Page 50 of Merrily Ever After
‘Goodnight.’ He touched his fingers to his head in a fake salute and grinned as she walked away.
She was still laughing when she let herself into the car and drove off to her mum’s. He was so lovely, she thought and then remembered she was off men. Totally off. For a while at least.
Half an hour later, she was nursing a cup of tea in Tina’s workroom. She and Ian lived in a townhouse on a modern estate at the edge of Wysedale, not far from Emily. Ian was downstairs watching some golf tournament taking place on the other side of the world. The house was set over three floors and Tina had commandeered the room at the very top in the eaves for her sewing. In theory, she was retired, but her workroom was full of garments in various stages of completion. Emily was perched on a stool surrounded by tubs of zips, buttons and threads in every hue and there were piles of fabric everywhere she looked.
‘So what have we been roped into then?’ Tina was sitting at her sewing table, where she had no less than three types of sewing machine set up.
‘Ten bear costumes.’ Emily produced a piece of brown faux-fur fabric from one of several black sacks. ‘It’s for the sixth-form pantomime.Goldilocks and the Ten Bears.’
Tina cocked an eyebrow. ‘Goldilocks has to contend with ten bears before she gets the right porridge?’
Emily laughed ‘Oh yeah, gluten-free, made with oat milk, with or without honey … it’s a minefield these days. Plus, they needed extra characters to pad the story out. Anyway, I’ve already made the costumes, but the fur is shedding everywhere. Can you finish the edges with your overlocker so they look professional?’
Her mum shook her head fondly ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Emily hugged her. ‘Thanks, Mum, you’re a star.’
‘Mug more like,’ she grumbled, but she was smiling and Emily knew she didn’t mean it. ‘Can you stay for dinner?’
Emily finished the last of her tea and shook her head. ‘Not tonight, thanks for the offer. I’m bidding on some Victorian boots on eBay, I want to get home before the auction ends to make sure I win.’
Tina chuckled. ‘I don’t know where you find room for it all.’
‘Don’t,’ Emily groaned. ‘But they’re just so pretty. Just think of all the journeys they’ve been on.’
‘Next stop, Emily’s wardrobe, I suppose.’ Tina smiled indulgently. ‘Oh well, we all have our passions, I suppose.’
‘We do,’ she replied distractedly, thinking of what Will had said about surfing and imagining him, tanned in his swim shorts, running into a turquoise sea with a surfboard under his arm.
As she stood up to leave, she remembered the photograph and took it carefully out of her bag.
‘Look what I found at Dad’s. A picture of him and me. Cute baby, wasn’t I? Look at my little dress!’ She held the picture out and Tina took it from her. ‘I’m so pleased, I don’t have many pictures of the two of us. I’ve borrowed it to have a copy made, I might even get a frame for Dad—’ She stopped, conscious that her mum wasn’t cooing over the sight of baby Emily in her red Christmassy dress but had gone deathly still. ‘Mum, what’s wrong?
Tina shook her head. ‘Where did you get this?’
‘It was in an old tin of Dad’s,’ said Emily. ‘What’s the matter, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost? It’s only an old picture.’
‘Oh love.’ Tina swallowed and handed the photograph back to her daughter. ‘I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. But that’s not you.’
‘It must be, who else would it be?’ Emily tried to remember Ray’s exact words. He hadn’t said it was her, but he hadn’t contradicted her either.
‘Well, it’s your dad, all right,’ Tina muttered, shaking her head. ‘He’s wearing the new shirt I’d bought him for Christmas. I’d told him I was pregnant with you on Christmas Day, which I thought would be a nice surprise. But, instead, he went AWOL for a week or so. At least now I know where he went. But I’ve never seen that child before in my life. Or the room where the picture was taken.’
Emily stared at the picture again. ‘Are you sure?’
‘As sure as eggs is eggs. I think I’d know my own child.’
‘Then who is it?’ Emily frowned. ‘And why has Dad held on to a photo of him with someone else’s kid all these years?’
‘I don’t know, love,’ said Tina shakily. ‘And, to be honest, I don’t want to know. Just when I think your father can’t spring any more surprises on me, here he goes again. I’m sorry you’re disappointed.’
‘I’m gutted.’ Emily wrapped her arms around her mum and held her tight. ‘I thought this would be a nice memory.’
‘It probably would be for someone,’ said Tina, returning Emily’s hug. ‘I don’t know what Ray was thinking letting you believe it was you in this photograph.’
Nor did she, thought Emily sadly, nor did she.
Chapter Sixteen
