by Jo Bartlett
‘You look a-maz-ing!’ Toni was barely recognisable. Her hair had been transformed from a mid-brown, mid-length bob, to a black and silver graduated cut. Her eyebrows looked like the sort that teenage girls spent hours perfecting before they went out, and she had false lashes that went on for days, not to mention the impractically long nails that matched her hair. If anyone was going to stand out at the hen night, it was going to be Toni. Usually she was understated, rocking a no make-up, up-at-dawn-to-milk-the-cows, country girl-next-door look, which Anna had thought reflected exactly who Toni was. This was like when goody-goody Olivia Newton John suddenly turns up at the end of Grease with spray-on trousers and an attitude to match.
‘Thanks, I’m still getting used to it.’ Toni wrinkled her nose. ‘I can’t even pull my pants up properly with these nails. Tonight might be a good test of just how close we really all are, because I’m going to need one of you to follow me to the ladies loo every time I go.’
‘We’re midwives, I think we can handle it.’ Anna grinned and stepped back to let Toni in. ‘The question is, what’s brought on the new look?’
‘I was just feeling old before my time.’ Toni shrugged. ‘Mousey brown hair and a dull complexion. I was basically beige.’
‘You always look fantastic to me, but there’s no way anyone could describe you as beige tonight.’ Anna followed her down the corridor of the cottage. ‘You do know that Jess is going to force you to wear an orange jumpsuit, don’t you? You’d look far better in the black and white convict’s outfit she’s bought me, than I will.’
‘I doubt that.’ Toni scooped up one of the glasses of sloe gin and Prosecco without even pausing for breath, and downed the lot. ‘I need a bit of Dutch courage to go out like this. I keep thinking it’s too much.’
‘I was just about to say how amazing you look.’ Ella handed Anna a glass.
‘Me too and I think we should all toast your new look, as soon as we’ve had a drink to toast Anna’s big night.’ Jess topped up Toni’s drink.
‘Cheers!’ The four of them clinked their glasses together. The other midwives, and the rest of the hen and stag party were meeting them at the first venue.
‘Am I allowed to know where we’re going?’ Anna took a large gulp of the purple cocktail sloe gin, which tasted dangerously good.
‘Not until you’ve got changed into your outfit, although you might need to wear a coat over the top.’ Ella dropped just enough of a hint to set Anna’s mind racing all over again.
‘If I look as lumpy in this dress as I’m expecting to, everyone’s going to be grateful I’ve kept my coat on.’ Anna picked up the package containing the fancy dress costume and then took another sip of Jess’s cocktail. The more the sloe gin and Prosecco slipped down, the less self-conscious she felt about putting it on. A couple more toasts to the evening ahead and she might even be willing to undo the top button of her coat before the night was out.
Ella and Dan couldn’t have chosen a less summery location for the first part of the sten do, which was apparently the proper name for a joint stag and hen do. The ice rink was about eight miles outside Port Agnes, on the road to Port Tremellien. It was a new addition to an activity centre, on a site that had once been a dairy farm, and the old milking shed had been converted to house the rink itself. The centre ran other activities, including paintballing, and its claim to fame, according to the signs on the approach road, was the longest zip wire in the South West. For one night only there was a huge banner strung across the back wall of the rink, bearing Brae and Anna’s names. The roof of the old milking shed was strung with twinkly fairy lights and it would have been quite a romantic scene, if one of the stags – wearing his inflatable sumo suit – wasn’t lying like a stranded whale in the middle of the ice, with three others trying desperately to help him to his feet. Dan had secured a private booking for the first two hours of the sten do and it turned out Ella was a whizz on the ice. Sadly, the happy couple weren’t quite so graceful.
‘I’ll let go of the side if you promise not to let go of my hand.’ Even as he tried to stand slightly more upright to take hold of Anna’s hand, Brae’s legs almost went out from under him.
