One Day In Summer

by Shari Low

  As she got closer, she could see Aggs was on her own. Yes! They could ditch Aaron and she could steal her away now to go shopping. Maybe even broach the idea about Agnetha moving to London too and get that sorted. Celeste didn’t doubt for a second that it would happen. She was getting the job, they’d live together and it would all be fantastic.

  Feeling the heat from the tiles burning her feet, Celeste upped her speed as she made her way along the length of the pool.

  The music faded out and the DJ’s voice came over the microphone.

  ‘People in the house!’ A roar went up. ‘I’ve got something a bit special here and I’m gonna hand the microphone over to my man, Aaron!’

  Celeste frowned. She was sure the DJ just said, ‘Aaron’. How bizarre. There must be two of them here at the pool.

  She put her hand up to her eyes to shield them from the sun, and zeroed in on the DJ box, down at the end of the row of cabanas and there she saw… Holy shit, that was their Aaron. And he was holding the mic. What was this, karaoke? Some kind of stupid game?

  Whatever it was, he must be drunk because it was totally out of character. Zac was the attention seeking, limelight loving guy and Aaron was the one who preferred to stay in the background. Budweiser had a lot to answer for.

  ‘Hey guys, thanks for letting me cut in here,’ he said into the mic, eliciting another roaring cheer from a pool deck of revellers who were up for anything. It didn’t harm his case that working as a builder had given him an incredible body, and he was standing there like a bronzed god in his swim shorts. Maybe if she’d seen that body first, she’d have chosen Aaron over Zac, but then Zac was the one with the contacts, the one who liked to live it up and party like a rock star. No amount of muscle could make up for the fact that she’d have been over Aaron’s low key personality in a week.

  Around the pool, everyone had stopped to listen, and it was now impossible to get past them all, so Celeste slipped down and perched on the edge of the water, giving her a full view of the action. She switched her gaze from Aaron to Aggs, who had stood up now and stepped out of the cabana, her hand over her mouth, obviously just as shocked that her boyfriend had hijacked the party.

  ‘I’m here with my girlfriend, Agnetha, who is over here from the UK…’

  Another chorus of cheers. Bloody hell, this lot would applaud anything.

  ‘That’s her, right there!’ He pointed to Aggs, who put two hands over her face.

  Celeste knew she’d be hating this. Being the centre of attention was Agnetha’s worst nightmare. Still, that was the shopping trip sorted – Aggs would be happy to ditch Aaron after this.

  While another roar went up, Aaron crossed the thirty feet or so to Agnetha, and stood in front of her. ‘And it’s her birthday today, so…’

  He started singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and a couple of hundred sun worshipping party people joined in.

  Celeste wondered if she could drown herself in the shallow end of the pool to make it stop.

  When it finally subsided, she expected Aaron to hand back the mic, but he didn’t. Instead, he moved over to Aggs and stood right in front of her. Wait a minute, what was going on here?

  Despite the heat, Celeste began to feel a cold tingle of dread.

  He lifted the wireless mic to his mouth. ‘We’ve only known each other for a couple of months, but I love you, Miss Agnetha…’

  Another fucking cheer. What was wrong with these people? Urgh, this was awful. It was almost like one of those pathetically cheesy proposals that…

  Celeste hadn’t even finished the thought, when Aaron dropped down on to one knee, unleashing a horrified howl of ‘Nooooooooo’ in her head.

  ‘And I want to know…’ he went on, ‘if you’ll marry me, right here in Vegas, today.’

  Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Celeste couldn’t take this in. This couldn’t be happening. Was this some kind of out-of-body experience? Had she banged her head on the toilet wall when Mr Muscles was shagging her on the cistern?

  Her eyes shot daggers as she tried to communicate with Aggs, but her friend wasn’t receiving her glares of warning. Oh, she’d be mortified. Celeste had to get her out of there, to save her from this, but how did she do that without looking like a maniac? She could hardly run over there and rugby tackle Aaron to the ground.

  The crowd’s roar had subsided to a hush now as everyone waited to hear Aggs’ reply.

