The Single Mums' Picnic Club

by Jennifer Joyce

  ‘Would it bother you if he was?’

  ‘Not at all.’ Rob gave a lazy shrug. ‘I’d be happy you’d finally moved on.’

  ‘Get out of my house, you great knobhead,’ Katie told him, but only in her head. In reality, she simply yanked open the door and stepped aside so Rob and the kids could file out. She kissed Lizzie on the cheek as she passed and attempted the same with Elliot, who was having none of it and ducked out of the way. Charming.

  ‘Sorry about that.’ She popped her head back round the living room door, where Jack was perched on the sofa. ‘Give me two minutes and I’ll be ready to go.’

  She didn’t have time for her usual beauty regime – or even time to change – so she had to make do with the leggings and long T-shirt combo she was already wearing. With a quick comb of her hair and a slick of lipstick, she was ready to go.

  ‘Come on then,’ Jack said when she returned to the living room. ‘We don’t want to keep your young man waiting.’

  Katie grabbed her jacket from the hallway and slipped her arms into the sleeves. ‘First of all, he isn’t my young man anymore. And secondly, he isn’t that young.’ She grabbed the zip but didn’t pull it up yet. ‘You don’t think he was too young, do you?’ Were people in the Red Lion gossiping about her? Laughing behind her back?

  ‘Nah.’ Jack opened the door, letting in a blast of warm air. The sunshine had continued to shine over the past few days and didn’t show any signs of abating. ‘I’m only messing. He’s… what? Late twenties?’

  ‘Very late twenties.’ Katie pulled the zip up halfway. ‘Nearly thirty.’

  Jack shrugged as she stepped over the threshold. ‘There you go then.’

  Katie nodded, but she didn’t say anything as they started to wander down towards the pub. It no longer mattered anyway.

  The Red Lion was heaving as usual, but Katie and Jack managed to secure a small table at the back. Jack guarded the two precious stools while Katie headed for the bar. She was still waiting to be served when she felt an elbow nudge her lightly on the arm.

  ‘Hi, Katie.’

  ‘Hi.’ God, she still didn’t know his name. ‘How are you?’

  It was awkward as they attempted to have a conversation. It would have been kinder – wiser – if Katie had convinced Jack that they should go to one of the other pubs in town.

  ‘Can I get you a pint?’ It was the least she could do, but he shook his head.

  ‘I’m okay for now. We just got ours in.’

  So, he’d approached the bar just to talk to her. Now Katie felt even more awkward about the situation.

  ‘We?’ The barmaid passed without spotting Katie. She raised herself on her tiptoes to look for another member of staff.

  ‘Me and my mates. Over from Manchester for the weekend. Lee and Sisqo.’ He thrust a thumb over his shoulder, in the general direction of his mates. ‘Why don’t you join us?’

  Katie cringed inside. ‘I’m here with Jack. He’s waiting for his pint.’

  ‘That’s okay. They don’t bite.’ He was aiming for humour and Katie managed to smile through her discomfort. ‘Although, actually, sometimes Sisqo does. He’s a bit strange like that.’ He was laughing, joking (or so Katie hoped), but she didn’t join in.

  ‘I think we’re just going to have a quiet one.’ She finally caught the attention of the barmaid and practically leapt across the bar in her eagerness to order the drinks.

  ‘We can still be friends, can’t we?’ He reached out to place a hand on her arm and she tried to edge away without making it too obvious. ‘Still say hello when we see each other in the pub?’

  She opened her mouth, to tell him that she didn’t think that was a good idea, when her phone started to ring. She wrestled it from her pocket, flashing an apologetic face as she pressed the phone to her ear, though she was secretly pleased by the interruption. She moved towards the door so she could step outside and away from the din of the pub. ‘Hello?’ She pushed a finger against the other ear, even though the door had swung shut behind her, locking most of the noise inside.

  ‘Where are you?’

  Hearing Rob loud and clear now, Katie removed her finger and leaned against the pub’s wall. ‘I’m at the pub. Why? What is it?’

  She was envisioning accidents. Illness. A dash to A&E.

  ‘I’m outside the house. There’s no answer.’

