The Surprise Party

by Sue Welfare

  Hannah looked up at her.

  ‘Now,’ said Suzie.

  Any smart arsed answers died on her lips and Hannah, heart beating like a drum, did as she was told. She didn’t see Sadie, Tucker and Simon leave because she was frogmarched by Suzie to the buffet queue, where she was handed a plate and fell into line.

  ‘You knew we needed you here tonight,’ said Suzie, through a tight smile.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Hannah began.

  Suzie glared at her. ‘No, you’re not, you’re just sorry you got caught, that’s all. Going off with your friends before the party was a deliberate choice. I’m really disappointed in you, Hannah. You knew that there was lots to do – we were depending on you to give us a hand.’

  Hannah sniffed, hating the way her mother’s words made her feel.

  ‘If you had wanted to have some friends here, you could have invited them, but you said no, you didn’t want anyone to come. And you’ve been drinking – and before you deny it, Hannah, I can smell it.’

  ‘I was sick,’ said Hannah miserably.

  ‘Good,’ said Suzie and then she paused, her expression softening. ‘I do understand that tonight might not be your idea of a good time, Hannah, but sometimes in life we have to do things we don’t want to do. It’s one of the big shocks of growing up, and helping out with a family party for a few hours is hardly hard labour, is it? Grandma and Granddad were really con cerned that you weren’t here, and I’m hurt that you couldn’t make the effort after all the things they do for you.’

  Hannah felt her eyes filling up with tears. ‘I am sorry,’ she said.

  Suzie nodded. ‘Good, but I’m still angry, Hannah. Now get yourself something to eat to soak up the alcohol, and the first thing I want you to do is apologise to your dad and to Grandma and Granddad for being late.’

  When Hannah glanced up, she could see her grandma at the front of the queue, talking to one of the girls who was serving. As their eyes met, her Grandma Rose smiled.

  ‘Hello, sweetie,’ she mouthed, doing a little wave. ‘Are you all right?’

  Hannah nodded, even though she didn’t feel all right at all, and her grandma’s pleased-to-see-you, so-glad-you’re-here, completely non-judgemental smile certainly didn’t make her feel any better.

  The smell of the food made Hannah realise how just hungry she was, although it also made her stomach do a nasty backflip. Suzie stayed close by, as if to ensure that Hannah didn’t make a break for it.

  Still trying to regain some lost ground, Hannah said, ‘I am sorry, Mum, really. You look really nice, and your dress looks great.’

  ‘And what about my shoes?’ asked Suzie with a little edge to her voice.

  Hannah reddened, knowing exactly where that conversation was leading. It was going to be a long, long supper.

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘Right, if you’d like to move in a little closer. Closer . . . That’s lovely,’ said the photographer, waving Jack and Rose into the centre of the frame. ‘Hold it there, great. And everyone smile... That’s fantastic, now let’s just have another one, shall we? Okay? If you just hold the knife a little bit higher? Higher . . . Great, and now, big smiles. You two have got to be experts at all this marriage and cake-cutting lark by now.’ The man babbled on, all faux joviality and bonhomie as he snapped away. ‘Lovely, lovely . . . And smile . . .’

  With supper over and done with, he was making a start on the formal photos. He had been moving from table to table all evening, like a benign hitman, picking off people one by one, couple by couple, group by group, till now there was just the top table left to shoot, a few more formal family shots and obviously the cutting of the anniversary cake, so that the whole evening would be recorded for posterity.

  Matt, who was standing on the sidelines as the photographer captured yet another ‘magic moment’ – Matt’s words, not Suzie’s – grinned and murmured, ‘When David Bailey here’s finished, I’ll get the cake taken away and cut up or we’ll be here all bloody night.’

  ‘The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned,’ Suzie said grimly, through teeth clenched in a rictus grin. Just how many more photos did they need?

  If the photographer had heard them, he didn’t show it. Instead he and his assistant carried on tinkering with the arrangement of couples, cake and confetti.

