“So where are you now?” Jenna was asking as she opened the car for Waffle to jump into the back.
“Still in Swansea,” Jack replied.
“Did you remember to take Wills’s glasses?”
“Yep, they’re already fixed.” He went off the line for a moment, saying something to someone else that she couldn’t quite hear.
“Are you still at Martha’s office?” she asked when he came back.
“I am, and she says hi.”
“Don’t let’s forget about that lunch,” Martha shouted out.
“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Jenna called back.
“OK,” Jack said, “I’m about to drive over to Cardiff to check out what this email’s all about from the Arts Council.”
Jenna slipped into the driver’s seat. “Tell me what it said again.”
“Hang on, I’ll get it up on the screen.”
As she waited Jenna reversed out of the forecourt and started down through the village. It was a dismal morning, with every shade of gray glooming the sky and a cloying mist shrouding the fields, but at least the rain had stopped, so she was grabbing the chance to take Waffle down to the beach for a run.
“I can’t find it now,” Jack grumbled irritably, “but it’s on my phone somewhere, so I’ll forward it to you when we’ve finished. Basically they’ve invited me to drop in for a chat the next time I’m in town.”
“Do you think they’re going to increase our grant?”
“It might not be about that, but it could be an opportunity to bring the subject up. It was all very casual, signed from someone called Lewin, or Lewis, but I thought we shouldn’t hang about.”
“Absolutely not,” she agreed. “Remember, you’re going to be there on Thursday anyway.”
“True, but as I don’t have much else on at the moment, I thought instead of going up to London at the weekend to see my mother. I’ll go straight from Cardiff today and come back on Friday.”
“What about the bank?”
“I can always change that.”
“And Wills’s glasses?”
“Oh hell, I forgot about them. Tell you what, I’ll pop over to The Landings and drop them off with Paige. How was she this morning, by the way? She was in a strange mood last night, I could hardly get a word out of her, and the way she yelled at Josh over nothing at all…”
“It’s probably her time of the month,” Jenna sighed. “She always gets moody then. Or it could be the pressure of schoolwork. She has GCSEs next year, remember? Even so, it can’t be good for her to spend so much time shut up there in her room, always reviewing, or doing homework, or chatting with her friends. We hardly see anything of her these days.”
“That’s great news about her video, isn’t it? Her teacher thinks she had some excellent material.”
“I hope you’re not giving yourself all the credit.”
“No way. I mean, I played a part, obviously…Hang on, Martha’s trying to get my attention.” To Martha he said, “What for? I don’t know…OK, OK, I’ll put her on. She wants to talk to you,” he told Jenna.
As Martha came on the line Jenna was passing the church in Port Eynon, turning down toward the seafront, where she could already see foaming whitecaps charging for the shore.
“Hey,” Martha said in her usual cheery voice, “how are you?”
“I’m fine, thanks,” Jenna replied. “How are you?”
“I’m cool. Kind of busy, but that has to be a good thing.”
“Absolutely. So how’s the upload problem coming along? All fixed now?”
“More or less. Actually, it’s why I wanted to talk to you. I was going to email a list of instructions, but if it’s convenient for you I’ll come over and show you how the changes will work.”
“That’s great, but I can always come there.”
“It’s no problem. Let’s say tomorrow or the next day. I’ll give you a call when I’ve looked at the calendar. Maybe we can fit that lunch in while we’re at it, have a nice cozy chat, just the two of us.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Good. Here’s Jack.”
Before he came back on the line Jenna heard him talking to Martha in a tone that didn’t sound too friendly, until he suddenly laughed and said, “Of course I don’t have a problem with you seeing my wife, and no, I’m not feeling left out.”
“I think you are,” she heard Martha tease.
Apparently ignoring her, he said to Jenna, “I should go now, but I’ll call you later, let you know how it goes in Cardiff.”
By the time the call ended Jenna was parking the car in the middle of the port, where—surprise, surprise—Irene Evans’s poodle was standing with its back to the road and nose pressed up against a steel waste bin.
“Oh, Charlie,” she sighed, going to attach the dog to Waffle’s lead, “I guess we’d better get you home before any harm comes to you.” Opening the back of the car for Waffle to jump down, she let him run on alongside as they headed into the jumble of white cottages.
“Hello, Irene.” She smiled warmly as the old lady opened her front door. “Look who I found by the beach.”
“Oh my goodness, he got out again,” Irene cried, clasping her wrinkled old hands to her powdered cheeks. “I didn’t even notice he’d gone. Thank you for bringing him back. Will you come in and have a cup of tea? Clare, isn’t it?”
