Bad Blood

by Lily Hayden

  “Of course, I want us to be together,” Craig cut in quickly. “But this summer is a bit soon.”

  “I know,” he replied sheepishly. “But it’s a trip I’ve always wanted to do.”

  “It’s a lot to take in,” his face fell. “Maybe next year would be better? You might be in a better position, and then we could both go.”

  Will felt his heart sink, but before he could say anything else Linda reappeared with a box of fairy-lights.

  “I think your sister is ready to go,” she reported curtly. “I can take over from here.”

  “Oh, ok,” Will replied flustered by her dismissiveness. “If you’re sure…”

  Will had been pleased when his father had asked them if they wanted to lend a hand; it had been the most time that they had all spent together in years. Linda, however, hadn’t seemed happy at all about the impromptu family reunion, leaving Will feeling uncomfortable around the spiky woman. He glanced at Craig for his reaction, but he had already started to walk ahead towards the house making Will’s heart sink as he realised that the dreaded conversation would have to be postponed yet again.

  Belle

  Belle felt a sharp pain shoot through her ankle, and she winced cursing her foolishness. Worried that she may have somehow made her injury worse, she wandered back to the house with Toby in search of somewhere to rest. Frank was unloading boxes from the car, and he stopped what he was doing to invite them to join him in the kitchen. He offered them a drink, and as stilted and as forced it felt to be around him, she felt a glimmer of hope that this could be the start of some semblance of a relationship.

  “Can I make a tea?” She asked her father more as a test than a desire for a hot drink.

  “Go ahead.” Frank said loitering awkwardly by the door.

  She still felt like a cuckoo in his nest, bustling around a kitchen that had once been her and her mother’s domain. It was like a not-quite-right Deja-Vu; opening the familiar cupboards to items that were all in the wrong place.

  It’s been sixteen years, she told herself sharply as she felt the threat of tears stinging the back of her eyes. You can’t expect time to have stood still here. Grow up, Belle.

  But it hurt to think of Frank getting on with his life with no thought for his children spread out like strangers around the country, or the world in Will’s case. All she had ever wanted, even before Toby had come along, was for there to be a safety hole she could bolt to if needed, for there to be safe arms to run home to and for there to be someone who would always welcome her back. She wanted roots, but Bluebell Farm just felt like an abandoned nest.

  She was careful not to get her own hopes up, but she felt like her father seemed to be showing a fleeting interest in getting to know Toby. Despite her reservations about her father’s ability to be a good parent, she wanted, more than anything, for Toby to have at least one grandparent in his life for his sake. It terrified her how helpless she had been after the accident, and her mind flickered to the times she had had to rely on Ben; she never wanted to be in that situation again.

  He might not have been the greatest father, she thought to herself as she poured boiling water into two mugs, but he’s better than nothing.

  “The field looks lovely for tomorrow,” she said as she took a seat opposite him. “The weather is on your side.”

  He nodded. “Thanks for the help. It’s been nice to have you all down.”

  “It’s been nice to be here,” she could hear the stiffness in his tone, and she wondered at a man who found emotions so difficult being with someone as loving and warm as her mother. “Hopefully, Toby and I will see more of you soon.”

  He nodded again but didn’t say anything. Annoyance clouded her optimism as they fell into an awkward silence. He took a sip of the tea, and grimaced getting to his feet to spoon sugar into his mug.

  “Sorry,” she rolled her eyes at his back. “You should have said you wanted sugar. You never used to take it.”

  He surprised her by turning back with an apologetic smile. “I shouldn’t really. Meant to be watching my diet, but everything tastes bland these days.”

  “Is everything ok with you?” She had spotted a pill dispenser on the counter, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed how infirm he had seemed at the start of their last visit. “What are you on medication for?”

  “Oh, nothing,” he waved his hand dismissively. “It’s just vitamins, and aspirin to keep old age at bay.”

  She frowned uncertainly; the seven-day box prepped with two pills for every day looked like a serious affair. Through her detachment, she felt a glimmer of concern for her father.

  “Honestly,” he caught sight of her cynical face. “I’m fine- just old and tired.”

  “But you take them every day?” She asked dubiously.

  He shrugged. “Not every day. I pulled my back the other month,” he reached for the pill box flicking open the lid that read ‘Friday’. He took out a small nondescript white pill passing it to her. “It’s just aspirin. Here, your leg is hurting isn’t it?”

  She was surprised that he had noticed her slight limp, feeling a lump form in her throat at the unexpected fatherly concern. She tucked the pill under her thumb wanting to say more, but unsure where to start.

  Don’t be so pathetically happy, she warned herself.

  “Oh!” An irritated voice at the back door interrupted them. “Frank, I thought you were meant to be helping with all this.”

  Belle watched as her father’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the sight of his pouting wife-to-be in the doorway. “I’m just having a cup of tea with Belle. She needed a sit down with her leg.”

  “Probably all that running around on the field you’ve just done,” Linda said disapprovingly. “Maybe you should go home and rest it.”