  Celeste tried again to send subliminal messages. Just say no, Aggs. Get it over with. Shake your head, and sure, it’ll be embarrassing, but it’ll all blow over by the time the next song is finished and nobody knows you here anyway, so what does it matter?

  Aggs said something, but because Aaron was kneeling, the mic was too far away from her to pick it up.

  ‘What was that?’ Aaron asked, this time lifting the mic aloft, so that Aggs could speak into it.

  Aggs threw her head back for a second and Celeste wondered if she was praying to the heavens to get her out of here.

  Hold on, was she laughing? She was! Christ, she must be pissed too.

  The cold dread was spreading now, giving Celeste goosebumps from head to toe as Aggs leaned forward until her mouth was only inches from the microphone. ‘Yes,’ she giggled.

  No. She wouldn’t. Surely not…

  ‘Yes,’ she repeated louder this time. ‘I’ll marry you.’

  The crowd went crazy, Aaron jumped up, threw his arms around Aggs and swung her round, both of them clearly ecstatic.

  But that’s not what Celeste saw. She didn’t see romance. Or happiness.

  She just saw her whole vision of the future crumble in front of her eyes.

  16

  Hope

  Hope surprised herself. When her lunch came, something switched on her appetite for the first time in days, and she realised she was ravenous. It helped that the monkfish curry was delicious, and the second glass of wine definitely took the edge off her anxiety. She desperately wanted to cut to the big question, but she forced herself to slow down, worried about opening a box that could be filled with pain or confusion for the father she’d just met.

  Relax, she told herself. Go easy. You’re here now. Plenty of time for everything you need to know. Just let this happen organically and see where it goes.

  Aaron made it so much easier because he wanted to know everything about her life, her family, her likes, her dislikes. The elephant was definitely in the room, but it was sitting quietly in the corner, biding its time.

  When the waiter cleared their plates, Hope asked for a black coffee and Aaron went for a flat white.

  Hope excused herself and nipped to the loo. In the cubicle, she pulled her phone out of her bag.

  In hotel restaurant. Had lunch. He’s soooooo lovely. Can’t believe it. xx

  * * *

  WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN??? I’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK!!!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN YOU GET HOME.

  Hope rolled her eyes in amusement, picturing Maisie pacing the kitchen, punctuating her steps with dramatic sighs.

  I’m sorry. It’s a bit intense. Can’t stop convo to keep texting. Can you let Mum know I’m good and it’s going okay?

  * * *

  Yes. Can I come and hide behind a pot plant to spy?

  * * *

  Definitely not!

  * * *

  D’oh! Have you told him yet?

  * * *

  No. Waiting for right time. Soon.

  Hope felt her grip tighten on the phone just thinking about what had to come.

  Okay ma darlin. You’ve got this. Love you. Xx

  * * *

  Thanks sis. Love you too. Will call when I can. Xx

  Hope rested her head in her hands for moment. Maisie was right, she had this. Didn’t she?

  Her phone buzzed again.

  Just checking – still a hard no on the pot plant?

  If there was anyone else in these loos, they be wondering why there was a giggle from one of the cubicles.

  A definite hard no.<
br />
  * * *

  Sigh. xx

  Out at the basins, Hope washed her hands and then brushed her hair, taking in her reflection in the mirror. Hope McTeer, Aaron Ward’s biological daughter. That’s who she was now.

  Have you met my dad? This is Aaron Ward.

  Nope, she still couldn’t imagine saying it. It was difficult to pin down the emotions that were crashing around inside her.

  She popped her brush and phone back into her bag and returned to the table just as the coffees were arriving. The restaurant had almost emptied now, only a few other diners at a couple of tables across the other side of the room, so it felt like just the two of them, in a corner, the whole world locked away somewhere else.

  She took a deep breath, fired up by Maisie’s support. Time for truths from both of them. Something told her that Aaron sensed it too.

  ‘I can’t stop staring at you,’ he said, with a tenderness that made Hope smile. ‘I’m so grateful to be sitting here, but it’s like none of this is real.’

