“And I was happier to come!” she said, handing me her coat. Then she leaned towards me and in a conspiratorial whisper said, “He has never, ever, ever asked me for help before, you know.”
“Really?” I was surprised.
“Really. In fact, my visits were actively discouraged, all this ‘make sure you ring in advance’ nonsense, but that’s Mark for you.” She winked at me, still smiling, and said, “I think you’ve managed to work your miracles on more than just the children. So go, enjoy yourself, and don’t hurry back!”
I smiled my thanks as Mark came out into the hall, a sleeping Amber over one shoulder, holding my ringing phone.
“It’s your – it’s Oliver,” he corrected himself, having the good grace to blush.
“Ha! You used his actual name – well done!” I was still smiling as Ipressed the answer key.
“Hi, sorry, what? Was I looking for you? Oh yes . . .” I took a deep breath and made a conscious effort to smile. “I just wanted to say that I couldn’t wait to see you!”
Chapter 41
By ten o’clock I was ensconced in the snug bar of a very, very nice hotel indeed.
“I told you I’d make it up to you.” Oliver pulled me in closer.
“Yes, you did.” I was too tired to talk, the stress and worry of the day finally starting to catch up with me.
“Hey, don’t you go falling asleep on me now!” Oliver poked me in the ribs. “I’m nowhere near finished with you yet this evening.”
To my shock I could feel myself groan inwardly. Not only had I had the day from hell, but I could hardly explain to Oliver that it was already past my usual bedtime and, really, all I wanted to do was go up to the room and fall into a deep sleep. For a second I thought longingly of my little single bed under the eaves at Meadowlands, and at this point I had to give myself a little shake.
“I’m not falling asleep – of course I’m not. But just in case, any chance of a vodka and Diet Coke?”
“Why, yes, of course, Madam,” he bowed in mock solemnity. “This weekend, your every wish is my command.”
The next morning I was presented with a new problem. Despite the three vodkas I’d had to keep awake the previous night, and the subsequent vodka-fuelled workout that had gone on until the wee hours, I was wide awake at seven.
No, I groaned, it’s too early!
I rolled over and closed my eyes tight, trying frantically to go back to sleep, but it was no good and before long my mind had started to race. I wondered if Mark was up, what kind of night Amber had had, how Jamie was coping . . .
This was ridiculous, there had to be a better way to spend this time than thinking about children that weren’t even mine. I looked at the sleeping form of Oliver beside me in the bed and weighed up my options. I could wake him, but I decided against it, telling myself I should really let him sleep on.
Instead I tossed and turned until about seven thirty before creeping from the bed and taking my phone out onto the balcony of the hotel room. It was a still dark and starry but some faint streaks of dawn could be seen over the trees to the east. There were two wooden chairs on the balcony and I sat down on one, pulling the lapels of the huge dressing gown around me, drawing my knees up into its warmth. Taking out the phone, I hesitated for only a minute before starting to text.
Morning. How is Amber? Did she sleep? Is she very itchy? Did you give her the Zirtek this morning?
It took only seconds for the text back.
Mind your own business
Mark Fielding, you fecker!
I started to text furiously back.
Mark! I’m serious – how is she?
Back came his reply.
I’m serious too. She’s fine. Go back to your break.
I started to text, then abandoned it, dialling his number instead.
“Yes?” he answered, his deep voice sounding surprisingly sexy. Though that could have been the speaker phone, I reasoned with myself as I could tell he was in the jeep.
“I can’t sleep.”
He started to laugh. “Is there not something else you should be doing then?”
“He’s asleep.” I looked through the glass door at the sleeping form of Oliver in the bed. “And anyhow, I’d rather know how Amber is, to be honest.”
“Holly, that is slightly worrying.”
“I can’t help it! I feel so bad being away from her when she’s not well.”
“Well, don’t. She woke really early feeling itchy but she looked a lot brighter and when I left she was snuggled in bed with her nana, reading stories.”
