‘Someone’s in a good mood,’ Xander said.
It was a balmy Saturday morning three weeks later, early spring sunshine streaming through the kitchen windows and the scent of blossom and bluebells hanging in the air. Anne was humming to herself as she arranged a bunch of daffodils in a crystal vase.
‘And why not?’ She pecked his cheek as she passed him. ‘“I’m always most religious upon a sunshiny day.” Lord Byron said that, the poet – you know, the mad, bad and dangerous one. Even if you don’t have much religion, you can sort of see what he means, don’t you think?’
‘You can.’ Xander filled in three-down on the crossword he was doing at the breakfast bar. ‘Hey, one of my class is called Byron. I hope he won’t grow up too mad and bad.’
‘You miss them, I bet. Jeremy’s still planning to come back after Easter, isn’t he?’
‘Yep. Just one more week of school, then after the hols I can go back to being a common factory-floor slob.’
Anne smiled. ‘Ah, but you won’t be, will you, Mr Deputy Head?’
‘I suppose that’ll be a bit different,’ he said, his pen hovering over the next clue. ‘It’ll feel good to be teaching again though. I’ve talked it through with Jeremy and he’s going to discuss with the governors the possibility of more teaching time for the head when I take over from him next year. Having my cake and eating it, if you like.’
‘I hear Ryan’s resigning as chairman at the end of the school year too. Just what that school needs, a new broom. Who’s the new chair going to be, do you know yet?’
‘Caroline Fairchild’s offered to do a stint from September. She’ll be good, I think.’
‘I’m certainly not surprised Ryan feels he ought to go after the way he behaved.’ Anne tutted. ‘So childish, the way he targeted you like that. I wonder he doesn’t leave now and spare you all his sour face.’
Her face had puckered like she was sucking on something pretty sour herself. Trying to get her son the sack would always be the ultimate unforgivable offence in her book.
‘So the last stressful thing I have to deal with before we break up is the Parents versus Teachers Bunny Hop Race on the final day of term,’ Xander said. ‘I hope we won’t have any punch-ups this year. Are you coming?’
‘No, I’ve arranged a shopping trip with Martha, Janet and some of the other WI ladies. We’re all in need of a new spring wardrobe now the weather’s starting to turn.’ Anne looked up from her daffs to beam at him. ‘Oh, Xander, I haven’t told you my exciting news.’
‘Go on, what?’
‘I’m going back to work.’
Xander glanced up from his crossword. ‘Back to Curl Up and Dye? Are you sure you’re ready for that? You’ve not been sober a month yet, Mum. I don’t think you should put yourself under too much stress in the early days.’
‘Oh no, I’m not going back to that old place,’ Anne said, wrinkling her nose. ‘I’m going into business for myself.’
‘What, like, mobile hairdressing?’
She laughed. ‘Yes, kind of. But not people. Dogs.’
‘You mean you’re going to give them perms and highlights and that?’
She cuffed him affectionately. ‘Dog-grooming, you daft apeth. I’m going into partnership with that doggy friend of Stevie Madeleine’s, Deb – well, I think they might be more than just friends between you and me, not that it’s any of my business.’
‘You’re going into partnership with Deb?’
‘That’s right. She’s got the contacts and I’ve got the transferable skills, so to speak, so I’m going to do a bit of retraining and then we’ll have some business cards done. I think it’ll be fun, don’t you?’
‘Er, yeah. It could be good for you actually. What are you going to call this business?’
‘Well, Deb suggested Doggy Style, which I thought had a nice ring to it.’
Xander nearly choked on his coffee. ‘What?’ he gasped.
‘Doggy Style. Sounds sort of classy, wouldn’t you say?’
‘Mum, I’m sure Deb was joking. You can’t call it that.’
She looked up at him. ‘Why not, love? Don’t you think it works?’
‘It’s just, er… do you know what it means?’
‘Well, yes. What else could it mean? Stylish dogs.’
‘No. No, it… it means something else as well. Something a bit, well, rude.’
‘Does it?’ She smiled knowingly. ‘No it doesn’t. You’re teasing me, aren’t you?’
‘Honestly, Mum, it does.’
