Page 68 of Merrily Ever After
‘Oh my word,’ Izzy gasped. ‘A sister! This is epic. How do you feel?’
Emily puffed her cheeks out. ‘Bamboozled, to be honest. My emotions have been up and down for the last few days. But, overall, I think I’m cautiously excited.’
‘Of course you are,’ Izzy cried. ‘What is the one thing you have always gone on and on about all your life?’
‘Um, one boob being bigger than the other?’ she said, joking.
Izzy hooted with laughter. ‘No, you goon! A sister, siblings, a bigger family!’
Emily chewed the inside of her cheek. ‘That is true.’
‘So? What’s next? Ooh, I could fly over, and we could track her down together.’ Izzy was getting caught up in the drama of it, as Emily knew she would.
‘Thanks,’ she replied with a smile, ‘but I need to take it slow. Think about what to do, for example whether I tell Mum or not.’
‘I would.’ Izzy sounded very definite. ‘She’s got Ian now and your parents have been split up for years. She might not like it, but I’m sure she’ll cope.’
‘Hmm, maybe.’ Emily recalled Tina’s reaction when she saw the baby in the photograph. She’d been adamant that she didn’t want to know anything about it, that she’d had enough surprises from her ex.
‘Put it this way,’ added Izzy, getting to the heart of the matter, ‘if you want to discover more about Merry, would you be happy doing it behind Tina’s back?’
Emily didn’t have to think twice about that one. Ray might have done things behind Tina’s back, but there was no way she was going to follow suit. ‘Definitely not.’
‘So when are you going to tell her?’
Just then, the bell rang signalling the end of school, swiftly followed by the shouting of teenagers released from their educational shackles.
‘No point sawing your arm off slowly.’ Emily’s stomach dipped with nerves. ‘So I guess … today?’
‘Emily!’ Tina exclaimed, as she opened the door. ‘What a lovely surprise!’
Emily felt a rush of love for her mum, followed immediately by a stab of guilt. Her mum was such a kind person, she hoped what she was going to tell her this evening wouldn’t upset her too much. She hated the thought of hurting her, but at the same time she didn’t want to keepsecrets either. Emily only hoped she’d have the courage to say what she’d come here to say.
‘Hi, Mum.’ Emily kissed her cheek and thrust the bunch of flowers at her that she’d picked up on the way. Guilt flowers.
‘Beautiful flowers too!’ Tina sniffed them and stepped aside to let her in. ‘Thanks, love. If you’ve come for those costumes for school, I’m afraid I haven’t quite finished them yet.’
‘No,’ said Emily softly. ‘That’s not why I’m here.’
Tina, attuned to the subtle tones of her daughter’s voice, scanned her face. ‘Darling? Has something happened?’
Emily pulled herself up tall; the sooner it was out in the open, the better. ‘Have you got time for a chat?’
Tina nodded. ‘Come through, and say hello to Ian while I put these in water.’
Emily followed her mum along the hallway and into the kitchen, where her stepdad was sitting at the table reading his newspaper. She gave him a hug and flicked on the kettle while Tina unwrapped her flowers. She was glad Ian was there, he’d be able to comfort her mum if she took the news badly.
‘Have you seen this?’ He tapped the headline on the front page. ‘Petrol prices are going up again. Holy Moses,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘At this rate, we’re going to need a mortgage just to fill up the car. Do you know how much petrol used to cost me when I learned to drive? Th—’
‘Thirty-nine pence, by any chance?’ she replied.
Tina caught her eye and they both laughed.
‘Very funny,’ said Ian amiably. ‘You sit down, Em. I’ll make us coffee.’
Emily did as she was told and sat down, collecting her thoughts while Ian riffled through cupboards for mugs and Tina stood at the sink, snipping the stems off her flowers.
The price of fuel was one of his favourite topics, along with trying to work out which TV programmes he’d seen an actor in before and the state of the greens at his golf club. Emily was very fond of her stepdad. Mostly because he’d never once let her mum down. He’d moved in with her and had stayed put. He went to work in the morning and came home in the evening. Or at least he used to before he retired. And he was absolutely devoted to Tina, which meant he was all right by Emily.