  ‘Are the kids alright?’ She was already walking, heading home. ‘And haven’t you still got your key?’ Katie had been tempted to change the locks in an act of defiance after Rob moved his things out, but she’d refrained, just in case he decided to come home. How naïve she’d been.

  ‘I don’t really feel comfortable using it anymore. Where are you?’

  ‘I’m on my way. Give me two minutes.’

  She hung up before tapping out a quick message to Jack to explain. She picked up her speed once the message had been delivered, sprinting when she spotted Rob and the kids huddled on the doorstep.

  ‘What is it?’ She was breathless, despite the short distance covered. ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Change of plan, I’m afraid.’ Rob lifted his shoulders, leaving them around his ears for a moment before dropping them back down again. ‘It turns out I can’t have the kids tonight. We’ve got a wedding to go to tomorrow, over in Leeds, so we’re staying overnight. I forgot all about it. Anya called me while we were in the car to remind me to pack… never mind, not important.’ He shrugged again. ‘Sorry.’

  Katie jabbed her key into the lock, giving the door a shove before she ushered Elliot and Lizzie inside. She grasped Rob’s sleeve as he started to back away.

  ‘Sorry? That’s it? You have other plans, so you just dump the kids on the doorstep?’

  Rob sighed and shook his head. ‘Why do you have to be like this, Katie?’

  Her eyes widened. ‘Like what?’ How could she possibly be in the wrong at this moment in time?

  ‘So…’ He shook his head again and threw his hands up in the air. ‘So unreasonable. I made a mistake. I said sorry. I’ll pick the kids up on Sunday, take them out for the day.’

  Katie’s mouth twisted, as she bit back a snarky retort. Instead, she vowed to keep calm. ‘This wedding. Whose is it? Why aren’t the kids invited?’

  Rob sneaked a glance at his watch. ‘Anya’s sister’s. I wish I could take them with me. Honestly, I do.’ Rob ran a hand through his hair. ‘But children aren’t invited.’ Rob held his hands up as Katie opened her mouth to speak. ‘No children at all. We’ve had to find a babysitter for…’

  Katie held a hand up to cut Rob off. She didn’t want to know the details of his other life. ‘Fine. What time shall I tell the kids you’ll pick them up?’

  ‘What?’ Rob screwed up his face. ‘We’ve just established the kids aren’t coming to the wedding.’

  ‘On Sunday.’ Katie’s words were growled through gritted teeth. ‘You hadn’t forgotten you were going to do that, had you? Just like you forgot about the wedding until ten minutes ago?’

  ‘Ha ha.’ Rob rolled his eyes as he seized his chance to back away down the path. ‘I’ll pick them up at two.’

  Katie didn’t know anybody else who made such a racket making toast, but she could hear Lizzie singing along to one of the scantily-clad singers she idolised on her playlist while she clattered about the kitchen when she woke the next morning. She lay for a moment, listening to the sounds of the house (Steven Universe was blaring from the living room, even though Lizzie wasn’t in the room and had sourced alternative entertainment). There was no sound from Elliot, and Katie didn’t expect any for at least… she checked the time on her phone on the bedside table… another two hours.

  It was another scorcher of a day, and sunlight was already streaming through the curtains. The good weather had attracted early risers to the beach and Katie could hear the faint laughter and the low rumble of conversation over the familiar rhythm of waves rushing to meet the shore. Katie’s patch of Clifton-on-Sea would be packed by
lunchtime, with locals and day trippers taking advantage of the early heatwave. Katie could practically smell the sun cream that would be rubbed into warm skin, taste the tang of vinegar in the air, smell the fried batter. All those people out there, she thought to herself as she swung her legs from the bed, were potential customers. Because what better way was there to spend the day at the beach than with a picnic you didn’t even have to prepare yourself? She felt a shiver despite the warmth as she bounced down the stairs, imagining a beach filled with Little Seaside Picnic hampers. Lizzie, however, threw a bucket of seawater over her good mood as soon as Katie stepped into the living room.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell us we didn’t need to pack our stuff last night?’

  Good morning to you, too, Katie thought as she settled herself on the sofa, grabbing the remote so she could change the channel. Steven Universe was still on, even though Lizzie had been too busy scrolling on her phone to notice. ‘I didn’t know you wouldn’t be staying over.’