“Jenna.”
“Of course, it’s just that you look like a Clare. Pretty name, Jenna. Where is it from, do you know?”
Unable to be rude when the old lady was so sweet, she said, “Well, my dad, who chose it, told me its origins are Arabic and it means ‘heaven.’ ”
“Oh my, that’s just lovely, so it is. Heaven. Do you know what Irene means? It means ‘peace,’ so I think we go very well together, don’t you?”
“We certainly do,” Jenna agreed with a smile. “I’m afraid I have to be going now. I want to walk the dog before the rain starts again.”
“Yes, yes, of course. I don’t want to keep you. I’ve just boiled the kettle, though, so if you want to change your mind…”
“That’s very kind of you. Perhaps another time.”
“You’re always welcome. Same goes for that lovely husband of yours. How is he? I haven’t seen him for a while.”
Deciding it might not be kind to remind her that he’d been there only yesterday, Jenna said, “He’s fine, thank you. I’ll tell him you asked after him.”
“Yes, please do that. I’ve been away, you see, at my daughter’s in Swansea. She brought us back this morning, me and Charlie. It’s lovely seeing her, she’s very helpful, but there’s nothing like your own home, is there?”
“No, nothing,” Jenna responded, confused, until she realized that Irene’s sense of time was probably as dodgy as her memory. “Do you have everything you need?” she asked. “I’m going to Tesco’s later if—”
“Oh, I’m all stocked up, thank you, my love. Our Ginnie saw to that before she left. So I’ve got plenty of biscuits if you decide you’d like a cuppa when you get back from your walk. By the way, you know, don’t you, that a peewit on the Bryn means snow in seven days?”
Surprised, Jenna said, “Why, have you seen one?”
“No,” Irene replied. “Not this year.”
Unable to suppress a smile, Jenna squeezed the old lady’s hand and headed off for the beach.
Half an hour later, dripping wet and thinking she’d like nothing better than a cozy little chat with Irene in front of her gas fire, Jenna was on her way to the vet. Waffle had cut a paw on a shell and was limping badly. “If you haven’t already got them,” she was saying to Jack on the phone, “I can pop in and pick up Wills’s glasses.”
“I’ve just given them to Paige,” he told her.
“Oh, OK. How was she?”
“She seemed fine.”
“Did you ask if she was all right?”
“Was I supposed to?”
“You said yourself that she was in a strange mood last night.”
“And you reminded me of why that could be.”
Since she had, she said, “Did you get Josh’s text about ten minutes ago? He’s been picked for the school football team on Saturday.”
“No kidding. Way to go, son! He’ll be as proud as Punch.”
Her heart flooded with love as she imagined Josh’s delight when his name was called. In truth, he wasn’t all that good a player, but it never seemed to put him off trying, even though he spent most matches sitting on the bench.
“Are you going to come and watch?” she asked.
“I should think so,” he replied. “I guess it depends if I’m back in time.”
“You said Friday.”
“Which is definitely what I’m aiming for.”
“You know how much it would mean to him to see you there.”
“I’ll do my best. Let me know how you get on at the vet’s.”
“OK, will do. Have to go now, Paige is trying to get through.”
“Hi, Mum, it’s me,” Paige said into her mobile.
“I know. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m cool. Well, actually not really. Do you think you could come and get me?”
“What is it?”
“I just don’t feel well. I’ve spoken to Mrs. Haynes, and she says it’s all right for me to go home. When do you think you can get here?”
“Well, I’m on my way to the vet with Waffle right now—he’s cut his paw—then I have to take Josh to the dentist and collect Grandma’s prescription, but I should be able to come after that. Can you hang on for a couple of hours?”
Utterly fed up, Paige said, “I suppose I’ll have to.”
“Oh, Paige. If it was an emergency you know I’d come straightaway.”
“It’s OK. I get that everyone else is more important than me.”
“That’s not—”
“I’m ringing off now. Don’t bother coming, I’ll get the bus home.” And before her mother could argue, she ended the call.
Charlotte and Hayley were watching her worriedly, using their slight bodies to shelter her from the wind. They were huddled behind the head teacher’s study, where they’d come to get away from the snide remarks and name-calling that had been going on all morning. It was lunch break now, but it would soon be time to go back inside, and Paige wasn’t sure she could bear to.
“I know it’s running away if I go home,” she said miserably, “but everyone’s being so vile, and it’s not as if I did it.”
“We keep telling them that,” Hayley assured her.
“They ought to realize someone hacked into your account,” Charlotte declared hotly. “Are you absolutely sure it wasn’t this Julie person?”