“Now, Mark – is that the truth?”
“Holly. Go back to bed.”
“I can’t. I’m bored.”
He laughed again. “Bored? Don’t tell me you’d rather be here, surrounded by sick children, cleaning up after your grumpy boss, than holed up in a romantic hotel with lover boy!”
“Mmmm,” I smiled into the phone, “the children wouldn’t be so bad, but you’re right – I’m not so fond of the cleaning-up-after-you bit.”
“See, you’re better off where you are.”
“S’pose . . .”
“Go and wake that lazy lump of a boyfriend up – tell him he’s wasting valuable time by sleeping.”
“Huh, I don’t think he’d thank me. Where are you on your way to?”
“I’ve three calls to make and I promised Mum I’d be home by eleven to give her a hand.”
“Oh, so you’ll come home early when your mum is there but not me – that’s says it all.”
“Eh, Holly, I pay you, remember?”
I burst out laughing. “Funny how I forgot that, isn’t it!”
“I hope you’re not complaining about your working conditions, young lady.”
“Would I?”
“Well, you haven’t been one to mince your words so far. But let’s get back to the point – where are you exactly and why does your not-always-sweetness-and-light boyfriend not mind you yapping away on the phone to me?”
“He can’t hear me,” I giggled. “I’m out on the balcony. In nothing but a dressing gown . . .” I had the last bit hissed before I realised what I was saying.
“Oh right. Say hi to Tara – she’s here beside me.”
“She’s what?” I shot upright in embarrassment.
There was a roar of laughter. “I’m joking, but it’s still strange information to give a man trying to drive, Ms Green.”
“Mark! That wasn’t fair!” Then I giggled in relief. “Though I suppose you’re right, sorry. If it’s any consolation, it’s bloody freezing out here so there’s no chance of me taking it off.”
“I really think we need to change this subject.”
“Okay.” I knew I should be embarrassed but the funny thing was that I wasn’t. It seemed like the most natural conversation in the world to be having. “So where are you now?”
“Where I have been since the start of this call, parked outside Lady Hannah’s, waiting for my nanny to stop twittering on about her state of undress so that maybe I can go and get some work done. Some of us have a sick child and a put-upon mother to get home to, you know.”
“Oh crap – you should have said! I thought you were still driving.”
“It’s fine. I’m really just hoping that boyfriend of yours will wake up any minute and catch you on the phone to another man – now that would make my day.”
“Mark Fielding!” I squealed. “What a dreadful thing to say! I’d be in all kinds of trouble then.”
“Something tells me that wouldn’t be for the first time.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” I admitted ruefully. “Anyhow, you better go or Lady Hannah will have a search party out looking for you.”
“Yes. Will you be able to cope with the boredom when I’m gone?”
“I’ll manage. I might see if I can find a newspaper in reception.”
“Sounds fascinating. But, Holly?”
“Yes?”
“Get dressed first,
will you?”
“Mark, I’m in a modern hotel – people walk around in dressing gowns all the time!”
“Whatever.”
“Tell Amber I said hi – oh, and Jamie – don’t forget Dawn said she’d take him to soccer – and tell her not to forget his drink bottle and –”
But he was gone. He’d actually hung up.
I smiled and looked again at Oliver still asleep. I knew I should really wake him, but I also knew what would happen when I did and God knows there was a long enough day ahead. So instead I pulled the robe around me, closed my eyes and sat for just another while before going in.
Chapter 42
“Hey! I thought we said no phones!”
I jumped and stuffed my mobile, on which I’d been texting Mark, back in my bag. Trying to look nonchalant, I stretched back out on the huge bed, hoping a wanton pose might distract him. It was Sunday afternoon and, to be honest, the constant need to appear wanton was starting to wear thin.
“Sorry, it was my dad,” I lied hastily.
“Again? Oh, I don’t know, Holly – I think you might be telling a fib.”