‘I don’t believe you.’ She reached across the worktop for her tablet. ‘Here, let me check.’
His eyes went wide. ‘You’re not going to Google it?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘Please don’t do that. And whatever you do, don’t make it an image search.’ His cheeks were flaming now. ‘It’s a sexual position, Mum. I think Deb was making a joke. She’ll have thought you knew.’
‘Sexual position, is it?’ His mum looked thoughtful. ‘Well, you learn something new every day. I should probably stop using it as a hashtag then.’
Xander spluttered a bit more coffee over his crossword. ‘You didn’t!’
‘Don’t be such a prude, Xander,’ she said, laughing as she ruffled his hair. ‘I’m sure my followers will think it’s funny. Now, what are your plans tonight while I’m at my AA meeting?’
‘I’m staying over at Nell’s.’ Xander folded up his newspaper. ‘I told her I’d head up there after lunch so I should probably get showered and dressed. There’s some big surprise she wants to show me.’ He stood up and kissed his mum on the cheek. ‘Hope it goes well at your meeting, old lady. Give me a ring if you need me.’
She smiled. ‘Xander, you worry too much. Be sure to give Nell my love, won’t you?’
Stevie sighed as Deb snuggled into her back, moulding their bodies to one another.
‘This is nice,’ she whispered. ‘Saturday cuddles.’
‘Mmm.’ Deb brushed her lips against Stevie’s neck, one hand snaking under her pyjama top. ‘I could definitely get used to a bit of spooning at the weekend.’
‘Oi. Those are naughty cuddles.’ Stevie tapped her wandering hand. ‘I can hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet next door. Milly’s up, we have to behave.’
‘Unless you fancy a shower together? I’ll let you scrub my back.’
‘You’re a bad influence, you are.’ Stevie rolled to face her and pressed a kiss to her lips. ‘Thanks for staying over.’
‘Thanks for having me. I was a bit worried Milly might resent the invasion, but she seemed pretty unfazed by it.’
That was an understatement. Milly had been so excited at the idea of a sleepover, it was with great difficulty that Stevie had stopped the little girl from commandeering Deb herself and forcing her to sleep on the top bunk in her room.
It had felt like a milestone though, Deb’s first night staying over at their place. Before, Stevie’s girlfriend had felt like something separate to home stuff, another part of her life. But last night, with the three of them snuggled up on the sofa watching TV, then getting Milly bathed and put to bed together, it felt for the first time like they were starting to become a little family.
‘Are you happy, Deb?’ she asked.
‘Very. Are you?’
‘Yes. Yes, I really am.’
‘Stevie Madeleine,’ Deb said softly, running one finger over the bridge of Stevie’s nose. ‘Tell me how I ever got a girl as far out of my league as you to look at me twice.’
‘Mainly I think it was your talent for flattery.’ She played idly with a strand of Deb’s hair. ‘I never thought I could have this again, Deb. With you and Milly and Nell in my life, I feel like I’ve finally got everything I ever wanted. And Red, of course.’
‘Nell means a lot to you, doesn’t she?’
‘She does. It’s funny, we only met five months ago, but I feel like I’ve known her for years.’
‘How come?’
‘Not sure really. I never found it easy to form close bonds when I was young, or as an adult either. I wasn’t that kid who had a best friend, you know? But with Nell… I suppose she feels a bit like a little sister. Which is something you dream of when you’re growing up in a house full of boys.’
‘Well, I’m glad. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better too.’
Stevie looked up to meet Deb’s eyes. ‘Sweetie, I— can I tell you something?’
‘Course you can. Is it something good or something bad?’
‘Something… old.’ Stevie took a deep breath. She’d been working up to this for days. ‘Something I should really have shared before now.’
‘OK,’ Deb said. ‘You have to let me go first though.’
Stevie frowned. ‘What, you’ve got something to tell me?’
‘Yep. I’m kind of hoping it might be the same thing as you’ve got to tell me.’
‘What is it, Deb?’
Deb leaned forward for a kiss. ‘Just that I love you,’ she whispered. ‘You knew that, right?’
Stevie smiled. ‘Aww.’
‘Was that what you wanted to tell me?’
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘I mean, no; that was something else. But I do, though.’