“No, I’m not sure,” Paige cried. “How can I be when I don’t even know who she is? I just don’t know why she’d do it, that’s all.”
“Tell us again what she said when you asked her,” Hayley prompted.
“That there was no way she’d do that to me. She wants to be my friend, she said, and she thinks it’s terrible that someone would pretend to be me.”
“That’s rich when she’s pretending to be someone else,” Charlotte snorted.
“I don’t see what she’d gain from it,” Paige pointed out.
“What does anyone gain, apart from turning the whole world against you?” Hayley put in.
“Thanks for that,” Paige retorted.
“Sorry, I was just saying…Anyway, I don’t think it was Kelly Durham, or not her personally. Remember, I sit next to her in ICT, so I know how crap she is when it comes to understanding anything about computers.”
“It doesn’t have to have been her,” Charlotte pointed out. “It was probably one of her psycho mates.”
“Like Harry Adcock,” Hayley agreed. “He’s a total genius with computers. He even writes his own programs, so he’d know how to do it.”
Paige looked past them to where a group of year eleven students were going into the study center. Owen’s sister wasn’t amongst them, or not that she could see, but when she’d passed Olivia in the corridor earlier, on her way to Religious Studies, Olivia had given her such a filthy look that Paige had wanted to curl up and die.
As for Owen, he hadn’t come in at all today, so at least he was being spared all the spitefulness and prejudice that scared him so much.
If only he’d return Paige’s calls or texts.
“He’s got to know I’d never do anything like that to him,” she exclaimed in frustration.
“But you did keep saying you thought he ought to come out,” Charlotte reminded her.
“Yes, but not like this, and whose side are you on?”
“Yours, obviously. I’m just saying, that’s all.”
“You think I did it,” Paige accused.
“No way!”
“God, I can’t believe this is happening. It’s like everyone’s turning against me, accusing me of being a two-faced bitch…There are even people posting who I’ve never heard of.”
“They’re just sickos jumping in for the ride,” Charlotte assured her. “You have to ignore them.”
Paige sighed. “I just hope Owen’s reading what they’re saying. He’d know then that everyone’s too busy turning against me to bother about him. Try texting him again,” she told Charlotte, unable to bear Owen’s silence.
Obediently Charlotte took out her phone and pressed to send the same message she’d sent four times already. Owen, please don’t think it was Paige, because it wasn’t. She’s been hacked. Ring me when you get this. Cxxx
As she finished, the bell rang for afternoon lessons to begin.
“What have you got now?” Hayley asked Paige.
“Double English,” Paige replied. “And there’s a rehearsal for Under Milk Wood after school. Miss Kendrick’ll go mad if I miss it.”
“So what are you going to do?”
Paige’s face was pale as she stared off toward the science block.
“Don’t you sit next to Cullum for English?” Charlotte reminded her. “He’s OK.”
Paige nodded. “Unless he’s decided he hates me too. He’s good mates with Owen, don’t forget.”
“What he said to me this morning was that Owen will come round once he realizes you had nothing to do with it.”
Since that sounded as though Cullum believed her, Paige took heart. “I should stay,” she stated, suddenly determined not to miss the rehearsal. She really wanted to play this part, had almost learned it by heart already, so she’d hate herself if she ended up letting the Durmites spoil it for her.
She looked at her phone as a text arrived from her mum.
Do you want me to come for you or not? XX
Texting back, she said, No, don’t bother. I’ll be fine. She didn’t add any kisses; that way her mother would know she was still pissed off about being made to wait.
As they started back toward the main doors Paige felt as though the whole school’s eyes were on her. Everyone obviously knew by now, no matter what year they were in, that Owen Masters had been outed on Paige Moore’s Facebook page. No doubt they’d all been online to have a look, and even add their own snide comments. She wondered how many of them believed she’d been hacked. Probably none.
What mattered most was that Owen should believe it, because she really didn’t want to lose him as a friend.
As they approached the lockers to sort out their books for the afternoon Paige spotted Kelly Durham and her gang hanging around close to hers, and felt a desperate urge to shrink out of the way before they noticed her. She wouldn’t allow herself to do that, though; she had to find the courage to stand up to them.
Spotting her, Kelly immediately gave an exaggerated glance at her phone followed by a pantomime gasp. “Oh my God, have you seen this?” she asked her friends, while keeping an eye on Paige to make sure she could hear. “She must have been hacked again.”
As the others shrieked with laughter and turned to walk away, Paige felt herself turning hot and cold all over. What was on Facebook this time? What sick lies was someone telling? Why were they doing this to her?