  ‘If you could just look this way . . . lovely, lovely . . . and hold it. Say “cheese”, that’s fabulous,’ said the man, as the motor drive clicked away furiously. ‘Now if we could have all the original wedding party over here by the flowers?’ He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and read out the names, mumbling very slightly as if the read-through was more for his own benefit than theirs. ‘Right, so, we’ve got the bride and groom, the best man, Peter Hudson, the bridesmaids Fleur and Janet Fielding . . .’

  Rose shot a glance at Jack.

  Looking up, the photographer smiled and said, raising a hand in invitation, ‘Come on, folks, you know who you are. Let’s get you all over here and make a start, shall we? The sooner we start, the sooner we’re finished.’

  ‘I haven’t seen Janet, is she here?’ Rose said in passing, as the photographer’s assistant started to move them all across the dais, and Matt and a couple of waitress slid in like an SAS snatch squad and grabbed the cake from the table.

  ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen her,’ Jack said, his eyes working across the faces of the guests. ‘I’m certain if she was here she would have come over and said hello.’ He turned to Suzie. ‘Do you know if Janet is here?’

  ‘Janet?’ It was one name in a sea of others as far as Suzie was concerned.

  ‘Janet Fielding – she used to work with your mother. Janet and Fleur were our bridesmaids.’

  ‘Right.’ Suzie glanced across at the original photos mounted on the boards behind the top table, trying to put a face to the name. ‘To be honest, Dad, I’m not sure. Do I know her?’

  Rose and Jack glanced at each other and shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It’s been years since me and your mum have seen her. She moved away, so probably not – we didn’t see a lot of them, did we, Rose?’ said Jack.

  Suzie nodded. It must be strange for them having kept everything under wraps so long; were they worried that someone was going to come along and ask them what the hell they thought they were up to?

  ‘I’m sure you met her when you were little,’ Rose was saying. ‘You probably don’t remember. We always exchange Christmas cards,’ she continued, as if that might explain everything. ‘She moved to Edinburgh, she’s got two girls.’

  Suzie nodded; somewhere down in the vaults of childhood memory, Edinburgh rang a bell. ‘Actually I think she is here, with her husband. Do you want me to go and check the list?’

  Rose shook her head. ‘No, don’t worry about it, it’s all right. We’ll catch up with her later, I’m sure. I’d like you to meet her.’

  ‘What do you mean it’s all right ? What about the photographs?’ said Liz indignantly, who had been listening in to the conversation. ‘Surely the whole point of all having them done is that we try and get everyone in them who was there first time around?’

  ‘Well yes, but it doesn’t really matter, does it?’ asked Rose. The expression on Liz’s face suggested that that was the wrong answer.

  ‘Do you want me to send one of the girls to see if we can find her? I mean, if she’s here it shouldn’t take much to track her down.’ Suzie interjected.

  Liz shook her head. ‘No,’ she said, sounding exasperated. ‘It’s all right, you stay here. I’ll do it myself. The seating plan is on the board.’

  ‘Well, don’t be too long, will you?’ said Rose. ‘He’s going to be wanting you two in the photos too, you know.’

  Liz caught Suzie’s gaze and rolled her eyes heavenwards. Parents.

  ‘We could have the ushers as well if you like,’ Jack was saying, glancing around the tent. ‘Colin’s just over there and I’m sure I saw Richard heading for the bar a few minutes ago.’

 
‘No change there then,’ said Rose wryly.

  ‘How about I go and get them?’ said Jack, breaking ranks and heading for the bar, much to the photographer’s frustration.

  ‘Chicken,’ Rose called after him, laughing. ‘See if you can find Janet while you’re at it.’

  Jack glanced back at Rose and smiled.

  Before Liz could head off into the crowd too, Suzie caught hold of her arm. ‘Can I have a quick word with you?’

  ‘Can’t it wait? We need to find what’s-her-name.’

  ‘This won’t take a second.’ Suzie glanced over her shoulder to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard, and then whispered, ‘I’ve been thinking that maybe we should pull the plug on the speeches.’

  ‘You mean the ones about forty years of wedded bliss and never a cross word?’ said Liz grimly.