Deb laughed. ‘I’m not sure how flattering it is that loving me was only second on your list. So what was the other thing?’
‘Oh… nothing. I’ll tell you another day.’
Deb looked into her eyes. ‘You’re sure? It sounded important.’
Stevie hesitated. But before she could say anything else, the door swung open and two little feet bounced onto the bed, closely followed by four little paws.
‘DUMBO!’ the two-legged thing yelled. The four-legged one joined in with an excited bark.
Deb laughed, sitting up to give Milly a hug. ‘OK, mini thunderbolt, I haven’t forgotten Dumbo day. There’s ages till the film starts, don’t worry.’
‘Packed your tissues?’ Stevie asked Deb. ‘If the live-action version’s anything like the cartoon, you’ll need them.’
‘Yeah, that bit where his mum rocks him with her trunk through the prison bars gets me every time. Not sure I can cope with seeing real elephants doing it.’
‘Mummy, why aren’t you coming to the cinema with us?’ Milly demanded.
‘Because I have to look after Red.’ Stevie glanced at Deb. ‘And I thought it might be nice for you two to have some fun without Mum there to tell you off. I bet Deb will spoil you rotten without me around.’
‘Will you?’ Milly asked Deb.
Deb shook her head. ‘Absolutely not. Your mum’s trusting me to take care of you and I intend to be completely responsible and grown-up.’ She lowered her voice to a stage whisper. ‘Wait till she’s gone and we’ll talk Slushies, ’K?’
Milly grinned and nodded.
‘Right then, you lot,’ Stevie said, pretending she hadn’t heard as she swung the duvet off them. ‘Time to get up. I’ve got to head into town and pick something up for Nell while you two are getting Dumbo-ready.’
‘Come on, Mill,’ Deb said. ‘Race you to the kitchen. Last one there gets cabbage for breakfast.’
‘No way!’ Milly leapt off the bed and ran as fast as she could to the door, Red at her heels and Deb hot on hers. Stevie smiled as she watched them go.
‘Oh,’ Nell said when she answered a knock at the farmhouse door to find Stevie on the doorstep with a parcel in her arms. ‘Hiya. I thought you might be Xander.’
‘Hey. What can Xander give you that I can’t?’
Nell laughed. ‘You don’t want to know.’
Red snuggled against her human’s calf as Stevie turned to look out over the horizon. The sun, hot for the time of year, bathed the moors in gold as insects buzzed lazily around Nell’s overgrown little meadow-garden. She plucked a sprig of lavender from a clump near the fence and held it to her nose.
‘Glorious wilderness,’ she sighed. ‘You know, Nell, I’m actually jealous. This place’ll be paradise in spring and summer.’
‘And freeze-your-jubblies-off Baltic in autumn and winter,’ Nell said. ‘That’s the price I agreed to pay when I bought it, I suppose. You coming in for a glass of wine?’
‘Go on, just a quick one. Let’s sit out though, make the most of the nice weather.’
‘Good idea.’
Nell fetched a couple of fold-up chairs and plonked them down by a freshly sheared Colin, who was enjoying a sunbathe in his new fleeceless state, then headed inside to pour herself and Stevie a glass of white wine each.
‘That is one weird sheep,’ Stevie said as she took her seat, leaning down to tickle Colin’s ears. ‘Normally they run a mile at the sight of a human, but this one seems to think he’s a dog or something. Who does he belong to anyway?’
‘The farmer who owns the field next door. He doesn’t seem to mind Colin adopting me, as long as I send him back for clipping,’ Nell said. ‘He told me Colin was a sickie lamb – orphaned at birth and couldn’t be matched with another ewe, so the family hand-reared him as a kind of pet.’ She gave her contented sheep a stroke. ‘Nice to know he won’t be going anywhere.’
Stevie smiled. ‘What on earth made you call him after your dad?’
‘Something in the eyes, I think. They both look like they’re constantly disapproving of me.’ Nell nodded to the parcel. ‘Is that my costume then?’
‘Yep, I picked it up this morning.’
‘Ta, love.’ Nell took it from her and eyed it with trepidation. ‘I’m actually pretty nervous about this Bunny Hop thing. Xander says it gets really competitive.’