“Got it,” Hayley murmured as Facebook came up on her phone. Her eyes widened with horror as she read the latest post on Paige’s page.
My best friend Charlotte is a minger who sucked Mr. Thomas’s cock.
Charlotte’s face was ashen as she and Paige looked at each other.
“Don’t worry, I know you didn’t do it,” Charlotte assured her.
“I swear I wouldn’t.”
“It’s OK, I know.”
“Charlotte!” someone called along the corridor.
They all looked up to see Kelly and her gang still hanging about outside the loos.
“You can come with us if you like,” Kelly told her. “I mean, who’d want to be friends with someone who says stuff like that about them? I know I wouldn’t.”
As Paige’s heart twisted, Charlotte scowled angrily, then shouted back, “Just fuck off.” Grabbing Paige’s and Hayley’s arms, she turned them around to go off in the opposite direction.
The following morning, after dashing through the school run and walking the dog in his protective boot so the stitches didn’t come out, Jenna was handing Martha a coffee while removing a bucket of Legos from the kitchen sofa to make room for her guest to sit down.
“We have biscuits,” she declared, whisking a plate from the countertop. “I’m afraid they’re mostly of the jammy dodger or peanut butter variety, but there are a couple of rich tea and a custard cream in there somewhere.”
Laughing, Martha was about to have a rummage when her mobile rang. She checked the screen and grimaced. “Sorry, I’ve been waiting for this call. Do you mind?”
“Please, go ahead,” Jenna urged, and reached for her own mobile to check her messages as Martha wandered from the kitchen into the sitting room. Apparently the call was confidential.
They’d spent the past hour in the office with the new website displayed on Jenna’s screen as they talked through everything from fonts to page layouts to navigation systems, until eventually Jenna’s head had started to spin. Not that she didn’t appreciate Martha taking the time to walk her through the most recent changes, as a member of her team could easily have done it; it was simply that trying to digest so much technical information in one go didn’t come easily to her. This was why Jack ran that side of the business, leaving her to concentrate on artistic content, though she was touched that Martha apparently felt it important to keep her in the loop.
“Sorry,” Martha apologized, coming back to the kitchen. “I’ll turn it off now.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” Jenna protested. “I understand how busy you are.”
“But it’s lovely to have a break once in a while,” Martha assured her. Returning to the sofa, she picked up her coffee and crossed her plump, shapely legs as she sat down. She was an ample woman of around forty with chaotic blond curls and the kind of face that, while not classically beautiful, was enhanced by her sleepy eyes and her constant air of cheerfulness.
“Do you think she’s sexy?” Jenna remembered asking Jack after they’d first met her.
He’d looked at her askance. “I suppose she could be,” he’d replied, “if you like them that large.”
“I thought you did.”
“What? How do you figure that, when I’m married to you?”
“I’m thinking about the girlie magazines you like looking at. They’re all pretty busty….”
“Yeah, because they don’t get cast for how petite they are.”
“They turn you on.”
“Only when we look at them together.”
Wondering why she was recalling that conversation now, Jenna settled at the other end of the sofa, aware of Martha looking around the kitchen with an almost girlish enthusiasm.
“So how are you enjoying Wales?” she asked, a hint of mischief in her tone. “I expect it already feels like a lifetime since you moved in.”
Remembering the pristine kitchen in Martha’s glamorous seafront villa, and trying not to wince at the clutter in her own, Jenna rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. But we’re very happy here. The kids have settled in even better than we’d hoped, and Jack just loves it.” She gave a wry laugh. “You know what he’s like—Mr. Sociable. He’s made so many friends I’m losing track of them all. One day he’s sailing, the next he’s playing golf or helping out with some fair or festival. That’s when he’s not working on the business, of course, which takes up most of his time.” She wondered why she’d felt the need to assure Martha of that, as though Martha were the boss rather than their adviser. “I take it he told you about the invite from the Welsh Arts Council to drop in anytime?”
“He did. And he went yesterday?”
“That’s right. No feedback from the meeting yet, but it’s probably a bit soon.”
“I’m sure it’ll be good,” Martha declared confidently. “They’re a great bunch, and they love anyone who takes an interest in our little principality.”
Jenna smiled and tried to think what else to say. Jack was in London now, visiting his mother, but Martha didn’t need to know that.
“Tell me about you,” Martha suggested, her merry eyes seeming genuinely interested as they came to rest on Jenna’s. “How’s the writing going?”
Jenna grimaced. “The less said about that the better,” she answered dryly. “Actually, I’m thinking about paying back the advance to try and buy myself some peace of mind.”
