When I got back inside Linda had put Rosie on the couch, and was tucking a cosy blanket around her. When Rosie was nicely settled, and almost asleep, Linda turned to me with her arms folded. She didn’t look very cross, but she didn’t look very happy either. I was starting to feel very uncomfortable.
‘Let’s clear up a bit,’ I said, and I picked up the two empty champagne glasses and headed for the kitchen.
I guessed that Linda would follow me – and I was right. We both sat at the kitchen counter and looked at each other. Linda’s make-up had worn off, and she was back to her old self – the self I was used to.
I just wished she wouldn’t keep looking at me like that.
In the end the silence got to me.
‘I suppose I’m in the biggest trouble ever,’ I said.
Linda thought for a minute.
‘Nobody died I suppose.’
I couldn’t help giggling.
‘Someone could have. Alice and I are really bad cooks.’
I was very relieved when Linda laughed too.
‘Vanilla soup – that was a first for me. And a last too I hope.’
Then she got serious again.
‘OK, Megan,’ she said. ‘Here’s the deal. You tell me exactly what this was all about, and then you don’t get into big trouble. How about that?’
I so did not want to tell Linda about the plan, but it didn’t sound like I had much choice. Maybe if I told her the truth, she’d be able to understand why I had to help Alice.
‘Well,’ I began. ‘You see, it’s like this – you know Alice’s mum and dad don’t live together any more?’
Linda nodded and I continued.
‘Well, we thought that if you and Peter, sort of…….’
I stopped talking. Now that I was trying to explain it to someone else, it sounded really, really stupid. How had Alice ever persuaded me to join in this crazy plan?
Linda urged me on.
‘If Peter and I what?’
I spoke in a big rush.
‘Alice thought that if you and Peter kind of fell in love, Veronica, that’s Alice’s mum, would get jealous, and then she’d try to get back with Peter, and they could all live happily ever after.’
Linda spoke very quietly – so quietly that I had to lean forward to try to catch what she was saying.
‘And what about Peter? Did you think about his feelings at all?’
I shook my head. I’d been so busy worrying about not getting into trouble, I hadn’t really thought about Peter at all.
Linda continued.
‘Your mum told me all about Peter before. Things were difficult between him and Veronica for ages. He’s had a very hard time since she left. What if he fell madly in love with me, and then I turned around and went back to Dublin? Did you think about that at all?’
I shook my head again. This was awful. Linda wasn’t being cross – she was even being quite nice – but she was making me feel like I’d been a total idiot.
Linda wasn’t finished yet.
‘And what about me? You and Alice were just using me, weren’t you?’
I nodded slowly. I hadn’t really thought of it like that, but now that she mentioned it, I knew she was right.
Linda went on.
‘What if I fell madly in love with Peter? What then?’
I covered my face. I’d never even thought of that happening.
‘Would you…… I mean did you… I mean…?’
Linda sighed.
‘Peter’s a very nice man,’ she said. ‘And we had a lovely evening together, but…’
Linda stopped talking, and then started again.
‘Let’s forget about Peter for one minute,’ she said. ‘I’ve just remembered the makeover you and Alice gave me this afternoon.’
I put my head down. I could feel my face going red. Linda gently put her finger under my chin, and lifted it so I was looking right into her eyes.
‘That makeover wasn’t a Guide project was it?’ she asked.
I shook my head slowly.
‘You’re not even in the Guides, are you?’
I shook my head again – even slower this time.
‘And that thing with the lights not working last night – did you and Alice have something to do with that?’ she asked.
I nodded.
There was a very long silence. This was so, so awful. Linda is always so nice to me, and now she knew that I’d told her loads of lies.
Suddenly Linda started to laugh.
‘You girls,’ she said. ‘What are you like?’
I couldn’t laugh with her. I still felt too bad. Linda was my aunt, and what if she really had fallen in love with Peter? It would have been all my fault. I should never have let Alice talk me into this stupid plan. I could feel tears coming to my eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said. ‘I’m really, really sorry. For everything. And Linda, do you… I mean… Peter… do you … do you like him?’
To my great relief, Linda shook her head.
‘As I said before, Peter’s a very nice man, but he’s not my type. Not my type at all. And…’
Linda stopped speaking and gave a funny little smile that made me crazy to know what she’d been planning to say.
‘Go on,’ I urged her. ‘And what?’
Now Linda was beaming. She lowered her voice again, even though, besides the two of us, there was only Rosie in the house, and she was surely asleep by now.
‘And … can you keep a secret?’
I nodded. I love secrets. (Except for the ones that Alice tells me, which always get me into trouble.)
‘I met this man in Dublin a few months ago,’ said Linda. ‘He’s nice. Well actually, he’s more than that – he’s very nice. And maybe, some day … well, let’s just say I have a good feeling about this.’
‘Does Mum know about this?’ I asked.
Linda shook her head.
‘No, and you’re not to tell her either. You know what she’s like. If she hears a word about it, she’ll get all excited, and she’ll probably start knitting me a wedding dress or crocheting a bouquet of flowers or something. I’ll tell her soon, I promise. But don’t say a word just yet.’
I laughed.
‘OK. It can be our little secret.’
We didn’t say anything for a while. It was so cool, Linda having a boyfriend at last. She must have been lonely in Dublin on her own for all those years.
I wondered if she was going to get married. Maybe she’d ask me to be her bridesmaid. Being a bridesmaid would be so totally cool. And Rosie would make a really cute flower girl. And Mum would never buy a new outfit, I knew that for sure, but at least she still had the nice pale green dress from my Confirmation, and she could wear that to the wedding. We could all go to a fancy hotel and…
Linda interrupted my happy thoughts, and dragged me back to the present.
‘I suppose the whole dinner date thing was Alice’s idea,’ she said.
I nodded.
‘Since her parents split up, Alice and I never do normal stuff any more. All she does is come up with crazy plans to try to get them back together.’
‘The poor little thing,’ said Linda. ‘She must be really unhappy.’
‘She doesn’t always say it, but I know she is,’ I said. ‘And sometimes I feel like telling her just to stop making a fuss, and get on with it. And sometimes that makes me feel really mean. After all – what do I know about what it’s like to be Alice? Mum and Dad drive me crazy most of the time, but at least they’re happy together.’
Linda nodded. Suddenly I had to have her opinion.
‘What do you think about this plan?’ I asked. ‘This “romantic date” between you and Peter? Do you think it might work? Do you think Alice’s mum might get jealous, and get back together with her dad?’
Linda smiled.
‘Well, Alice is a plucky kid, and I can’t blame her for trying. But even if Alice’s mum does feel slightly jealous, that might not make her want to get back together with Peter.’
‘What do you mean?’ I asked.
This time Linda thought for ages before she answered.
‘Well, sometimes things are a lot more complicated than kids understand. Sometimes, if something is broken badly enough, it can never be fixed, no matter how hard you try. It’s very sad for Alice and her little brother. And it’s sad for Peter and Veronica too. But—’
I interrupted her.
‘But what about Alice? She still thinks her plan is going to work. She hasn’t given up. She never gives up.’
Linda gave a long sigh.
‘Well, I suppose miracles sometimes do happen.’
I put my head in my hands for a second, and then I looked at Linda again.
‘And if there’s no miracle?’ I asked.
Linda put her arm around me.
‘Then you’ll just have to continue being a good friend, and be there to help Alice pick up the pieces.’