Ava descended the stairs, Willow in her arms.
Seeing the front door open, she put Willow down, and ventured outside, where the air was freezing.
‘Peter?’ she called into the darkness, wondering if he was outside having a smoke. ‘Peter, are you out here?’
There was no reply, but a sudden noise on the road startled her. A glimpse of yellow, as a figure ran down the road. She raced inside, slammed the door, and dragged across the bolt. She stood, shaking, trying to calm her racing heart.
‘Mummy?’ Willow was looking up at her, eyes wide.
‘I’m OK, darling girl,’ she said, taking her daughter’s hand, and making for the lounge. As they stood in the doorway, Ava tried to summon the strength to reunite with her family. Her eyes flicked over each of them in turn. Had one of them peered at her while she slept? Or had the figure – whoever he was – come out of the darkness and crept up the stairs? She shuddered.
‘Ava, you’re back!’ It was Peter, leaning against the table, knocking back another bottle of beer, and grinning over at her.
A memory pushed its way in.
‘You’re just like your father,’ her mum is yelling, blood dripping from her fingers.
But the memory – so short, so confusing – disappeared as Rory spoke.
‘Hey, Pete,’ he said. He was sitting in the armchair. ‘I’m having a stag do,’ he went on. ‘Gail says I’ve got to have it long before the wedding. Apparently I need six weeks to get over a hangover.’ He laughed. ‘Anyway, how are you fixed for November 10th?’
Peter raised his bottle towards Rory. ‘Sounds good to me.’
‘We’ll do a pub crawl around Newquay, have a curry – pick up a few women.’
‘Rory!’ Gail cried.
‘Joking, sweetheart!’
‘Well, you can count me in,’ Peter said. ‘Should be a laugh.’
Gail hadn’t mentioned a hen do. But then she wouldn’t have invited Ava anyway.
‘Did you take the money into the hotel earlier, Rory?’ Gail asked him.
‘Shit.’ He slapped his forehead. ‘I knew there was something I’d forgotten.’
‘Please say you’re messing with me.’
‘No, I totally forgot.’ He sounded unconcerned, a half-smile on his face.
‘But the balance deadline was yesterday, Rory. They’ve already given us an extension. They told me they have another couple waiting for our slot. Please say you paid it.’
‘I’ll take it in tomorrow, Gail,’ he said, giving her a hard stare. ‘They won’t have a problem. Calm down, for Christ’s sake. They’re just trying to panic us into paying.’
‘Don’t worry, love,’ Jeannette said, patting Gail’s knee. ‘The village hall is nice, and always available.’
‘The village hall?’ Gail sounded close to tears. ‘I don’t want my wedding in the bloody village hall.’
‘Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,’ Jeannette went on, patting Gail’s knee once more. ‘Now why not show me this cake of yours.’
Gail looked down at the book open on her lap, and with a sulky tone she said, ‘Well, this is the picture I gave to Margo’s of Newquay.’
‘Oh my, you’re using Margo’s of Newquay?’ Peter said, in a silly high-pitched voice, widening his eyes and covering his mouth flamboyantly with his hand. ‘Whatever next!’
‘Tell him to shut up, Mum,’ Gail said like a child, as she placed the book on her mother’s knee.
‘Did anyone come upstairs while I was up there?’ Ava said, twirling her hair around her finger, struggling to be heard over the chatter and music. Willow looked up at her with wide blue eyes, and then at the room in front of her. She opened her mouth and let out a piercing scream that lasted several seconds. Everyone stopped talking. The only sound now was Britney Spears singing ‘Oops … I did it again’ through the speakers.
‘Willow!’ Jeannette yelled, pushing the bridal book towards Gail.
‘There is no way I’m ever having kids,’ Gail said, covering her ears with her manicured hands. ‘They’re demons in disguise.’
‘Whatever are you screaming for, Willow?’ Jeannette said. ‘Ava, you need to control your daughter. I would never have let any of you behave in such a way. Quite honestly, I sometimes worry about the way Willow is wired.’
Willow looked up at Ava and smiled. ‘Mummy talk,’ she said.
Ava returned Willow’s smile and squeezed her hand. ‘Did anyone come upstairs when I was up there?’ she repeated.
‘I think we’ve all been up there at some point in the last ten minutes,’ Peter said, and with a grin, added, ‘Mum’s sandwiches go straight through you.’
‘Not me,’ said Gail. ‘I haven’t moved from this spot since I arrived. What’s this about, Ava?’
‘I went to the loo,’ said Rory, raising an eyebrow. ‘Didn’t realise I had to sign in and out.’
‘Ava?’ Gail’s eyes were firmly on her.
‘I just thought—’
‘What?’ Gail’s voice was sharp. She tapped an elegant fingernail. ‘What did you think?’
‘Nothing. It doesn’t matter.’ She finally stepped into the lounge and sat on the floor in the corner, pulling Willow onto her lap, wishing she had an invisibility cloak.
‘She’s such a pretty girl,’ Rory said, staring down at Willow. ‘Looks so like you, Ava.’
Ava felt herself flush. She received so few compliments that when she did she didn’t know how to respond, but she knew she was flattered – stupidly flattered.
‘Did you look like Willow as a child?’ he asked her, his eyes, definitely his best feature, meeting hers.
‘We both did,’ Gail said, glaring his way. It was true. Ava and Gail were alike when they were children. But today they couldn’t look more different: Ava was pale, her features dainty – whereas Gail’s fake tan, expertly made-up face, and collagen-filled lips, had changed her from the girl she once was.
‘I looked just like Willow when I was little, didn’t I Mum?’ Gail said.
‘You both did,’ Jeannette said.
The sudden thought of her sister claiming even a tiny part of Willow was unthinkable. Ava may have made a mistake getting pregnant, but Willow was hers. Gail wasn’t going to share even a tiny moment of that. ‘Willow’s more like me, I think,’ she said, pulling her daughter closer, the child’s hair tickling her nose.
‘So, she gets her good looks from you, Ava?’ Rory said, swallowing a mouthful of wine, his eyes meeting hers again.
‘What?’ Gail glared at him. She was the confident sister, she’d always gone through life with her tribe of friends. Boys, and later men, had practically fallen at her feet. It was clear she wasn’t happy that Ava was in the spotlight.
There was a painful silence as Britney Spears stopped singing, and the CD player clicked to standby.
‘I was just saying Willow looks like Ava, that’s all, Gail.’ Rory narrowed his eyes, fixed them on Gail.
‘But you said you think Ava is pretty.’
‘I think Willow looks like her mum, Gail. That’s all.’
‘That’s not what you said, though.’
‘Enough, Gail.’ He glared at her. Ava hadn’t seen his eyes flare with so much anger since she’d bumped into him that time at the arcade. She pushed herself further against the wall.
Gail looked down at her hands. This was the most submissive Ava had ever seen her. ‘We should leave,’ Gail said, her voice quivering. She grabbed her bridal book and held it close against her chest. For a moment, Ava felt for her sister, wanted to get up and hold her close, but she knew she never could.
‘Don’t go,’ Jeannette pleaded. ‘We were having such a lovely time. Ava, why not take Willow upstairs for a little while?’
Ava wasted no time in jumping to her feet. She lifted Willow into her arms. ‘Pleasure,’ she said, and left the room once more.