My cheeks flared. “I am not! He keeps texting me about my mad mother and her crazy plansfor Christmas and I don’t know what to say to him.”
To be fair, this much was true. I had received four texts from Dad already that weekend, the latest of which was requesting me to let my mother know if I was planning to bring a guest for Christmas Day as, if I was, there was going to be a need to buy a larger table with more chairs. I’d had to refrain from telling him to inform her that I was helping out at the local soup kitchen and to take me off the list altogether.
“You say nothing this weekend.” Oliver crawled across the bed towards me – my plan to distract him unfortunately seemed to be working. “This weekend we worry about nothing or no one except ourselves.” He kissed me, slowly and passionately.
“You’re right,” I nodded between kisses, guiltily resolving not to as much as look at my phone again.
“Anyhow, so what do you want to do with the rest of the day – swim, lunch or . . .?”
I wiggled out from underneath him. “Well, actually, we haven’t time to do much. I kind of need to head soon.”
“You what?” He recoiled in disbelief. “It’s not even teatime!”
Oh God, I’d been hoping he needed to get back too, but the scowl on his face was definitely telling me he’d had no such plans.
“I know, but I need to get back.”
“For what?”
Oh God, why hadn’t I come up with a good excuse earlier? I could hardly tell him the real reason – that I figured Mark’s mother had covered for me for long enough and that I also wanted to make sure that Amber was okay and that I was organised for the week ahead.
And that, despite the weekend being great, I kind of wanted to go home . . .
There was nothing for it but a half-truth.
“I promised someone I’d baby-sit this evening,” I said.
“You promised someone what? Who?”
“Oh, what does it matter who? I need to get back. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I thought you’d need to be back too.”
“Well, it is and I don’t. Now, tell me who – oh wait – it’s that guy with the kids, isn’t it?”
I nodded. It was the truth after all.
“Well, he’ll have to do without you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I promised him. I can hardly let him down after what he did for me on Wednesday.”
“Of course you can. What’s he going to do? Think badly of you? So what? Why would you care?”
“Of course I’d care. Mark was very good to me the other night – he put himself out for me.” And again this weekend, I thought to myself. “So, if I can do something to repay him, of course I will.”
“For God’s sake, Holly, you’re such a Goody Two-Shoes!”
“Well, if that’s what you think, so be it.”
He looked at the resolve in my eyes and rolled his eyes.
“So when do you have to go?”
I shrugged. “Pretty soon.”
“Mmm, pretty soon,” he smiled, and started to creep over the bed towards me. “Sounds to me you might have time for just a little . . .”
I looked at him and, for the first time ever, I found myself able to resist his doe-brown eyes.
“No,” I said, swatting him away with a pillow in mock-snootiness, “I’m afraid I don’t, so you’ll have to put that idea on hold for now.”
“Eh, I don’t think so,” he said, by now pushing me back and pinning my arms to the bed.
Just as I waited for the usual feelings of lust to take over and sweep me into a maelstrom of passion, his phone rang.
“Shit,” he said, rolling off me.
Where ordinarily I’d have told him to ignore it, I couldn’t help feeling slightly relieved that it was his phone and not mine that was breaking the mood. When it transpired that it was Catherine and he now had to be home earlier than he thought, I wasn’t even annoyed. It meant I wasn’t the Big Bad Wolf for winding up the love-fest prematurely.
Phew.
Less than thirty minutes later, I was in my car, the fancy hotel already becoming a far distant memory.I reached down and switched the radio channel again in the hope of finding some good music that might coast me the last few miles home. It was hard to believe the weekend was almost over and that in a little under an hour I’d be back at No 12.
I couldn’t help analysing the time we’d had. It had been a strange weekend. But then we weren’t used to spending so much time together. It was bound to be different, wasn’t it? And when everything else was sorted out, Catherine, Mark, Our Situation – when these stupid issues were a thing of the past, and it was just the two of us again, it was obvious that we’d be fine.
