Brooke was in the living room, staring at her phone, when her mum came up from the pub.
‘She’s not back yet?’ Janey asked.
Brooke shook her head. ‘And not a word from her. Mum, you don’t think he’s managed to talk her round again, do you?’
‘After what she found out? Rhianna’s stronger than that.’ Still, Janey looked worried.
‘Who’s on bar?’ Brooke asked.
‘Mark. He was good enough to stay on and do an extra shift. God knows, me and you are going to be no bloody use down there. I’m twitchier than a ferret.’ She sat down. ‘He doesn’t like working nights, though. Now Rhianna’s gone, it’s difficult to make the rota work without…’
‘Without Hayden,’ Brooke murmured. ‘Ironic, isn’t it? I tried to convince you we didn’t need him, then we ended up coming to depend on him.’
‘I don’t suppose there’s much point recruiting for someone else. Not with… you know.’ Janey looked around the room. ‘I’ll miss this old place. I watched my babies grow up here. Did you consider that offer to stay on as landlady after Willowtree take it over?’
‘I don’t want to stay on under them. It’ll only frustrate me, feeling like it’s my pub but not my pub. I’m better off taking the money and making a fresh start with a little freehold of my own.’ Brooke glanced at a framed photograph showing the pub in the 1920s, old black motor cars and charabancs parked outside, back when the first generation of Padgett landlords had owned it. ‘It’ll be no Highwayman’s, though.’
‘No.’ Janey sighed. ‘It’s a shame.’
‘But it’ll be worth it, if we get Rhianna back.’
Janey straightened at the sound of a car pulling up outside.
‘It’ll just be a customer,’ Brooke said. ‘I’ve been the same, jumping in my seat at the sound of every car.’
Still, she followed her mum as Janey went to peer out of the fire escape door.
Three figures were walking through the beer garden, weaving through the tables with a case in each hand.
‘Nana!’ a little voice yelped as the smallest figure started waving frantically.
‘Oh my God!’ Brooke turned shining eyes to her mum. ‘It’s them! They’re home!’
‘Thank God,’ Janey said with a sigh of relief.
Seconds later the little family were reunited there on the fire escape, hugging and laughing and crying, no one quite sure whose arms belonged to who but embracing whichever body they found themselves nearest to.
‘Oh, my love,’ Janey whispered to Rhianna. ‘You were so brave. We’re so glad you’ve come back to us.’
‘You’ve saved our lives, Mum. Both of you.’
‘Come in, all of you. Come and get unpacked so I can feel like you’re really back to stay.’
Janey shooed them inside, like a mother duck teaching her babies to swim.
‘Max, Livvy, do you want to go put your things back in your bedrooms?’ she said. ‘Mum could do with a glass of wine, I should think. It’s after bedtime, but I suppose tonight you can be allowed to stay up late. I’ve been saving some chocolate for just such a special occasion.’
‘And so the bad habits begin,’ Rhianna said after her children had run off to unpack.
‘Spoiling them has always been the nana’s prerogative,’ Janey said, smiling.
‘Speaking of bad habits, let’s get the wine open.’ Brooke headed into the kitchen to pour them all a glass.
‘Rhia, I can honestly say I’ve never been so happy to see you,’ Brooke said when they were all furnished with a drink. ‘I mean, I don’t want you to get carried away and think I like you or anything, but welcome the fuck home.’
Rhianna smiled. ‘OK, stinkosaurus.’
‘Stinkosaurus Rex.’
Janey laughed. ‘Rhia, tell us what happened.’
‘There isn’t much to tell. I sent the au pair out, packed the kids up, told James exactly what I thought of him and walked out. Honestly, I was so calm I surprised myself. You know when you’re so angry that it sort of passes through anger and into a sort of mellow resignation?’ She took a sip of wine. ‘Mind you, I’d already taken a lot of it out on his suits.’
‘What did you do to his suits?’ Brooke asked.
‘Shredded the lot with a kitchen knife. At least a dozen, all designer, and not one costing less than eight hundred quid.’
Brooke laughed. ‘Oh my God! Rhianna, you’re my absolute hero.’
‘Well, chicken, welcome back,’ Janey said. ‘In case you haven’t worked it out by now, we’re pretty pleased to have you home.’
Brooke glanced at the old photo again. ‘For as long as it is home. I do think we did the right thing in selling, and I wouldn’t ever wish it undone now we’ve got you back, Rhia, but I’ll miss this old place.’
‘Oh, that reminds me,’ Rhianna said. ‘I still need to ring Nick about that contract.’
Brooke nodded. ‘Has to be done.’
‘I’ll do it now. Get it over with while I’m feeling brave.’
She took out her phone and pulled up Nick’s number.