‘I’ll do my best, but I’m only marginally better at this than you.’ Anna grinned; they both had the bruises to prove it and she was glad that Ella had the foresight to tell her to bring a pair of jeans to wear under the convict’s dress. But she hadn’t laughed this much in ages. Brae, bless him, was like a newborn foal when he took to the ice. It was only a few weeks since the splint had been taken off his hand, after breaking a couple of small bones in the boating accident that had taken longer than expected to heal. He’d been told his hand was completely healed now, although Anna doubted Brae’s doctor would have been pleased to see him repeatedly landing palms down on the ice.
‘I didn’t know I could even do the splits until ten minutes ago.’ Brae grinned. ‘Anything to avoid falling forward onto my hands for the twentieth time!’
‘I must admit, I thought your sumo costume was going to split from here until next week when you got up.’ Anna laughed again. ‘All that’s for my eyes only now, you know! Although your last night of freedom isn’t quite what it should be, having me tagging along.’
‘I’ve never been happier in my life than since we got together and I don’t want another second of freedom, if that’s what you want to call it. I wish I’d met you ten years ago, so I could have had ten years longer with you.’
‘I wish we had too and then we’d have—’
‘Don’t.’ Brae pressed his mouth against hers, cutting her off before she could finish.
‘You don’t know what I was going to say.’ She murmured the words when he finally pulled away.
‘Yes, I do.’ Brae suddenly let go of the barrier and shuffled a couple of steps forward. As he looked over his shoulder, he wobbled badly and had to grab hold of the side again.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Showing you just how much you’ve got to look forward to, being married to a man with the skating moves and body of Baloo from The Jungle Book! Have you got your phone with you?’
‘I think so.’ Anna slipped a hand into her coat pocket. ‘Yes, here, but you using a mobile on the ice is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention that I’ll probably end up needing to buy a new phone.’
‘Just record me for the next five minutes and I promise it will be worth it.’ Brae dropped a wink and seconds later he disappeared into the group. When the others around him cleared, she saw him in the centre of the rink, arms flailing as he fought to stay upright. Then, without warning, he went into a spin, which was really more of a fall, and could only finish in one place; on the floor, in a heap. Thankfully he landed on his bottom, with a thud that couldn’t fail to draw everyone’s attention, the plastic sumo suit not offering much protection at all when it came down to it. Anna kept filming as Brae tried and failed to get to his feet, laughing so hard that the mobile phone was shaking. It took four of the sumo wrestlers and a couple of convicts to finally get him up on his feet and back to the safety of the side.
‘Did you get it all?’ Brae looked at her, as she slid slowly across the ice towards him, hoping no one would jostle her even slightly. She’d definitely end up on her backside again if they did.
‘I think so and it was hilarious. But it was a big risk, too, given that you’ve just recovered from a broken hand, and I still don’t get why?’
‘Because Ella said she needs as much content as she can get for the social media pages she’s set up to save the lifeboat station, and the films I’ve been re-enacting with Dan have been going down really well. I thought me making an idiot of myself on the ice might help keep the momentum going and I wanted a viral video to go in Ella’s favour this time.’
Anna propelled herself forward, circling her arms around his waist. ‘If I ever sound like I’m anything less than the luckiest girl in the world, then I’m sorry. You do so much for everyone, but I want you to know I’d
do anything for you.’
‘Anything?’ He widened his eyes.
‘What have you got in mind?’
‘Right now?’ He paused. ‘I’d like you to drag me back to a non-slippery surface, so I can kiss you without worrying that I’m going to end up on my behind, or worse still, my face. Oh and maybe grab one of those hot chocolates with whipped cream and marshmallows. It might be June, but it’s flipping freezing in here when you’ve landed on the ice as often as I have!’
‘Hot chocolate? You’re so rock and roll.’ She held out her hand. ‘But I can’t think of anything I’d rather do, or anyone I’d rather do it with.’
‘Stick with me baby and you might even end the night with a cup of tea and a chocolate digestive.’
‘You know I love it when you talk dirty.’ Anna slid towards the exit of the rink, clinging on to Brae’s hand as if her life depended on it.
It was hard trying to run for the loo and keep your legs crossed, but Ella would have to master it if she was going to get there in time.