Martha appeared concerned and sympathetic. “I guess with four children to take care of, a home to run, and a new company to launch, it can’t be easy to find time for yourself.”
Jenna sighed. “It’s not, but on the positive side I’m loving working on the submissions, and as for everything else…” She cast a sardonic look around the kitchen. “As you can see, I don’t get too fussed about everything having to be in its place. I used to, before I was a mother, but by the time the twins came along I realized it was a losing battle. You have children, don’t you?”
Martha nodded as she helped herself to a second rich tea. “Yes, two. A boy, David, who’s almost fourteen, and our youngest, Julia, is twelve. They’re at boarding school, near London.”
“Do you miss them?” Jenna ventured gingerly.
Martha’s smile seemed resigned. “Of course, but I work such long hours, and, being a pilot, Martin’s away half the time…It’s better for us all this way.” She looked round as the doorbell rang.
“It’ll be the postman,” Jenna said. “I won’t be a moment.”
By the time she returned Martha was on her feet studying the children’s paintings and poems stuck to the fridge.
“They’re so sweet,” she commented, “and talented.”
Jenna laughed. “I’m not so sure about talented, but they like to think so, and I guess that’s what counts. Ah, Mum will be pleased,” she declared, bringing a wallet of photos out of a padded envelope.
“Are those actual prints?” Martha asked with mock incredulity. “You almost never see them these days.”
“I’m sure we wouldn’t if my mother didn’t insist on keeping albums.”
Apparently entranced by the idea of prints, Martha said, “May I? Are they of the children?”
“I’m sure most of them will be,” Jenna replied, handing them over, “and please don’t feel you have to be polite.”
“No, really, I’d love to see them.”
Suspecting they were going to show a very different kind of family from Martha’s own, Jenna could only wonder what Martha was thinking as she went through a messy birthday party, a chaotic sandcastle build, a trot around the woods on ponies, and Paige striking a few pouty-model poses before going out to a disco. Though Martha paused every now and again and either smiled or frowned curiously, she made almost no comment until she’d handed them back. Then she said, “I think it’s wonderful that your mother keeps a record, like this. I wish we’d done it for ours.”
“But you have them all on computer?”
“Of course; it’s just not the same. I see Jack doesn’t feature in many, so I’m guessing he’s the photographer.”
“Usually. But the younger children like taking photos too. They’re just not very good at framing or focus, so we tend to edit them out before ordering prints.”
Martha smiled. “Your eldest daughter—Paige, is it? She’s very pretty.”
In spite of rolling her eyes, Jenna felt a rush of pride. “She doesn’t seem to think so, but I guess that’s part of being her age. Would you like another coffee?”
“Oh no, thanks, I really should be going.” She glanced at her watch. “I’d hoped we might make that lunch today, but once again time’s running away from me.”
As they walked out to Martha’s car, Jenna said, “Thanks again for coming all this way. It was so much simpler to understand the changes than if you’d sent a set of instructions.”
“I’m afraid one will be on its way,” Martha warned, “but hopefully it’ll make more sense now you’ve seen how it works.” She held out a hand to shake, her pretty dimples showing as she smiled. “It was lovely to see you.”
“To see you too,” Jenna replied, meaning it. Hearing her mobile ringing, she made to turn back before realizing how rude it would seem.
“It’s OK, go ahead,” Martha encouraged, taking out her own phone as she got into the car. “Give me a call if there’s anything, won’t you?”
After assuring her she would, Jenna ran back to the kitchen and picked up just in time. “Hi, darling, sorry,” she said. “I was just seeing Martha out.”
“Right. Good. How did it go?” Jack asked brusquely.
“Fine. She’s very good at explaining things.”
“She’s supposed to be. So what did you chat about, apart from the technical stuff?”
“Nothing much, really. The kids, photographs…She thought Paige was very pretty.”
“She’s right, she is. So it went well?”
“Were you expecting it not to?”
“No, of course not. I just wondered, that’s all. Was Bena there?”
“No, she had to take Aiden back to the hospital this morning. She’ll be in later. How are things going with you? Is your mother…?”
“Hang on, sorry, I’ve got another call coming in. I’d better check who it is.”
After clicking off her end Jenna picked up Martha’s empty coffee cup and carried it to the sink. She was glad to have spent some time with her, though she had to admit she didn’t feel she knew her any better as a result of it. In fact, thinking back over the morning, she was starting to sense that there might have been more to Martha’s visit than the demonstration of a new computer system. Though what that could be presumably only Martha knew.
It was Friday evening. Jenna and the younger children were around the table having their tea when the back door opened and Jack burst in as merrily as Santa on Christmas Eve.
