of them. You’ll be in every photograph I take, and I never want you to feel for a single moment like you don’t matter enough to me. You’re the person I love most.’

‘I don’t deserve you.’ She touched his face, as a smile played around his lips.

‘I’m afraid you’re stuck with me anyway.’ He kissed her then and all the emptiness inside, that always appeared when she thought too much about her mother, was filled up again by Charlie, in a way only he could. They had a future with a family of their own, and the past didn’t have to haunt her any more unless she let it. So she didn’t want to waste another moment looking back.

9

Danni hadn’t expected to dance as much as she had at the party, but the decision to hire a nineties band had been a stroke of genius, even if she did say so herself. When Esther had announced that she and Joe didn’t want traditional stag and hen dos, but a far more casual get-together, Danni had been determined to organise it, to take the load off Esther’s shoulders. Charlie had offered to help too and Connie and Richard had insisted that the party be held in their barn on Trengothern Farm, which had been strung with thousands of fairy lights, instantly transforming it into a magical place. The idea of hiring a nineties-themed band had come from discussions with Esther and Joe, about the music the four of them had always loved. That era had been the soundtrack to Esther’s childhood, and to the teenage years for the other three, all of whom were at least five years older than the bride-to-be. Danni and Esther had barely been off the dancefloor all evening, but it was the Spice Girls medley that that pushed Danni over the edge in the end. Even Amy and Isla, who were both still in their twenties looked done in. Unsurprisingly to everyone who knew her, it was left to Gwento maintain a St Piran’s presence on the dancefloor, while all of the others sat a few songs out and tried to recover.

‘I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want… somewhere comfortable to sit down.’ Danni put her hands against the small of her back, arching it to stretch against the weight of the baby.

‘Me too and I haven’t even got an excuse.’ Esther grinned. ‘Gwen seems determined not to sit down until the band has a break and forces her to.’

‘It shouldn’t be long now; they’ll stop when the food arrives and he said he’ll put some background music on then.’ Danni had considered continuing the nineties theme with the food, but when she’d googled party foods of the decade, the indigestion that had been ever present since the early part of her pregnancy went into overdrive, just from looking at the suggestions. Instead, she’d copied what Connie and Richard had done for one of their previous parties at the farm, and booked a couple of food trucks to give everyone more of a choice.

‘Will the background music be from the nineties, too?’ Isla raised her eyebrows as she asked the question. Danni couldn’t help wondering if her friend found the decision to play the music of her youth all night as baffling as she had when her dad had insisted on playing his favourite records from the sixties at every get-together her parents had hosted when she was a child.

‘He might change it up and play some modern stuff. I love Lijah Byrne’s new song.’ Esther had a dreamy look on her face. ‘I think it’s perfect for our first dance, but I don’t know if Joe is quite so keen.’

‘He’s brilliant, isn’t he? I think I read somewhere that he grew up around here.’ As Danni turned to the others, she didn’t miss the look that Amy and Isla exchanged.

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