Page 5 of Lessons in Love at the Cornish Country Hospital

‘Mike still has his mum, but she’s in her eighties now and I don’t think she approves of me much. I’m only three years older than her granddaughter and she was very close to Mike’s first wife, Wendy.’ As soon as Chloe said the name, all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly slotted together in Danni’s head. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t put two and two together before. She’d spent time with Wendy socially, and her partner, Gary, was a friend and colleague. Wendy was friend of Connie’s too. So, she’d heard about Alice and Zara before – all good. And about Mike – all bad. Danni felt even more sorry for Chloe going into her scan alone as a result, and she wanted to do something to make her feel a tiny bit better if she could.

‘Sometimes these kinds of big changes just take a bit of adjustment, but my friend who was a midwife for years always says that babies bring their own love.’ Danni rested a hand on her bump as she spoke. ‘And I bet, when your little boy arrives, your mother-in-law will see things differently.’

‘It might help if she was my mother-in-law.’ Chloe frowned. ‘I really thought Mike would propose when we found out about the baby. I was sure he was going to when we discovered I was having a boy. He’s so desperate to pass on his name, but he still hasn’t asked me. So, as far as Veronica is concerned, Wendy remains her daughter-in-law and probably always will do.’

‘I know that must hurt, but try to focus on what you have got. You’re going to be the absolute centre of your little boy’s world, and there isn’t a person he is going to want around more than he wants you.’

‘I can’t wait for that feeling.’ Chloe’s lip wobbled, tears filling her eyes again. ‘It’s all I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember, someone who loves me as much as I love them, and I haven’t had it since I lost Mum.’

‘You’ll have it soon, I promise, and it’s obvious how much love your little boy is going to get. He’ll be so lucky to have a mum like you. Not every mum is a good one, I know that as well as anyone, but I just know you’re going to be great.’

‘Thank you.’ Chloe suddenly enveloped her in a hug. ‘You’ve got no idea how much what you’ve just said means to me.’

‘Chloe Thomas?’ The sonographer called out the name as she came into the waiting room.

‘Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?’

‘Thank you, but I’ll be fine now, because of you. It doesn’t matter if it’s just me and the baby in there. He’s the only thing I really need.’ Chloe gave Danni another quick hug as she got up, before following the sonographer into the examination room, just as Charlie arrived back in the waiting area.

‘I’ve found you a pain au chocolat, and some mixed berries.’ He smiled and the aroma of pastry and chocolate filled the air, her stomach renewing its rumbling in response.

‘You’re telling me you managed to get that from the hospital restaurant?’

‘I might have had a little jog down the road to somewhere with a bit more choice; I couldn’t have you eating a cereal bar and a cheese string from the vending machine.’

‘I love you.So much.’ Leaning forward, she kissed him, still barely able to believe the stroke of good fortune that had brought him into her life. She was so lucky, much luckier than she ever dreamt she’d be, and after her conversation with Chloe she was more determined than ever not to forget it.

Wendy saw a lot of things in her job that she’d never expected to encounter. Being head of housekeeping wasn’t just about doingthe things on her job description. She’d found herself comforting strangers sobbing in corridors following a shock diagnosis or the loss of a loved one. She’d helped an injured woman who she’d encountered in the car park, into the emergency department, and reunited a lost child with his terrified mother. That’s what came of a job that took her all over the hospital, especially since her promotion meant she now audited the quality of her staff’s work across every department. She’d bumped into friends unexpectedly too, who were there for appointments or to visit someone. So maybe it shouldn’t have been such a shock to encounter Chloe in the corridor outside the ultrasound department, but it still made Wendy’s head shoot back in surprise when the younger woman called out her name.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.’ Chloe smiled and for some reason she couldn’t have begun to justify, a wave of annoyance washed over Wendy.

‘You didn’t.’ Her tone was sharp, but she didn’t want Mike’s girlfriend thinking she had any kind of hold over her, or that her existence bothered Wendy in any way.

‘I’m glad I bumped into you anyway.’ Chloe’s sing-song voice suggested she was completely unaffected by Wendy’s response, but why should she care what Mike’s fat, frumpy ex-wife thought of her, when she was so perfect in every way? ‘I’ve just been in for a scan, and everything is good with the baby.’

‘That’s wonderful.’ Wendy did her best to sound pleased, and she was genuinely glad that the baby was okay. None of the things that Mike had done were his unborn son’s fault, but her face still hurt when she tried to smile. ‘I take it that’s not why you’re glad you bumped into me?’

‘No.’ Just for a moment Chloe looked crestfallen, and an emotion Wendy couldn’t quite put her finger on twisted in her gut, but it felt a lot like guilt. ‘I wanted to talk to you about Zara.’

‘You wanted to talk to me aboutmydaughter?’ Wendy bristled as Chloe nodded, and she barely resisted the urge to tell her that she had no right to bring Zara up, she wasn’t even her stepmother.

‘I’m worried that something might be going on with her eating. She skips meals sometimes, but then I found a load of empty wrappers in her room and some signs in the bathroom that she might have been vomiting.’ Chloe’s eyes were round with concern, but Wendy was already shaking her head.

‘She wouldn’t do that. She’s not silly; she knows how dangerous that sort of thing is.’ Fear had made Wendy lash out, her stomach churning at the very idea Zara could have an eating disorder. Who the hell was Chloe to think she knew Wendy’s daughter better than she did? But even as she desperately trying to deny it, her mind started racing through the signs she’d tried so hard to attribute to something else, which were now screaming at her that Chloe could well be right. She still couldn’t bear the idea that it was true, and she was nowhere near ready to accept it, so she stood her ground, determined to put Chloe back in her place. ‘You’re wrong; you don’t know her like I do.’

‘Of course I don’t, but I do know eating disorders.’ Chloe sighed, suddenly looking even more fragile. ‘I had bulimia and anorexia in my teens, and I can see the signs in Zara.’

‘No, no.’ The heat flooding Wendy’s body was becoming even more intense, as if all the blood was suddenly closer to the surface, and her head was spinning. ‘Zara’s beautiful and she’s loved; why would she feel the need to do something like that?’

‘There are so many triggers. For me, having a stepmother who was obsessed with being as thin as possible didn’t help. And some accounts on social media actively encourage it.’

‘And who’s fault is it, if Zara feels pressured by social media!’ The heat building up inside of Wendy had boiled over into white hot rage. She could have tried telling herself that all that angershe was directing at Chloe was justified, and that what she’d said proved Chloe was to blame for whatever body issues Zara might have. But something else she’d said had hit Wendy hard too. Having someone in her life who was obsessed with trying to lose weight was something Zara had been exposed to, long before she’d ever met Chloe. Wendy had always wanted to look different, to be thinner, and had tried every fad diet she came across. None of them had worked; in fact, they’d all made things worse, and she was still an apple shape; a dumpling, as Mike had called her ever since she hadn’t managed to shift the baby weight after having Zara. It meant that deep down she knew she couldn’t blame Chloe for her daughter’s issues with her body image, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. It hurt too much to accept they might be true, and that the reason her little girl might be so desperately unhappy was down to Wendy. It was far easier to deflect the blame.

‘This isn’t about whose fault it is.’ Chloe’s eyes were clouded with emotion, but her tone was even. ‘I just want Zara to be okay.’

‘Me too.’ All the air seemed to leave Wendy’s body, and the anger went with it, the terror about what her daughter might be going through replacing it and making her shiver with fear. ‘How can she think she’s not perfect already?’

‘I don’t know.’ Chloe gave another shuddering sigh. ‘But I think we need to work together on this. Come up with a way of talking to her about it and getting her the help she needs.’

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