“Daddy! Daddy!” the twins yelped, and immediately dashed to throw themselves at him.
“We weren’t expecting you for at least another hour,” Jenna commented, putting down her fork as she got up too.
“Dad! I came in third in spelling,” Josh shouted out proudly.
Jack beamed. “Way to go, little man.” He balanced a twin on each arm as he kissed Jenna.
Catching the beer on his breath, her eyebrows arched knowingly.
“It was just the one,” he promised, “but I’ll have another now I’m home.”
“Another what?” Flora asked, rubbing her fingers over his stubbly chin.
“Beer,” he growled, pretending to bite her.
“I’ll get it! I’ll get it!” Wills insisted, sliding to the floor.
“Grandma’s gone to t’ai chi,” Flora informed him.
His eyes sparkled with laughter. “Has she now? I expect she’ll be very good at it.”
“We do t’ai chi in school sometimes,” Josh announced. “It’s really slow, so Grandma should be OK. Oh yes, and it’s good for breathing, and she needs to breathe at her age, doesn’t she?”
Laughing as he went through to drop a kiss on Josh’s head, Jack said, “She certainly does. And where’s Paige?”
“Where she always is,” Josh complained, “upstairs in her room.”
“We’ve called her,” Flora told him, “but she’s ignoring us. I started on a new reading book at school today.”
“You did? What’s it called?”
“Um…oh yes, I know. A Wee Bit of Trouble.”
His eyes rounded with amazement. “You mean they’ve written a book about you?”
Flora squealed with laughter and flung her arms round his neck. “I’m not trouble,” she insisted.
“Yes you are,” Wills assured her, bringing a beer for his father. “I finished my book too, Dad, and I’m already on page three of my next one. And I did a painting for Mum, didn’t I, Mum?”
“You did, and it’s your best one yet,” she replied. “A lovely abstract. I think we’ll put it up in our office.”
“I’m going to do a painting for Mum too,” Flora declared. “Mine will be of Waffle.”
Hearing his name, Waffle lifted his head and wagged his tail.
“Has anyone fed you tonight?” Jack wanted to know.
As though understanding, Waffle got to his feet and wagged a little harder.
“His paw’s nearly better now,” Wills informed him. “He can probably take the boot off next week.”
“Has anyone fed him?” Jenna asked, looking around.
“Paige might have,” Josh offered. “She usually does.”
“Go and check with her,” Jenna instructed. “And tell her Dad’s home, so she has to come down for tea.”
“I’ll go,” Flora cried, dashing for the stairs before anyone could beat her to it. She had no competition; the boys were nowhere near as interested in what might be going on in Paige’s room as she was.
“I’m here!” Paige shouted over the landing. “And yes, I’ve fed Waffle. Someone has to or the poor thing would starve.”
Relieved she’d emerged, no matter what kind of mood she might be in, Jenna called out, “Do you want mash with your lamb chops or chips?”
“Whatever,” Paige retorted, scooping Flora up as she reached her.
“Will you tell me your secrets?” Flora whispered in her ear.
“Only if you’ll tell me yours,” Paige whispered back.
Flora’s eager nod quickly turned to a frown. “I don’t have any,” she confessed.
Laughing and hugging her, Paige set her down in the kitchen and regarded her mother.
“What?” Jenna prompted, raking a healthy helping of mash onto Paige’s plate.
“Nothing,” Paige replied. “Is that mine?”
“Yes. The other one’s Dad’s, so you can take that too.”
“Ah ha, here’s my little beauty queen,” Jack declared, reaching for Paige as she brought his plate.
“Oh, Dad,” she groaned. “I am so not a beauty queen.”
“Now, that’s just where you’re wrong. How can you not be when you look just like your mother?”
“She’s ugly,” Josh muttered.
Paige turned to Jenna. “Is he talking about you or me?” she demanded.
“You!” Josh shouted.
“She’s not ugly, she’s beautiful,” Jenna admonished.
“How can she not be beautiful when I already said she looks just like her mother?” Jack added.
Paige rolled her eyes. “He is sooo corny. I don’t know how you can stand it.”
“It’s hard, but I manage,” Jenna admitted.
“Dad?” Josh said, drawing out the word. “What’s a condom?”
“What?” Paige shrieked. “How do you know about things like that?”
“I heard someone talking about them in school.”
“But you’re only eight,” Paige protested, “and anyway we’re eating, so we definitely don’t want to talk about that.”
Loving the way Jack’s laughter made Paige’s eyes shine, Jenna returned to her own meal just as Josh was saying to Paige, “Everyone’s coming to watch me play football tomorrow. Will you come too?”