  ‘You must have.’ Lizzie glanced up from her phone to throw Katie a look of disgust. Well, that took the biscuit, didn’t it? Who’d dashed home, cutting her night out short so she could let her family into the house? And yet she was getting the blame for the night’s event.

  ‘As far as I knew, you were spending the night at your dad’s, as usual. Your dad was here, waiting for you to pack, remember?’ She pointed at the spot beside her on the sofa. They no longer performed the switch over on Friday nights in the hallway. Rob was under the impression it was because Katie was coming to terms with the split and felt more comfortable having the father of her children in the home again, but really it was because she couldn’t stand in that hallway with him, knowing what she’d done with another man out there. She was both elated and embarrassed whenever she had flashbacks of that night.

  ‘It was your dad who forgot about the wedding.’ Katie stabbed at the buttons on the remote and switched the channel. Cooking and chat combo shows, the news, embarrassingly crap kids’ TV… She settled for a police car chase. ‘That’s why he brought you back.’

  ‘I don’t see why we couldn’t go to the wedding.’ Lizzie glared at Katie, as though the decision had anything at all to do with her.

  ‘Some people don’t want children at their weddings. It’s their day, their choice.’ And absolutely nothing to do with Katie. It was Anya’s sister who was getting married, who’d been in charge of the invites. Katie wouldn’t accept the role of the bad guy on this one.

  ‘But aren’t we, like, family now? Isn’t she our step-aunty or something?’

  Katie felt as though she’d been punched in the stomach with a particularly fat fist. If Lizzie thought of Anya’s sister as their step-aunty, did she see Anya as… She couldn’t even think it.

  ‘I don’t know, love. All I know is that your dad said no children were allowed.’ Katie dropped the remote down on the sofa. ‘But we can do something fun together instead.’

  Lizzie narrowed her eyes. ‘Like what?’

  Katie shrugged. ‘What would you like to do?’

  Her daughter pursed her lips as she considered the options. ‘Can we go shopping? Zara had this really cool top on last week, and she said it’d really suit me.’

  Zara, Katie had discovered, was Elliot’s girlfriend. She was a nice enough girl, but her clothing choices were a little too… adventurous for twelve-year-old Lizzie.‘That sounds like fun – as long as the top covers your belly button.’ Katie caught Lizzie’s eye roll but ignored it. ‘We can go for ice cream afterwards, if you’d like?’

  Lizzie shrugged, her eyes back on her phone. ‘Yeah, whatever.’

  Elliot was still in bed by the time Katie and Lizzie left the house at ten, so she left him a note, just in case it occurred to him to wonder where they were, and to remind him he needed to revise. It was lovely to be out with Lizzie. Katie had been a bit lost these past few months, struggling with the impending doom of divorce, and she feared she’d accidentally pushed her children aside. Spurred on by guilt, she bought Lizzie three tops, one of which allowed the briefest flash of tummy above her waistband.

  ‘I’m sorry I’ve been a bit distracted over the past few months, what with… everything going on.’ They were sitting in the food court of the shopping centre, cardboard tubs of overpriced ice cream in front of them.

  Lizzie shrugged. ‘It’s fine.’ Next to her ice cream sat her phone, which she was idly scrolling through. Katie had really dropped the ball with their technology-time rule – she’d need to implement it again before her children turned into full-on screen zombies.

  ‘Do you think we could chat without your phone for a bit?’

  Lizzie sighed and started an elaborate eye roll, but she stopped before her gaze reached the food court’s ceiling. She snatched the phone from the table, her mouth slowly gaping as she tapped at the screen.

  ‘What is it?’ Katie reached for the phone, but Lizzie snatched it away, scrolling a bit more before she turned the screen, practically shoving it in Katie’s face.

  ‘Keira’s been posting photos on Facebook.’

  ‘Okay…’ Katie had no idea who Keira was. Why did her children keep throwing out these random names? Had she really lost touch with them to that extent? She took the phone and peered down at it, a frown deepening on her face as she scrolled through the timeline of photos. ‘Is this the wedding your dad’s gone to?’

  There were dozens of photos (whoever Keira was, she liked to update her Facebook every thirty seconds, apparently), showing photos of the bride and groom and their guests. Including Rob, Anya, and their daughter.