  ‘I know. But is it weird that it feels… right?’

  He shook his head. ‘Not weird at all. But…’ He paused, picking his words. ‘I’m trying to take this at your pace. Fast or slow. Up to you. I guess there’s some stuff that you want to know about that we haven’t covered yet. I promise I’ll be honest about everything you ask me.’

  The tension that had been blown away by his easy manner and his acceptance of her began to ratchet back up again. It was time. She’d thought about these questions a million times, but now that the moment was here, she couldn’t remember what order the words should come out in.

  Come on, Hope. You can do this.

  He was still staring at her, waiting for her to be ready.

  ‘My mum.’ That was all she could manage at first.

  She regrouped, took another breath, tried again, terrified of the answer. If it was a ‘no’ she was in trouble.

  ‘Do you know who my biological mother is?’ She’d asked it that way because for all she knew he could have been a rampant one-night-stand kind of guy back then. Maybe he had no idea who he’d slept with twenty-three years ago. Perhaps it was all a blur. Obviously, she’d been born in the UK, so maybe it was a holiday fling and he couldn’t remember her name.

  Aaron leaned forward so that his elbows were on the table, then swung his hand over and took hers. The skin-to-skin contact was warm, comforting.

  ‘Yeah. Do you want me to tell you about her?’

  The sheer relief made tears spring to Hope’s eyes and she wiped them away with the heel of her free hand.

  ‘Now don’t you go starting or I’ll be right there with you, and I’m trying to keep it together here,’ Aaron said, laughing despite the tears he was now blinking away too.

  Hope choked out a chuckle. ‘Sorry! Oh my God, I’m a mess.’ Her tears were falling freely now and she used her napkin to stem them. It took a few seconds, then she inhaled deeply, cleared her throat and looked him in the eye again, smiling. ‘Okay, I’m good.’

  He took both her hands, met her gaze, and began to speak.

  ‘Back in 1997, I was twenty-five and just living my regular life in LA, working construction, hanging with my buds. One night I was in a bar with my buddy, Zac, and we got chatting to two girls. Scottish girls.’

  Hope’s stomach flipped. Her mum was Scottish. That explained her being born in Edinburgh. She resisted the urge to butt in with questions. Was she the product of a one night stand after a hook-up in a bar after all? Or a holiday fling?

  She bit her tongue, determined to let him tell her in his own way. Aaron’s voice was thick with emotion and she could see that this wasn’t easy.

  ‘I don’t want to say it was love at first sight, but it was close. They were there on holiday, supposed to be for a month. We started hanging out, and then they moved into our apartment – my buddy was hooking up with her friend too so it kinda made sense. The month got longer and… I guess she didn’t want to go home, and that suited me just fine.’

  That brought the tears back, but Hope just let them fall. They’d been in love. Or as much in love as you could be after a few weeks. Somehow, the thought of that made her happy.

  ‘What was her name?’

  ‘Agnetha.’

  ‘Agnetha,’ Hope repeated it, letting it roll on her tongue. It wasn’t exactly a common Scottish moniker. Maybe her mum’s parents were from somewhere else? ‘And Agnetha was definitely Scottish? From where?’ Her resolve not to ask questions went right out of the window as curiosity climbed into the driver’s seat.

  ‘That’s the thing, she was from here. From Glasgow.’

  ‘Oh my God,’ Hope murmured. Her mum might have been in the same city as her for her whole life. All those childhood thoughts were spot on. She used to wonder if she’d ever walked past her in the street. Or sat next to her on a bus. Now she knew for sure that could have been a possibility. More than that, it gave her hope that there was a chance to find her and that was so important because…

  ‘Are you doing okay?’ he asked, squeezing her hand.

  She had to tell him. She couldn’t keep this to herself for a minute longer.

  ‘I need to find her,’ she blurted, feeling a crushing weight descend on her as she said it. This was the moment that could wreck everything, that could make him question her motives, feel he was being used, change his mind about having a relationship.