‘Hi, Nick? It’s Rhianna.’ She paused. ‘I’m absolutely buzzing, thanks for asking. I was ringing about the contract.’ Pause. ‘No, Monday’s no good for me. No, not Tuesday either. Actually, I just called to tell you you can shove it up your arse. I’m not signing.’ She smiled. ‘No, you heard right. Nothing you can do to… no, well, it’s no good to you without all three of our signatures, is it? Nope, definitely not going to change my mind. Thing is, Nick, this place belongs to my family. It has done since 1928. If it’s all the same to Willowtree Taverns, we thought we’d quite like to hang on to it for at least one more generation. OK, bye. Bye then.’ She hung up.
‘Tell you what, I’m having a great day,’ she said to Brooke and Janey. ‘It’s cathartic, telling off all the men who’ve ever done you wrong. I might see if my ex from uni’s in the phone book, just so I can make it a hat trick.’
Brooke stared at her. ‘Rhia, what the hell did you just do?’
‘The right thing.’
‘But… what about your independence?’
‘I can have my independence without us having to lose the pub.’ She took out a piece of paper. ‘This is a statement from the company James uses to manage his stock portfolio. He’s very kindly invested money in my name to the value of two hundred grand. It’s winging its way to my bank account as we speak.’
‘Two hundred grand!’ Janey said, her eyes widening. ‘Why would he do that?’
‘He didn’t mean to. It was some loophole to do with tax, and paying as little as he could get away with. The main thing is, the money’s in my name and there’s nothing he can do to stop me claiming it. It was only when I spotted the company logo on an envelope in his in-tray that I remembered the account and it occurred to me I might be able to claim the cash.’
‘But…’ Brooke’s head was spinning. ‘But you could’ve had twice that again if you’d signed Nick’s contract.’
‘I’d rather have the pub.’
‘Rhia, you didn’t need to do that just for me.’
‘I didn’t.’ Her gaze wandered to the old photo. ‘I did it for me. I care about this place too, Brooke. I still want to do things with my life and career – I want to fulfil my ambition to practise as a barrister. But there’ll always be a part of me invested in The Highwayman’s Drop. Well, it’s Dad’s, isn’t it? That means it’s ours.’
Brooke leaned over to give her a hug.
‘Thanks,’ she whispered. ‘I won’t forget this.’
‘You won’t be able to,’ Rhianna said, smiling as she returned the hug. ‘You’re stuck with me now, sis. How does it feel?’
‘Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.’
The Sunday that followed was the day of Max’s eleventh birthday party. The pub’s function room had been reserved for the occasion, with a table-top chocolate fountain hired, plus a face-painter and an entertainer who was going to teach the kids circus skills. All of Max’s Leyholme friends and a couple of the boys he’d been close to at Abbotleigh had been invited. Brooke could hear the sounds of merriment from her bedroom.
She was flicking through the image gallery on her phone, looking at the few selfies she had of her and Hayden. He was still ghosting her. Brooke was starting to wonder if it was time to give up and accept that he’d made his decision – except she couldn’t bring herself to give up, although it had been over a week since their big row. Not without at least talking to him one more time.
If he’d only pick up! She could tell him, then, how wrong she’d been. Apologise; tell him she’d changed her mind. And hope, hope to God, he’d be able to forgive her…
There was a knock at the bedroom door, and Rhianna’s face popped round.
‘Aren’t you coming down?’ she asked. ‘We’re having the funnest good time ever downstairs. Max’s words, not mine.’
‘No, let the kiddies enjoy themselves,’ Brooke said. ‘They don’t want old crumblies like me hanging about.’
‘Yes they do. Max asked for you, that’s why I came up. He wants to see you eat a chocolate-covered strawberry.’
Brooke sighed. ‘Will he be upset if I don’t?’
‘I think so. Well, you were the genius behind the chocolate fountain idea.’ Rhianna came in and squeezed her shoulder. ‘Come on, sis, cheer up,’ she said gently. ‘I hate seeing you out of it like this. We’ve made a little breakout room for the parents where the wine’s flowing. Come and join us, let your hair down.’
‘I’m not in the mood for talking to parents. What can I talk to them about? It’ll be all OFSTED inspections and chickenpox outbreaks, or whatever the current thing is.’
‘Just come for a bit, for Max. One glass of wine and a chocolate strawberry and we’ll let you escape up here again.’
‘Well, all right. For Max then.’ She swung her legs off the bed and followed Rhianna down to the function room.
‘Aunty Brooke!’ Max yelled when he saw her, running up. He was grinning from ear to ear, his face painted like Spider Man and his mouth smeared with chocolate. ‘You were right. Chocolate strawberries are the best way to have strawberries.’
She forced a smile. ‘Told you, didn’t I?’
‘I dipped one for you.’ He ran to the fountain table to get it and bore the paper plate to her solemnly. Brooke smiled as she popped the strawberry in her mouth.
‘Yum,’ she said, rubbing her tummy. ‘Definitely the best. You should try them with white chocolate, though.’