  Suzie nodded. ‘Those’d be the ones. I’ll grab Peter Hudson and have a quick word with him. I know he’s been working on his best-man-forty-years-on speech for weeks, but I think I’ll ask him if he can just say a few words of thanks instead and leave it at that.’

  ‘Yes, you’re probably right, although at least we can be sure he knows.’

  Suzie nodded. ‘That’s what worries me.’

  Liz sighed. ‘Maybe you’re right. In that case maybe the film show might develop a technical hitch . . .’ said Liz. ‘I wish we’d known, you’ve got no idea how long it took me to put that film together.’

  ‘While we’re waiting I thought we’d have one of just the girls,’ the photographer interrupted. ‘Three generations of sisters – okay? Is everyone here?’

  ‘Lovely idea, I won’t be a minute,’ said Liz, hurrying off down the steps. ‘I just need to find someone.’

  ‘Do you mind? ’ groused the photographer.

  ‘I’ll be back in a second,’ Liz said over her shoulder.

  ‘Has Grant arrived yet?’ Suzie called after her.

  ‘No, not yet,’ said Liz, avoiding her eye.

  The photographer sighed and turned his attention back to the gaggle of stragglers left behind.

  On the far side of the marquee, the band had started to get itself together. Those guests who had finished their suppers were beginning to break ranks and go feral, heading for the bar or outside for a smoke. Looking from face to face, Suzie had the impression that after a shaky start everyone really was having a great time.

  At what remained of the top table, Megan was getting ready for her big moment in front of the camera, busying herself with tidying her hair, pushing a tangle over to one side, and straightening up her tee-shirt, tugging it down over her stomach. Suzie watched her affectionately and couldn’t help smiling at her younger daughter’s attempts at scrubbing up fast under pressure.

  ‘Do you want to borrow my hairbrush?’ she said, opening her bag.

  Megan grinned. ‘Yeah, that would be great, Mum.’

  She still had the slightly plump and puppyish look of childhood, her long unruly hair streaked by days spent playing outside and helping Suzie in the garden, her skin tinted the very lightest shade of gold from the early summer sun. Megan looked like an advert for healthy, happy living, and Suzie found herself hoping that somehow her younger daughter would be spared the transformation into a grumpy, unhappy, confrontational teenager that her elder sister had undergone . . . and instantly hated herself for thinking it.

  Talking of which, Suzie glanced across at Hannah, who was still sitting toying with her food, a picture of discontent, and sighed. She really missed the girl Hannah had been and struggled constantly with the sullen creature that had been left in her place.

  Hannah looked up, as if she knew she was being watched. ‘What?’ she asked.

  ‘We’re going to do some photos in a minute with you and Megan, me and Liz, Grandma and Fleur – all the girls together.’

  ‘God, and just how naff is that? Do we have to?’ Hannah complained. Suzie stared at her. Where had ‘sorry’ gone? Between getting caught in the kitchen with her friends and sitting down and eating supper, any hint of remorse appeared to have well and truly evaporated.

  ‘Yes, we do,’ Suzie said. ‘It won’t take long.’

  ‘But I haven’t finished eating yet and I’ve still got my old clothes on,’ Hannah whined.

  ‘Whose fault is that? And before you say anything else, don’t forget you’re on very slippery ground here, young lady. You would have had plenty of time to do both if you’d have stayed here and helped.’

  Hannah gave her the full benefit of the dead-eyed, hundred-yard-stare she had been perfecting over the last few months.

  ‘There,’ said Suzie to Megan, handing over her hairbrush, refusing to be fazed by Hannah’s expression.

  As if to emphasise the contrast with Hannah, Megan turned and beamed at her. ‘Thanks, Mum. Have I got time to go and put my party dress on?’

  ‘Yes, if you want to and you’re really quick. It’s hanging up in the car.’ Suzie had barely finished the sentence before Megan was on her way. ‘Come straight back, won’t you?’ Suzie called after her.

  Megan’s response was to look back with a great big sunny grin on her face.

  ‘How come you brought her dress and didn’t bring mine?’ grumbled Hannah.