  Belle flinched at the coldness in her tone; she’d gone out of her way to be civil to the woman since she’d arrived, but she was beginning to wonder why she’d bothered. She glanced at her father, but the moment Linda had appeared he had hastily drained his mug and returned it to the sink either pretending not to notice her rudeness or not caring. She clambered to her feet as gracefully as she could to place the mug next to her father’s, not bothering to wash it like she usually would wherever she was visiting.

  Linda has made it perfectly clear that we’re not wanted, she thought angrily.

  “Come on, Toby!” She called unable to look at her father through her upset. “We’re going.”

  Tim

  “Done already?”

  Tim looked up surprised to see Craig storming past him towards the house with Will trailing behind him. It had only taken the best part of two hours to get the gazebo and decorations up, but he had spent the majority of the time fielding Emma’s accusations out of earshot of his family.

  “Linda is going to take over.” Will pulled a face, and Tim read between the lines that their labour was no longer required.

  “Right,” Tim dug his keys out of his pocket as his brother drew to a halt next to him.

  They stood side by side in the garden awkwardly for a moment; reluctant to be the first to announce their departure.

  “Is Dad-?” Will started to Tim.

  “Is he back in the-?” Tim asked him at the same time.

  They both laughed uneasily, and Tim gestured for his brother to go, but before he could say anything further Belle appeared from the back door of the house with a face like thunder.

  “Oh, good,” she brightened slightly to see Will. “Are you all done? Are we ready to go?”

  “Uh, yeah,” Will looked between his sister and the house. “Linda said she doesn’t need any more help. Unless Dad…”

  He could feel Belle’s anger and Will’s awkwardness at the situation rolling from them in waves, and Tim felt a sharp pang of annoyance at his father.

  What an absolute joke, he fumed silently. He’s dragged us all the way down here for this shamble of a wedding. Yet, he’s got no interest in any of us. We might as well all be bloody stran
gers.

  “He’s in the kitchen with Linda,” Belle jerked her head towards the house. “I’ll wait by the car if you want to say ‘bye.”

  She flounced off without a backwards glance, and even Tim in his preoccupation couldn’t miss that something, or more likely someone, had rankled her. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at his brother, but Will shrugged and sighed heavily.

  “God knows what they’ve said now,” he said in a low voice as the brothers headed to the house to say their goodbyes. “I’m beginning to regret coming down here.”

  Tim chuckled mirthlessly in agreement. “You and I both.”

  As they approached the kitchen, they could hear a low, heated exchange between Frank and Linda, and Will diplomatically called out to warn them of their presence.

  “We’re just checking to see if anything else needs doing?” Tim said as they loitered on the doorstep.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Frank replied quickly before looking to Linda for confirmation.

  The sour-faced woman nodded her head, but rudely refused to look up at her future stepsons.

  “Right, well,” Will looked decidedly uncomfortable at the lack of a warm welcome. “We’re going to head back to The Red Lion then if you don’t need anything else. You’re welcome to join us if you’ve got time for a drink?”

  There was another long silence from the house, and Tim felt his irritation soar further at the blatant disrespect.

  “We’ll take that as a no then,” Tim said with annoyance. “Right, see you both tomorrow then.”

  “See you tomorrow,” Frank replied flatly, offering no apology for his lack of response to Will.

  From the corner of his eye, Tim saw his brother’s cheeks flush at the dismissal, and he felt a sliver of sympathy for his younger brother. Out of the three of them, Tim thought that he probably had the most time for Will. He didn’t seem as chaotic and as needy as the others, and even thought they were clearly both living completely different lifestyles, Tim thought that his brother at least seemed like he was doing alright for himself, with a nice car, a partner, and his own business.

  “I don’t know why we’ve bloody bothered,” he remarked to ease Will’s embarrassment at their father’s lack of manners.

  “No, I don’t either,” Will agreed before shaking off his upset. “Are you heading back to Eleanor and the kids now? You’re both welcome to join us at the pub.” He wrinkled his nose. “Although to be honest, if I had the spa facilities at my disposal, I’d be making the most of them.”

  Tim considered his brother’s invitation. It certainly wouldn’t be his first choice of how to spend the day, but he was acutely conscious of Emma’s erratic phone calls and texts. Restricted to the suite in the hotel, it would be impossible to check his phone or respond to her next outburst. There would be safety in numbers, and the distraction of Belle, Will, Toby and Rose, when she deigned to come back from wherever she had gone, might be useful. As if on cue his phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Tim hastily cancelled the call and gestured for Will to go ahead; his mind already on the dilemma of calming down another angry tirade from Emma.

  “No, I’d better get back,” he told his brother distractedly. “We might pop over later, maybe. I’ll let you know.”

  His father’s rudeness forgotten, Tim quickly slipped into his car and reconnected the phone to the Bluetooth before driving away. He’d had the foresight to disconnect the phone before they had set out on the journey; the last thing he needed was to accidentally answer a call and have Emma’s voice booming out to his family. He drove a mile or so before he forced himself to call her back.