Eyes glued to her mobile, she said, “Can’t. I’m going surfing with my friends.”
His face fell.
Seeming to pick up on his disappointment, she added, “Sorry.”
“It’s all right,” he said, shrugging.
“It would mean a lot to him,” Jenna said quietly.
“Mu-um,” Paige said through her teeth.
“I know!” Josh cried brightly. “Why don’t we all go surfing after the game? We can meet Paige there. Where are you going?”
“No way am I going surfing with you lot,” Paige stated firmly.
“Why not?” he demanded.
She regarded him as if he were crazy. “You mean apart from all the potential for embarrassment?”
As Jack and Jenna burst out laughing, Wills said, “Me and Flora can do body boarding, can’t we, Mum? Mum, where’s my board?”
“In the garage.”
“Can I go and see it?”
“When you’ve finished your tea. We had a lovely email from the school today about Paige,” Jenna told Jack. “Apparently Miss Kendrick, the English teacher, is putting Paige’s short essay about daffodils in the school magazine.”
Jack’s eyes lit up. “That’s marvelous,” he declared. “I’ve told you before, you’re following in your mother’s footsteps with your literary talent.”
“My essay’s hardly in the same league as a novel,” Paige pointed out. “And it’s just dumb putting it in the magazine. No one’ll want to read it.”
“You’d be surprised,” he responded knowingly. “What’s happening about our tourist video?”
“It’s my video, and I’m still editing it. I only have two ICT lessons a week, so it won’t be ready for ages.”
“We’ve got daffodils in our garden,” Wills piped up. “Can we pick some, Mum?”
“I don’t think so.”
“OK. Mum? What’s a condom?”
“Don’t tell him, please!” Paige cried, covering her ears.
As Jack and Jenna laughed again, Wills said, “But I have to know or I won’t ever learn.”
“It’s something people use when they’re making babies to stop them catching diseases,” Josh explained.
Astounded, Jenna said, “I thought you didn’t know what one was.”
“And I wouldn’t exactly describe them that way,” Jack added. “What they’re—”
“No, Dad, don’t, please,” Paige begged. To Wills, she said, “Mum and Dad don’t really know what they are. If they did, there wouldn’t be so many of us.”
Jack gave a shout of laughter. “Touché, Paige,” he conceded.
Clearly trying not to laugh, she simply shrugged and carried on texting as she ate.
“So who are you going surfing with?” Jenna ventured as Flora came to sit on her lap.
“Just some friends,” Paige replied. “You know, Charlotte and everyone.”
“Which beach are you going to?” Josh asked.
“No way am I telling you. You’ll turn up.”
“But we’re not embarrassing, are we, Dad?”
“We try not to be,” Jack assured him.
“Can we take Waffle?” Flora asked.
“Of course. We wouldn’t leave him at home, would we, boy?”
Closing in for a head rub, Waffle whopped Paige with his tail.
“You’re Waffle’s favorite,” Flora told Paige.
“Because I feed him.”
“So does Dad. He does it most, don’t you, Dad?”
Jack was reading a message on his own mobile.
“Dad!” Flora cried.
“What?”
“I said—”
“Sorry, I heard you. I think you’re right, Paige is his favorite.”
“Is she your favorite too, because she’s the oldest?”
“We don’t have favorites,” he insisted, which was true, they didn’t, though Jenna did sometimes wonder if Paige might have the edge for Jack.
“Paige is my favorite,” Flora decided. “And Mummy and you and Josh and Wills and Waffle. Oh, and Grandma.”
“Speaking of grandmas,” Jenna said, “how was your mother?”
Jack sighed and put down his phone. “No change. I think she was glad to see me, though.”
“What’s the matter with Grandma Moore?” Wills asked.
“She had a stroke,” Jenna reminded him.
“What’s a stroke?”
“It happens when blood can’t get through to the brain.”
“She can’t speak, can she?” Flora asked.
Jenna shook her head.
“So how do you know when she’s hungry?”
“Or when she wants to go to the toilet?” Josh added. “Or what she wants to watch on telly? I wish Flora and Wills would have a stroke so they didn’t always get to watch what they want. I’m never allowed to choose.”
“Yes you are,” Wills cried. “And anyway, you’ve got your own television.”
As the predictable row broke out Paige picked up her plate and took it through to the kitchen. To Jenna’s relief she’d managed two-thirds of it, more than she’d got through the past couple of nights.
“I hope you’re not leaving us,” Jack called after her.
“I’ve got homework,” Paige replied, keeping her back turned.