  And he didn’t even realise it. ‘I get that,’ he said, oblivious to the motivations behind her words. ‘It’s only natural that you’d want to track her down, hear her story. To be honest, I’ve a few questions myself.’ It was said with no malice or resentment, just… sorrow? Sadness?

  Tell him. Tell him. Get it out there. You have to do it. Channel Maisie.

  ‘It’s not just because I have questions. There’s something else I need to tell you.’

  He was still holding on to her hands, his curiosity all over his face.

  ‘It’s just…’ she paused, then decided to go with full disclosure. ‘This is going so much better than I ever dared to dream, and I’m really scared that you’ll be upset with me, that it’ll change the way you’re feeling about meeting me.’

  ‘Whatever it is, nothing will change how I feel. I’m an all-in kind of guy, Hope. You’re my girl. Nothing you can say will make me want to change that.’

  Right there, in that moment, she believed him.

  Do it. Just do it.

  ‘I wanted to be a doctor ever since I was a teenager. You see, I spent a lot of time in hospital because, when I was fourteen years old, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.’

  Aaron reeled like he’d been slapped. ‘Cancer?’

  Hope nodded. ‘Yeah. Bummer, right?’ She’d had a lifetime of talking about it, dealing with it, so she knew that if she stayed strong and steady as she was telling him, with a bit of black humour too, then he’d find it easier to discuss.

  ‘Shit.’ He sagged as if he’d been winded. ‘I’m so sorry. That must have been tough. Breaks my heart that I wasn’t here for you.’

  She could see that he meant every word. ‘It’s okay, really,’ she reassured him. ‘My parents were great…’ She wondered if the mention of her parents would jar with him, but there was no reaction on his face, only concern. ‘And we got through it. I was in and out of hospital for a couple of years, and then back and forward for a few years after that for checks and tests to make sure it was gone.’

  Relief perked him up a little. ‘Thank God it was, Hope. And I’m so glad that your mom and dad were there for you. They sound like real good people. I’m grateful.’

  ‘Me too.’ The anxiety was making her heart hammer again. This had to be done. ‘The thing is, a couple of years ago, it came back. Which was a bit of a shock, because most recurrences happen within five years and I was just outside that timeframe.’

  His skin paled, his mouth opened, but no words came out, so she carried on, knowing that if she stopped, she would crumble.


  ‘I had to have more treatment, more chemo, more radiotherapy. The best option for me would have been a stem cell transplant, and there’s a national data base for that called the Anthony Nolan register, but no-one on there was a match. It was touch and go for a while, but we think we got it.’

  ‘So you’re cured? You’re okay?’ The desperation for reassurance made her feel like her heart would burst.

  ‘For now. I get tested every year and it might come back, or it might not. I just need to live in hope. Pardon the pun,’ she added with a smile, which he returned with bells on. She went on, ‘Now there are so many new treatments and pioneering trials, though. That’s the field of medicine I plan to go into. I want to specialise in oncology.’

  ‘Jeez, girl. Is it wrong that I’m so proud of you? I know that I had nothing to do with the woman that you’ve become, but, damn, you’re spectacular.’ He spoke calmly, with real sincerity, and there were new tears for both of them.

  Hope felt a swell of gratitude. Maybe this was going to be okay. Keep going…

  ‘The thing is, if it does reoccur this year, next year, any time in the future, then more than ever, my best chance of survival will still be a stem cell transplant and I still haven’t found a suitable donor.’

  Time to say it. Get it out. She paused, plucking up the courage. ‘The highest chance of a match would be a biological parent.’

  She didn’t add that a biological sibling could also be a match, terrified of scaring him even further at the thought of involving his other kids. Instead, she let that hang in the air, let him absorb what she was saying. Yes, she wanted to find her parents, but not just so that she understood her background and heritage. The truth was, her life could depend on it. And if that was too much for Aaron to deal with, she’d understand. It was a lot. This wasn’t the hearts and flowers perfect ending he’d probably been hoping for. This was complicated. She was a biological child that came with baggage and she knew from experience that not everyone could deal with the tough stuff.