Max’s eyes widened. ‘White chocolate!’
‘We’ll make them one day, shall we? We can give them choc-chip eyes to make strawberry ghosts.’
‘Ooh, yeah! I want to make strawberry ghosts.’
A little girl with her face painted like a tiger ran up and tugged his sleeve. ‘Max, come on. We’re going to learn how to juggle.’
Brooke flinched as she recognised the kid under the paint. It was Cara. Of course Cara and Darcie would be invited, as friends of the birthday boy.
‘Um, hi again,’ she said.
Cara blinked at her. ‘Hello.’
Rhianna hooked an arm through her sister’s. ‘Come on, Aunty Brooke. Come have a glass of wine with the mums and dads while this lot practise their juggling skills.’
‘Right.’ Brooke watched Cara trot back to the group of kids with Max, then followed Rhianna into the small adjoining room where the buffet was laid out.
She frowned when she walked in.
‘But there’s no one here,’ she said.
‘Yes. I may have told a naughty fib. Most of the parents are down in the bar.’ Rhianna put her hands on Brooke’s shoulders and turned her around. ‘All except this one.’
She blinked. ‘Hayden?’
He smiled awkwardly. ‘All right?’
‘I’ll leave you two to talk.’ Rhianna gave her sister’s arm a supportive squeeze before leaving them.
Hayden rubbed his neck. ‘Um… so.’
‘So,’ Brooke said.
‘I think one of us has been a bit of a prat, haven’t they?’
She sighed. ‘I know. I’m so sorry.’
‘I meant me.’ He stepped forward, as if he was going to hold her, then thought better of it. ‘Er, your sister tells me you’ve had an eventful week.’
‘Yes.’ Brooke felt like she was half in a dream. ‘Well, I lost my boyfriend. Then I lost my sister, and my niece and nephew. Then I came within a gnat’s whisker of losing my pub.’
He whistled. ‘That is eventful.’
‘It kind of worked out. I mean, I saved my sister, and then she paid me back by saving the pub.’ She met his eyes. ‘But I’m still miserably single, so it hasn’t all been happy endings.’
He flushed. ‘I’m sorry. I should’ve answered your calls. I’ve been… kind of sulking. It really hurt me when you said you thought I was just using you to get a mum for my kids.’
Brooke winced as she heard her words repeated back to her. ‘God, I’m sorry. I never should have said it. I know how you feel about your kids, and what an honour it was that you were so keen to make me a part of their lives. I was angry that you’d pushed me into that situation before I was ready, so I lashed out and said things I didn’t mean. I’ve been trying to ring you all week to apologise.’
‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have pushed you into it. The girls were excited, and… well, you’re an aunty. You know how hard they are to say no to when they get like that.’ He lowered his gaze. ‘Still, I knew better. Sorry.’
‘Do they hate me now?’ Brooke asked quietly.
‘No. They’re just puzzled. I wasn’t sure how to explain it to them.’
She summoned a watery smile. ‘We’ve missed you at the pub.’
‘I’ve missed being here.’
‘Will you come back?’
He met her eyes. ‘To the pub?’
‘Well, I kind of meant to me. And the pub. I think you know by now that we come as a pair.’
She caught his hesitation, and her heart sank.
‘I mean, if you don’t want to after what I said then I understand,’ she said.
He laughed, finally taking her in his arms.
‘I wasn’t hesitating over the coming back to you part,’ he said, kissing her hair. ‘It’s the pub. I have missed it, but this past week, rediscovering what it’s like to be more than a part-time dad, playing games, helping with homework… it made me realise I needed to make more time for the girls. I can’t keep working every second God sends.’
‘I understand.’ She tilted her face up to kiss him. ‘What about one shift a week on Saturday nights? Just so we can have the old gang back together.’
He smiled. ‘Deal. Now how about we go have a drink downstairs while we wait for the kids? I’m buying.’
‘Hayden…’ She leaned back to look into his eyes. ‘Um, could we…’
‘What? Nip down to the beer cellar?’
She laughed. ‘Not right now. I was going to say… can we say hi to your girls before we go down? I’d like to start as I mean to go on.’
He looked into her eyes. ‘You mean it?’
‘Yes. I’d love to get to know them better. I mean, I’d be proud to, really. I know already that they’re a great pair of kids, and, well… they’re yours.’
‘Aren’t you frightened? I know how you feel about big, scary, terrifying children.’
She smiled. ‘Not any more. You can thank Max and Livvy for that. I don’t think I realised quite how much those two had come to mean to me until I discovered they were gone.’
‘I’d love for you to get to know the girls,’ he said softly. ‘Hey, are you busy this afternoon?’
‘No, why?’
‘I told them we could have rounders practice on the rec after the party. How about joining us, with Rhianna and the kids if they’re free? We’d love to have you all.’
‘That sounds… perfect.’ She kissed him. ‘Just perfect.’