‘I don’t think Jess fully thought this through, getting us all jumpsuits when we were heading to a bar famed for the size of its cocktail pitchers.’ Ella dashed into the first open cubicle, with Anna taking a more sedate pace behind her.
‘Feeling better now?’ Anna smiled as Ella emerged a couple of minutes later.
‘Much!’ Washing her hands, she was just about to ask if Anna was having fun when she heard someone shouting.
‘I don’t know why the hell you turned up here, anyway. Just go home!’ Suddenly the door of the ladies’ cloakroom burst open, whacking against the tiled wall with a powerful thud. Jess might be small, but if she’d given it much more force she could have taken the whole thing off its hinges.
‘Are you okay?’ Almost before Ella had got the words out of her mouth, Jess had dissolved into noisy sobs.
‘What’s wrong?’ Anna was already at her side.
‘It’s Dom. He saw some pictures on Instagram and he worked out where we were tonight. He keeps asking me to meet up with him to talk and for some reason he thought tonight was the perfect opportunity. There’s nothing I want to say to him that I haven’t already said, but he just won’t take no for an answer.’
‘Do you want Dan to have a word with him?’ Ella was slightly hesitant. Dan wasn’t the sort to make threats to anyone, but, if Jess was this upset, she was sure he’d be willing to step in to help protect her from Dom’s unwanted attention.
‘Thanks, but I don’t want to make things worse.’ Jess sniffed. ‘I’m terrified that if I don’t keep him onside, he’ll wreck things when they ask him to write a reference for my fostering assessment.’
‘Surely he can’t do that? Can’t you explain what he’s been like?’ Anna furrowed her brow as Jess sighed.
‘I could, but what if the social worker or the panel think I’m just making excuses and choose to believe whatever Dom writes?’
‘They must deal with this sort of stuff all the time.’ Ella put an arm around her. ‘The best thing you can do is be honest with your social worker about how things are with Dom, from the start. Then, whatever he tries to do to mess things up, he won’t get away with it.’
‘And if that doesn’t work, we’ll put him on the ice with Brae and that’ll be the end of him!’ Anna grinned and, for the first time, Jess managed a smile too.
‘You’re right and I’m sure it’ll all come up in the first session with my social worker. Like Ella said, they’ll have dealt with much worse than Dom.’ Jess sounded like she was trying to convince herself. ‘If I ever risk another relationship again, I need to model it on what you guys have got with Brae and Dan. Maybe if Dom and I had been able to communicate properly in the first place, we’d never have got ourselves into this state.’
‘I can’t be as upfront with Dan about everything as I should be.’ Ella tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘He thinks I don’t want to get married again because of what happened with Weller and, when he first mentioned it, I really didn’t. But the closer we’ve got to Anna and Brae’s wedding, the more I realise I would like to get married eventually. Maybe not right now, but I don’t want him to think it’s totally off the cards forever.’
‘So tell him!’ Jess made it sound much easier than it was.
‘I’m worried if I mention it, he’ll feel like he has to ask me. I couldn’t bear the thought of getting engaged to someone who’s only done it because they felt pressured. Been there, done that, and got the “jilted at the altar” T-shirt. I’ll just have to keep dropping subtle hints and hope he gets it.’
‘Anna could make sure you catch the bouquet at her wedding.’ Jess wiped the mascara from under her eyes as she spoke; at least it was distracting her from worrying about Dom.
‘Yes and maybe I could pretend I’m taking Anna’s wedding dress to the dry cleaner’s afterwards and I could ask him if he thinks it would suit me!’ Ella laughed. ‘Or I could just sit around the house wearing it like Miss Havisham, until either the cobwebs consume me, or Dan finally realises I wouldn’t mind if he popped the question.’
‘I’d like to say I’ve heard worse ideas, but I’m not going to lie.’ Jess grinned. ‘I’m feeling much better, though. I don’t know what I’d do without the two of you.’
