Page 58 of The Secrets of Dragonfly Lodge
Her mother, Ted and the twins hadn’t returned until after nine, then the twins, overtired, had been the devil to get to bed. Ted hadn’t left until nearly midnight, Pippa had gone on drinking and somehow it was after one when Stef turned her light out.
She brewed strong coffee and took the tray outside, where the sun was making a feeble appearance. Rob cleared last night’s empty bottles from the table and sat down with meaty legs spread and head bowed, the very image of defeat.
‘Drink your coffee,’ Stef said quietly, filling the mugs and Rob meekly added milk and sugar to his. They sat sipping it in silence for a while, contemplating the view. A line of geese flew across the distant sky, honking faintly, and Stef thought of Nancy out on the reserve. She’d know what kind they were.
When she glanced at Rob, she saw that his thoughts were miles away and she softened. She wondered what to say to him, knowing she must be loyal to her sister above all. Perhaps she shouldn’t get involved, but she could see how devastated he was. In the end, she didn’t need to say anything because he began to talk and she merely had to listen.
‘I genuinely don’t know how this happened. I thought she was happy, that this was what she wanted, being at homewith the children. I pay the bills and give her money, there’s nothing she has to worry about. I’m not one of those bastards who keep their wives under the cosh. I love her, Stef. I wouldn’t do that. I like working and knowing I’m providing for her and the little ’uns.’
‘I don’t think it’s me you should be talking to, Rob. It’s Pippa.’
‘Yes, but I don’t know if she’ll talk to me. She hasn’t answered any of my calls and texts. I guessed she’d come here. It was such a relief to see the car outside. I’ve never been here before, you know. It’s nice.’
‘You’ve never been here?’ Stef was shocked. Her mother had lived here for six or seven weeks and Rob and Pippa only lived a dozen miles away now.
‘There’s never time,’ he stammered, shamefaced.
‘Okay,’ she said. She thought of the games of golf, of Pippa’s goodheartedness when it came to visiting Rob’s parents regularly, taking the trouble to involve them in the lives of their grandchildren. It seemed a shame that he hadn’t made the effort to see his mother-in-law, though she’d never heard her mother complain and indeed hadn’t known of his negligence before now. Still, it didn’t seem her place to say anything. Instead, she rose and said she’d go and see if Pippa was awake.
Would Pip want to see Rob? she wondered as she mounted the stairs, then paused, uncertain, on the landing. There was no sound from the twins’ or her sister’s rooms, but her mother’s door was open and she must be in the bathroom. Stef knocked on Pippa’s door and let herself in. The room wasdark and close and smelled strongly of stale wine and Pippa’s favourite citrusy scent. She heard Pippa sigh and mumble Stef’s name. She sat on the edge of the bed and reached to grasp her sister’s hand.
‘Pip, I hope you’re not cross, but, well, Rob’s here. I let him in.’ Pippa stiffened and withdrew her hand. ‘Did I do wrong? I could hardly leave him on the doorstep.’
‘What does he want?’
‘To see you, obviously. He seems very contrite. He’s come in your little car.’
Pippa sniggered. ‘That’ll have annoyed him. His head touches the roof and there’s no room for his knees!’
Stef smiled, then said softly, ‘Will you go and talk to him? The twins aren’t up yet, but I’ll look after them when they are.’
‘I s’pose.’ She yawned and stretched, then rolled out of bed. In her short T-shirt nightie, she looked very young and Stef’s heart went out to her.
‘You must explain everything to him,’ she said plainly. ‘That’s my best big-sisterly advice.’
Pippa stared at her, her eyes glinting in the gloom. ‘You’ve no idea, Stef. You don’t know what being married’s like.’
‘No, I suppose I don’t,’ Stef sighed, thinking how impossible her sister was. Hearing the bathroom door open, she grabbed the silky dressing gown from a chair and tossed it to her sister. ‘Mum’s finished. Look, have a shower and come down, please. I’ll make you a cuppa.’
Downstairs, Stef discovered her mother and Rob outside in the garden. Cara was showing him the studio and chattering away. Rob was listening and trying to look interested.Stef smiled to herself and retreated to the kitchen. She’d make breakfast and contrive a way to lure Mum away and leave the estranged couple together.
Thirty-Four
‘They are at least talking,’ Stef’s mother remarked cheerfully half an hour later, peering through the kitchen window as she peeled off her rubber gloves. Stef stacked the last cereal bowl in the dishwasher and came to join her. Rob and Pippa were just visible out in the field, Rob standing with palms raised in despair, Pippa with shoulders hunched and arms tightly crossed. The volley of raised voices was just audible, though not the words themselves.
‘What shall we do with the twins?’ Stef wondered. Jack and Jess had been excited to see their father, but after breakfast had been easily detached from their parents in order to watch cartoons in the sitting room.
‘They can come with me to church,’ her mother said, ‘or you can take them out somewhere.’
‘I vaguely promised Aaron we’d do something with him and Livy,’ Stef admitted. Aaron and his daughter would be leaving in the afternoon and the thought induceda tug of panic. She realized how badly she wanted to see him.
She went out along the lane to get a phone signal. Seeing that he’d already tried to ring her, she felt a glow of satisfaction. Quickly she phoned him back. Something local was called for. They would meet at the visitors’ centre in half an hour and walk in the reserve. Later, Aaron said, he and Livy planned to take Nancy for a pub lunch.
Once she’d proposed brightly to the twins that they go out to see Livy, they sped upstairs and dressed themselves. They reappeared in grubby clothes from the day before, but there wasn’t time for Stef to challenge this. She was hunting for the keys to Pippa’s car, eventually finding them under the sofa.
The car seats were, as Stef feared, an awkward fit in her little hatchback, but she managed to strap her charges in safely, while her mother hurried down the garden to let Pippa and Rob know what was happening.
‘I won’t come, love,’ she informed Stef on her return, with a gleam in her eye. ‘I don’t want to get in your way.’