  “Emma,” he said coolly when she answered. “I’m in the middle of trying to help my father set up for the-“

  She cut him off with two words in a clipped, calm tone that was at odds with her frantic manner of only an hour ago. “I’m pregnant.”

  His stomach flipped heavily.

  “What? How?” He felt his mouth moving, but words came out of their own accord.

  She laughed bitterly, the sound filling the car. “How? Really Tim?”

  He was too consumed with panic to react. “Are you sure?”

  “I’ve literally got the test in my hand,” she said, the hint of glee in her voice making him feel sick to his stomach.

  “They can be wrong,” he felt his chest tighten and unable to concentrate on the road anymore, he pulled the car to a stop in a layby.

  “I’m late for my period,” she countered. “My hormones are all over the place.”

  Tim grimaced. He couldn’t argue with the last point after the last few days.

  “I did pick up a test just in case, but after our conversation I thought I should just find out,” she crowed. “I was going to wait until you were home, but this changes everything.”

  He felt a wave of nausea rise inside him. This could not be happening.

  “Tim?” She said his name sharply and he realised he hadn’t responded.

  “This is a lot to take in,” he managed to reply. “And like I said, it could still be wrong.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said, but there was a hard edge to her tone. “You’ll have to tell your wife.”

  “Well, it’s still early days,” he stuttered. “And if you are, well, there are always options, so we needn’t be hasty.”

  “We needn’t be hasty?” She bellowed furiously. “Seriously? I’ve just told you that I’m carrying your child, and you’re telling me ‘there are always options’? Are you kidding me, Tim?”

  His temples beaded with sweat. His mind already racing to search for an outcome where his whole world didn’t come crashing down around him.

  Oh God, this was awful.

  “It’s a shock,” he said quickly just wanting her to stop shouting so he could think clearly. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Well, it changes everything,” she said, and he detected a smugness to her tone.

  “Look,” he swiped his hand across his forehead. “Can we talk about this in person?”

  “Now?” She sounded hopeful.

  “I can’t,” he shot back. “You know it’s my dad’s wedding.”

  “Not until tomorrow,” she hit back. “You could drive down now.”

  He knew that she didn’t seriously expect him to do this. She just wanted to pick a further argument.

  “I can’t,” he said firmly. “And I think we both need a few days to digest this. Plus, you’ll want to do another test just in case.”

  “I know I am,” she replied tetchily. “I had a feeling, and the test has confirmed it. There’s so much to think about. Where are we going to live? What am I going to do if the centre does get moved abroad? What will this mean for your job when work find out about us?”

  “Emma!” He boomed needing her to stop talking. Everything she was saying was already flying through his head, but it was all too much to take in at once. “There’s plenty of time to discuss this, and a few days will give us both space to think about what’s for the best.”

  “Where are you?” She asked sulkily.

  “I’m still helping my dad,” he lied not wanting her to know that he was heading back to his wife and children, knowing this would anger her further. “We’re going to spend the rest of the day with him, so I’ve got to go now.”

  After a few more empty assurances to her, he was able to end the call and utterly exhausted from the exchange, he slumped against the steering wheel. All thoughts of his father and his anger at the will had flown from his mind at Emma’s revelation, but as he sat in his car blindly trying to figure a way out of the mess, feeling desperate and trapped, his thoughts turned back to the estate. Maybe there was a way he could convince Emma to keep her mouth shut.

  Rose

  She couldn’t remember a time when she had so much fun, and as Gareth cleared away after their fish and chip tea, her stomach muscles ached from laughing. He was working a night shift, and as much as she would have loved a proper drink, sh
e declined his offer of wine conscious that she would have to drive her car back to The Red Lion.

  After all, she had joked, I don’t want to risk being over the limit and you having to arrest me on the way home.

  He finished tidying away, and came back to join her on the sofa, this time sliding a little closer and angling his body towards her. His knee brushed hers, but instead of moving away she discreetly wriggled closer.

  He’s bloody gorgeous, she thought to herself as she drank in his handsome features.

  “So, could you ever see yourself coming back to the village?” He picked up the conversation from where they’d left it.

  “I’ve not thought about it for years,” she admitted even as a tingle of excitement flashed through her at the thought of maybe one day moving back here for him. “But it has been nice being back, and now that my sister is coming home, it would be nice.”

  His mouth broke into a wide grin, and his enthusiasm was infectious making her smile back.

  “You’ve got a lovely smile,” he told her making her whole stomach erupt in a flutter of happiness.

  “Thank you,” she felt her cheeks flush and she lowered her eyes coyly. “So have you.”

  There was a heavy pause, and she could feel the atmosphere shift from one of fun flirtation to something electrically charged and serious. When she dared to look up, his eyes were still on her face and his hand reached forward for hers. There was just the smallest gap to bridge between them, but he crossed it with determined confidence, and she lifted her face to meet his lips. All her worries seemed to fizzle away as he kissed her softly. The solid warmth of his arms pulling her close was enough to make her melt, and she kissed him back with a passion that she didn’t know she possessed.

  Soon, their hands began to wander of their own accord, and they pulled apart breathless and half-wild with their desire for one another.