“Please tell me you’re not spending all your time in chat rooms,” Jenna commented, following her out.
“I go on them, like everyone else,” Paige retorted. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Just as long as you’re not using any sites you know we wouldn’t approve of.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid.”
Jenna eyed her warily. It was true, Paige wasn’t stupid, but as her mother, Jenna was never going to take anything for granted.
“Mum, stop looking at me like that,” Paige complained. “I just chat with my friends, and kids from other schools who are studying the same subjects. It’s all perfectly legit.”
“Make sure it stays that way—and if anyone you don’t know tries to get you to do anything…”
“It’s cool, OK? I know the rules, I’m not going to let myself be groomed or stalked or anything that you’re thinking. Oh God, will you listen to them? Why do they always have to scream?”
“Because they’re young. You were once, but now you’ve grown up into a grumpy teenage girl who tries not to laugh at our jokes but can’t really stop herself even when she’s totally embarrassed and wishes we were anyone’s family but hers.”
“It’s spooky how you read my mind,” Paige informed her. Treating Jenna to an exaggerated smile, she disappeared off upstairs.
It was much later in the evening, after hot-water bottles had been filled, stories read, and goodnight kisses dished out, that Jack returned to the kitchen to find Jenna checking her to-do list. “Paige seems in a better mood tonight,” he commented, going to put the kettle on.
Jenna nodded. “Thank goodness. It’s lovely when she laughs, isn’t it? I always feel myself relaxing, which is when I realize how tense she can make me.”
Coming to fold her in his arms, he said, “You’re a wonderful mother, Jenna Moore. She’s lucky to have you and she knows it.”
Jenna’s eyes were shining as she gazed into his. “It’s her daddy she loves best,” she told him. “But I don’t suppose I blame her for that.”
He kissed her deeply, easing her back against the worktop, where they might have gone further had a little voice not called out from the landing. “Mum, Wills said there’s a monster under my bed.”
By the time Jenna had resettled Flora and returned to the kitchen, Jack had left a note letting her know he’d taken Waffle down to the beach.
“In the pitch dark?” she demanded when he answered his phone.
“There’s a moon, and I brought a torch.”
“Are you sure you aren’t in the pub?”
“Would you mind if I was?”
“Only if you were trying to hide it. How long are you going to be?”
“Another ten minutes, no more.”
“OK. I’ll open a bottle of wine to drown our sorrows.”
“What sorrows?”
“The fact that the Arts Council didn’t increase our grant.”
“They might still come through,” he insisted, “so open that wine and put a Do Not Disturb sign on the bedroom door.”
Laughing, she said, “Much notice anyone ever takes of it.”
As she rang off she reached out to answer the landline.
“Jen? It’s Marcus here. How are you?”
“I’m great, thanks,” she replied, feeling her usual warmth for Jack’s younger brother. “How are you?”
“Pretty good. We’re still planning to visit again in the summer if that’s OK. The kids had a blast the last time we came.”
“So did ours, and of course it’s OK. We loved having you here.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but if that new business of yours is up and running by then…”
“We’ll still want you to come, so don’t think any other way. Jack’s out at the moment, I’m afraid, but you can reach him on the mobile, or I’ll ask him to call when he gets back.”
“Thanks. I only want to know if he’s still intending to drive up and see Mum tomorrow.”
Surprised, Jenna said, “He’s just come back from there. Didn’t he tell you he’d changed his plan?”
“Uh—no, uh, sorry—I…I had no idea. Well, if he’s already seen her, I guess that answers my question.”
“Would you still like him to call?”
“No. I mean yes, if he has time.”
“He always does for you. Give my love to Penny and the kids, won’t you?”
“Of course. Same goes for all of you.”
After ringing off she tiptoed up the stairs, emptied the laundry baskets in Josh’s and the twins’ rooms and stood quietly outside Paige’s for a moment, listening to the music inside. It was the same song she’d heard on other occasions, though whether it was coming from the iPod speakers or the computer she had no idea. It hardly mattered. Whoever the singer was, he had a good voice, strong yet mellow, slightly haunting in a way. She wondered if he was the latest teen sensation, or someone Paige knew. So many kids were putting videos and soundtracks online now that it could quite easily be a local lad hoping to make it big.
She’d ask if it wouldn’t out her as an eavesdropper. Since it would, she tiptoed away. Deciding to forget the laundry for tonight, she went to her own room to start lighting candles. It was a while since she and Jack had made love—either they were too tired, or there was a child in the bed, or she was already asleep by the time he got home. Tonight, however, she was very much in the mood to make it happen.