Page 26 of One Snowy Day
‘He’s the luckiest man ever and he knows it. Give Stan our love and we’ll see you both later. My feet are already itching for a dance.’
‘Will do and thanks again. Watch the pothole just along there – that’s the one that nearly put Val in a ditch last year. Blew one of her tyres clean out.’ She opened the door, and then had to clamber her way, fairly ungracefully, out of the low car. ‘Bugger, I’d need a crane to get me in and out if I had one of these.’
As Cathy and Richie drove off, Jessie stood and waved until they were out of sight, grateful for the cold air to clear her head of both champagne and woes. Then she walked slowly up her path, deep in thought.
Everything that had happened all those years ago was ancient history, and she’d supressed it all because she always felt she had too much to lose.
But now, the tables had turned, because today, maybe for the first time, she realised that she had even more to lose by stickingwithStan.
One way or another, she had to decide what to do because she was running out of time.
Just like before, she had a choice to make.
Was she going to step forward, or step back?
14
GEORGIE
Her mum, Aunt Cathy and Val were barely out of the door, when Georgie slumped on one of the staffroom sofas and exhaled like her life depended on it. This staffroom had been her place of refuge since she was a kid, and Jessie would bring them into work if Dad was on a job and she couldn’t find a babysitter. Georgie and Grant had loved it – a TV in the corner, lots of snacks in the fridge, and they could wander into the salon and chat to clients who would invariably slip them a pound for sweets.
Grant came into the staffroom and plonked down on the opposite sofa. ‘And the Oscar for Best Sister Covering Up An Existential Crisis goes to…’
Georgie groaned. ‘Oh don’t. I’m exhausted. I feel like I’ve run a marathon. In the snow. While dancing to Abba’s greatest hits. What. A. Fricking. Day.’
She meant every word. And the worst part was that it still wasn’t over. The woman… That had been a shock she hadn’t seen coming. She’d truly thought it was someone looking for a quick cut or a gift card.
‘Can I help you?’
‘Yes. Or at least I think so. I want to know if you’re sleeping with my boyfriend.’
Georgie knew she must have resembled a fish gasping for air as she’d attempted to process the question.
‘No!’ That had of course been her first reaction, hissed quietly so that the Weirbridge Bee Gees over at the mirrors wouldn’t hear her. Then, even though she was absolutely confident of her innocence, given that she hadn’t slept with anyone but Flynn since the Spice Girls were in the charts, she’d immediately followed up with the obvious question of, ‘Who is your boyfriend?’
‘Flynn Dern.’
The whooshing noise had been the air leaving Georgie’s sails. Just at that, Cathy had run riot with the iPad again and the salon had been flooded with the opening bars of ‘Jump Around’.
‘Look, I do want to talk to you, and I’ll answer all your questions, but that’s my mother and her pals over there and if I don’t get back to them, they’ll be here in seconds demanding to know what’s going on. They’ve never heard of boundaries. Anyway, give me an hour or so. There’s a café across the road there if you want somewhere warm to grab a coffee and I’ll come and meet you as soon as I can get away.’
There had been a hesitation that had worried Georgie for a second, but then she saw the woman’s gaze going to Jessie, Val and Cathy, all bopping up and down like they were at the Grammys, and she took a step backwards.
‘Okay. I’ll wait there. Please don’t forget to come.’
‘Trust me, there’s no danger of that,’ Georgie had assured her.
The woman had gone off, leaving Georgie to slap a smile on her face and spend the last hour acting carefree and jolly. Now she felt broken inside and knew for sure that hairdressing had been the right choice, because her childhood fall-back plan of becoming an undercover spy was clearly not for her.
‘Well, for what it’s worth, I think you did great with those three.’ Grant tried to make her feel better.
‘Honestly, not telling her about the job offer is torture for me. I’ve spent my whole life discussing everything with Mum. We’ve spent every day together and I’m a chronic over-sharer. I’m rubbish at keeping secrets.’
And now she had one she was keeping from Grant too. Even in her state of flux, she knew that telling him about the woman claiming to be Flynn’s girlfriend would be a mistake, given his prevailing opinion that her ex-husband was a twat. Revealing this little nugget of info would only give Grant even more reasons to dislike him, and Georgie wasn’t ready to do that. Maybe the woman was one of those fantasists from those Netflix documentaries. Although, if she was, she might have been better to target someone a bit more exciting than Flynn Solar Panels Dern.
‘Are we going to talk more about the job offer, or do you want me to leave so you can comfort eat the rest of Mum’s Lindt chocolates and square this place up?’
She appreciated that he cared about her and wanted her to live her best life, but… ‘I’ll pick option number two. I’m not taking the job, Grant. For all the reasons we talked about before. There’s no way to make it make sense and I’m not going to be the one to risk this place after Mum spent her life protecting and cherishing it, and then passed it on to me.’