‘Just as well, because you’re stuck with us. And, as your boss, I’m going to have to insist you both get back out there and have a good time.’ Anna pulled open the door and ushered them out of the ladies’ cloakroom.
‘Yes ma’am.’ Ella saluted and followed Jess back out into the corridor, a shadow moving up ahead as two figures sprung apart.
‘Toni?’ Ella stepped back and Toni actually shrieked.
‘We were just…’ Toni’s mouth was still moving, but for an uncomfortable few seconds nothing else came out. ‘Bobby just had something in his eye, I was looking to see what it was.’
‘In a dark corridor?’ As Jess asked the question, Ella nudged her. Toni had used a similar excuse the last time they’d been caught and they were obviously sticking with a theme. If that was what they wanted, Jess would just have to play along with it too.
‘You don’t owe us any explanations.’ Anna’s voice was gentle, but Toni was shaking her head so hard she was in danger of losing the dangly earrings that complimented her new look.
‘We’re not together!’ Poor Bobby didn’t say anything, but there was a sadness in his eyes and Ella couldn’t help wondering what he made of the desperate attempts to keep their relationship secret.
‘Okay, whatever you say.’ Jess’s tone made it obvious she wasn’t buying it, and it was hard to believe that an intelligent woman like Toni really thought she was convincing anyone.
‘Shall we get back to the party before the others give up on us?’ Anna smiled, but Toni was still radiating enough tension to power Port Agnes.
‘I’m in! There’s a jug of mojito with my name on it. See you later.’ Ella was already following Anna down the corridor, and even Jess had picked up the pace. Fascinating as it might have been to be a fly on the wall when Toni and Bobby finally spoke to one another, Toni looked capable of swatting anyone who hung around flat against the wall. Sometimes you just had to know when to walk away.
15
Anna looked down at her phone as it buzzed in her hand, right after she’d turned it on again following her morning clinic. There was a voicemail from an unknown number.
‘Hi. It’s Luke Scott here. My wife, Tamara, is one of your patients. She’s having pains, which she insists are just those practice contraction things. But I don’t know, they seem pretty bad. Sorry, I know she’s not booked in for a home visit, but I just wondered if you could pop by and check her over. If you’ve got time?’
Anna had the afternoon off, and she was due to head up to the Red Cliff Hotel to run over some plans with the event coordinator. Tamara was one of her most vulnerable patients, though, and she’d never forgive herself if she didn’t go and check on her first, and something bad hap
pened.
✉︎ Hi Luke, it’s Anna Jones here. I got your message and I’ll be over in twenty minutes.
‘Enjoy your afternoon off.’ Toni barely looked up from the desk as Anna stopped off at the staffroom to pick up her bag. Ever since the joint stag and hen night, Toni seemed to have retreated into herself, as if any conversation with the other midwives might run the risk of them bringing up her relationship with Bobby.
‘I’m going out to see Tamara Scott first. Her husband called to say he’s worried about the severity of the Braxton Hicks she’s having, and I just want to check it’s not the start of labour. With her history, the consultant’s really keen that she’s in hospital to deliver, in case the baby needs any extra help.’
‘Isn’t she the lady with the eating disorder?’ Toni finally looked up, the dark circles under her eyes suggesting it wasn’t just volunteering to cover extra on-call shifts lately that had been keeping her awake at night.
‘That’s the one. She’s quite fragile in a lot of ways. If things don’t go according to the birth plan she’s worked out, she’ll find any kind of adjustment quite difficult to take. She’ll probably need some extra support if she is in labour.’
‘Aren’t you supposed to be going up to the hotel to talk about the wedding?’ Toni must have seen the look of surprise as Anna’s eyebrows shot up. ‘I overheard you telling Ella about it.’
‘I am, but it can wait. I need to make sure Tamara’s okay first.’
‘I’ll come with you. That way, if she needs someone to go to the hospital with her, I can take over. I’ve met her once in clinic and, when I’m not being awkward and prickly, I can be really quite empathetic.’ Toni gave an apologetic smile. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been a bit of a nightmare lately, it’s just that things are… complicated.’