  ‘Because she was helping us get the tables finished, like you said you would, remember? And because she didn’t have time to go home and change, and because she asked me to. Hannah’s lip curled up into a little moue of displeasure and she took a long breath as if she was about to say something, but Suzie was way ahead of her. ‘And don’t you dare tell me it’s not fair, Hannah. You’re the one who cleared off and left Megan here on her own. You know I would have done the same for you—’

  ‘Yeah, but you didn’t, did you? And whatever you say, it’s just not fair. Not fair at all. You like her better than me, don’t you? Don’t you? ’ Hannah demanded, her face contorted into an ugly sneer.

  Suzie sighed and considered her answer for a second or two. It would be so easy for the sake of keeping the peace to say something conciliatory and placating, but why should she be nice when Hannah was being anything but? There was a time, surely, when Hannah had to understand that she didn’t operate in a vacuum, and that there were consequences to the way you behaved and the things that you said.

  ‘Do you know what?’ Suzie said evenly, after a moment or two more. ‘You’re absolutely right. At the moment you’re behaving badly – you’re grumpy and you’re selfish and you’re making yourself very hard to like, but I want you to know that whatever you do and however you behave, and whether I like you or not, I love you very much and always will. But I don’t like the way you’re behaving at all . . . and I miss you. Now let’s get this photo done, shall we?’

  *

  Hannah glared at her, blinking away a flurry of unexpected tears and a great flare of hurt. Suzie had just confirmed her worst suspicions.

  Since her mum had found her in the back of the marquee with Sadie, Tucker and Simon she had been trying to make herself as close to invisible as possible during supper. Grandma and Granddad had been really pleased to see her but her dad and mum had both given her that steely-faced look that said, ‘You are in big trouble. Just wait till we get you home.’

  ‘Where the hell have you been?’ had been her dad’s opening words as Hannah had slipped into her seat, but before she could reply Suzie had reached across them both to get the jug of water and murmured, ‘Do you think we can talk about this later, please?’

  ‘Oh yes, that’s right,’ her dad had growled. ‘You know you’re always taking her side. Hannah promised us that she would stay here and help get everything ready and she clears off, how can that be right?’

  ‘I’m not saying it’s right, Sam, and I’m not taking anyone’s side,’ hissed Suzie. ‘I’m just saying that now isn’t the right time to talk about it.’

  ‘Oh right, and so when exactly is the right time?’ Sam had snapped right back. ‘When are we going to find time to sort this out when we can barely
find time to talk about what’s going on in the rest of our lives as it is?’

  Hannah had glanced from one to the other before starting on her food. The two of them sniping at each other like that made her feel sick and uneasy. This wasn’t how her parents usually behaved towards each other; God, was this all her fault too?

  ‘Please don’t argue,’ Hannah said in a tiny voice. ‘I said I’m really sorry – and I know I should have been here—’ she began.

  ‘Too bloody right you should have,’ Sam had said, getting to his feet. ‘I’m going to go outside and get a bit of fresh air and you—’ he had continued, pointing at Hannah. ‘Don’t think you’re off the hook yet.’

  And now, just because she didn’t want to be in the stupid family photos, her mum had started on her too. How unfair was that? And they liked Megan better than her. Feeling her bottom lip start to quiver, Hannah pushed her plate away, got to her feet and sloped across to where the photographer was taking pictures of Grandma holding a champagne glass, feeling as if she was on her way to the scaffold.

  ‘Right, if you could just hold that a little bit . . . There, there we are, that’s just perfect,’ the photographer was saying. Grandma looked radiant.

  Hannah stuffed her hands in her pockets, dropped her shoulders and sighed. How come everyone was being so nasty to her ? It was just so unfair. She tucked an unruly strand of hair back behind her ears and, from under her fringe, scanned the crowd to see if she could spot anyone she knew. Just how dire would it be to be spotted being chewed out and shown up by your mum? And how come her mum was being so unreasonable and so mean to her anyway? It wasn’t like Hannah had done anything serious, like murdering someone or something. And God, like, she was here now, wasn’t she? And she was playing happy families and queuing up like a nice girl to have her photo taken with the rest of the gene pool, said the sarcastic little voice in her head, which sounded a lot like Sadie. What else did they want? Blood?