  She called Rob as soon as they got home, airing her grievances over his lies and betrayal of his kids. Because it turned out children were welcome at the wedding – Keira had kindly offered plenty of evidence of them – just not Katie’s children.

  ‘It wasn’t malicious,’ Rob said once Katie had paused for breath (and after she’d stated, quite clearly, that she didn’t give a flying flump that they were in the middle of the photos outside the church). ‘It was more… of an oversight.’

  ‘An oversight?’ Katie felt almost winded. ‘An oversight? These are your children we’re talking about, not a forgotten pair of sunglasses!’ This man was unbelievable. He wasn’t the man she’d married or lived with for over twenty years. ‘Funny, your other kid wasn’t an oversight, hey?’ Rob started to say something, but she cut him off. ‘You’re their dad and you should have insisted that, as a mega-important part of your life, they were invited too.’

  ‘The catering had already been sorted…’ Rob’s voice was weak. Just like the man himself.

  ‘But then why lie about it? Because that’s the worst bit. Why look your kids in the eye and feed them a pack of lies?’ There was no answer. A moment later, Rob hung up without an attempt at an explanation.

  Katie was livid, more so when she heard the muffled cries from Lizzie’s bedroom. She crept inside, finding her daughter hiding under her covers.

  ‘Why doesn’t he love us as much anymore?’ Lizzie asked when Katie gently peeled the duvet away from her damp face. It had taken every last scrap of self-restraint not to unleash a tirade against her ex, to spew the fury that was brewing inside. But Lizzie didn’t need to hear what Katie really thought about her father, so she’d been soothing and placating, uttering complete rubbish to excuse Rob’s behaviour, to make Lizzie feel that she was as important and loved as before. It had made her feel sick, but she had to put her children’s feelings first, no matter how blisteringly hot that fury burned in her gut.

  This was surely it. The final nail in the coffin of her marriage. He’d hurt her so much over the past couple of years, but to hurt her children? There was no going back from that, and it made her realise that clinging onto the past was a complete waste of time. The Rob she’d known and loved for so long was gone. He’d morphed into somebody else, with different priorities, and she should concentrate on building a new life for herself rather than hankering for her old life.r />
  Chapter Thirty-Two

  George

  George’s shoes were already pinching as she made her way through the school gates. Although the T-bar shoes were flat, they were new, and the pointed toe was troublesome. She was much more comfortable in her usual pumps, but she couldn’t wear them that morning. Her stomach was a swirl of nerves, apprehension, fear and all the other synonyms for being scared witless, and her hand was clammy in Thomas’ as they crossed the playground. Her eyes searched the other parents and carers as George ran off towards the climbing frame, where Lottie and Anil were swinging from the monkey bars, but she couldn’t spot Jack anywhere. She’d been hoping for a friendly face, someone to give her a pep talk to stop her running in the opposite direction of the bank.

  The meeting with the bank manager was due to take place that morning and although they’d put so much work into the business, had checked their figures (repeatedly), designed logos, made sample menus to photograph for their website, and gone over and over the business plan so they knew it off by heart, George was a nervous wreck.

  She felt a jolt of adrenaline when she spotted Leo tearing through the gates, his tie wrapped around his head like Rambo, and she craned her neck to catch a glimpse of Jack. But the adrenaline seeped away when Ellie appeared, clutching onto the buggy, and George realised it was their mother pushing and not Jack. George had seen Jack’s ex-wife in the playground, recognised her from the family photos in his kitchen, but they’d yet to strike up a conversation. If she was honest, George was intimidated by Anita. She was so beautiful, with a sweep of glossy, raven hair, subtle but impeccable make-up and she was, according to Jack, a well-respected barrister. George felt rather plain in comparison, even when she wasn’t wearing her cleaning gear, and she found herself edging closer to a group of mums discussing their upcoming summer holidays, trying to blend in.

  After what felt like an age, the whistle was blown, and the children stampeded towards their lines. George gave Thomas a quick kiss on the cheek before she dashed out of the playground, where Katie was waiting to pick her up. Frankie was already in the passenger seat, the folder containing all their business info on her lap.