I’d probably been expecting too much from the weekend anyway, thanks to Dawn and all her talk of honeymoons.
Dawn! I put my phone on hands-free and dialled her number. She’d be dying to know all the gory details.
The phone rang, and rang, and rang.
Just as I was about to cancel the call, the ringing stopped. I presumed the call had been answered but yet no one had spoken.
“Hello? Dawn? Are you there?”
The answer was almost inaudible. It sounded more like a whimper or moan. For a second I wondered if Daniel had the phone, but even as this thought crossed my mind I realised that a three-month-child was too young for that kind of caper.
I pulled in to the roadside and took the phone off speaker.
“Dawn? Dawn, is that you?”
I wondered was it my mobile reception but when I looked I had three bars.
“Dawn, can you hear me? Answer me! Is everything okay?”
There was another whimper and then the clear sound of sobs.
Jesus, she was crying!
“Dawn! Stop, please stop. Just tell me what’s wrong. Is it Daniel?”
“We were going to have another baby,” a voice not recognisable as Dawn’s said eventually.
“Really? Oh, I didn’t know – oh wait –” A cold feeling came over me. “What do you mean ‘were’, Dawn?”
But then there was just louder sobbing and crying and I couldn’t make out a word she was saying.
Oh God, no – not another miscarriage. “Look, Dawn, I’m driving, but I’mon my way back. I’ll be with you as soon as I can. Is there anyone else there? Where’s Graham?”
There was no answer, but at least she’d stopped crying. Jesus, what was I going to do? I was still at least an hour away.
“Dawn, will you be okay till I get there?” Then I had a brainwave. “Dawn, will I call Mark? He could be with you in a minute?”
Mark would know what to do. I just knew he would.
“I’ll be okay,” she whispered again.
“I’ll be there soon, sweetie – I promise!”
More silence.
“Dawn, I can’t hear you, but I’ll be
with you very soon. I’m coming straight to your house.”
I hung up the phone and put it back on the passenger seat, sighing deeply. I hadn’t even known she was pregnant – I mean, Daniel was only three months old. She hadn’t even mentioned going again so soon. I wondered how far along had she been. Not long surely? I couldn’t see her as the type that would keep that kind of news to herself. But maybe with her history of miscarriages she would?
My heart sank. Poor, poor Dawn. Why did shit stuff like that always happen to the nice people? And there I’d been complaining that my weekend had been boringly blissful. I was utterly devastated by the grief in Dawn’s voice. Darling Dawn, who I’d never seen without a smile and a giggle . . .
Before I pulled back out onto the road, I texted Mark to ask was it okay that I call into her for a couple of minutes. The last thing I wanted was for him to spot my car three doors down and wonder why I hadn’t made an appearance at home. He replied within an instant that his mother was baking with the children and that I was not allowed to come home for at least two hours.
At least that was something.
Oh God, what was I going to say?
For a minute I wished I could log onto the babyline. I’d seen a section on miscarriage and was sure there were some words of wisdom there that I could badly do with.
Whereas I’d seemed so close to home barely minutes before, now the miles seemed to drag. Eventually I pulled into Meadowlands and raced down the estate to Kinahans’.
There was nothing for it now but to wing it, I thought as I rang the doorbell.
I almost didn’t recognise the Dawn that answered the door. She was pale and gaunt and her soft golden hair was tied back off a face that was totally devoid of make-up. Her eyes were sunken in her head, and red-raw from crying.
“Dawn?”
“Oh, Holly!” She flung herself on me, almost collapsing in giant, heaving sobs.
“Where’s Graham? Where’s Daniel?”
“Daniel’s in bed,” she managed between sobs, “and Graham . . .” She started to moan again.
“Oh Dawn, come on, I’m here now, it’ll all be okay, I promise.”
Between You and Me Page 27