‘Heh, he’s not wrong. It’s full-on Thunderdome some years. This’ll be my first year as a competitor too so better watch yourself, Miss Shackleton.’
‘I’ll make sure I sharpen my elbows.’ Nell started peeling off the parcel tape. ‘Where’s Milly today?’
‘Out with Deb. I wanted them to do a bit of bonding on their own so she’s taking Mill to see the new Dumbo.’
‘I take it that means things’re going well.’
Stevie’s cheeks pinkened a little. ‘They are actually. Really well. Thanks, Nell.’
‘Me? What for?’
‘For talking me out of committing to a life of chaste, boring singledom. I forgot it could be like this. You know, love and all that.’
Nell looked up from her parcel to raise an eyebrow. ‘That’s a big word.’
‘Yeah,’ Stevie said with a sigh. ‘And not one I’d expected ever to use again. But I’ll shut up before you have to go dig the sick bags out. How are you and Xander getting along?’
‘Great,’ Nell said, smiling. ‘I think we’re at the big word stage ourselves, except neither of us wants to go first. Well, he kind of already did go first accidentally, but then he took it back straight away so it doesn’t count.’
‘Oh, get on with it. You two are made for each other.’
Nell shrugged. ‘There’s no hurry. When the time’s right, we’ll know.’
‘Are you spending Easter together?’
‘No, not this year. Xand’s got plans with his mum, I think. Holidays are always a bit rough when you’ve lost someone, aren’t they? I’m going home to do the family thing.’
‘I guess your Freddie will be back from uni too, won’t he?’
‘He will, but he tends to spend Easter with his mum’s family. She gets him for Easter and we get him for Christmas, that’s the deal.’
‘Your mum?’ Stevie said. ‘I thought you didn’t have much contact.’
‘No, not her.’ Nell frowned with concentration as she struggled with the stubborn layers of tape on her Bunny Hop costume. ‘I mean Alison, his birth mum.’
‘What, is Freddie adopted?’
‘Yeah.’ Nell looked up from her parcel. ‘I told you that, didn’t I?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’
‘Oh. Sorry, could’ve sworn I did. Yes, he tracked her down a few years ago. It was a rocky road, all those issues to work through, but they’ve got a pretty strong relationship now.’
‘How do you feel about that?’
‘Pleased for him, obviously. But…’ She sighed. ‘Stevie, am I a terrible person for being just a bit jealous?’
‘Of course not, chicken.’
‘It’s just, Fred always had this close bond with Leanne, and now with Alison in his life too, it feels like he’s got mums coming out of his ears and…’
‘…and you haven’t got any.’
‘Yeah.’
Stevie gave her shoulder a squeeze. ‘Why don’t you talk to Leanne over Easter? Whatever’s happened between you two in the past, that shouldn’t stop you from building a better relationship as adults.’
‘I’m just worried it’s too late.’
‘It’s never too late to fix what’s broken. She definitely wants you two to be closer; I could sense it at the fete.’
‘You only spoke to her for a minute.’
‘Still, I could tell. Mum instinct. So will you talk to her?’
‘Well… maybe. If I can find a way to open the conversation.’ Nell finally got the last piece of tape off the well-packed costume and shook it out of the wrapping. ‘Um, Stevie. What the hell is this?’
Stevie snorted. ‘Oh God.’
Nell turned the strapless black leotard around to examine the little white pompom tail on the bum, then picked up the matching ears and bow tie that went with it.
‘Stevie, when you said you’d be able to pick me up a rabbit costume…’
‘I didn’t do it on purpose, Nell, I swear.’
‘I can’t do the race dressed as a bunny girl, can I? It’s only three weeks since Ryan Theakston was trying to paint me as the official school harlot so I’d say this is the last thing my reputation needs.’
‘Honestly, that’s not the one I hired,’ Stevie said, struggling to keep her face straight. ‘They must’ve muddled the costumes or something. Here, give it back and I’ll exchange it for you.’
Nell squinted down the track, where she could just make out Xander’s tall frame striding towards them. ‘Er… yeah. Actually, you mind if I hang on to it? Just till tomorrow.’
Stevie followed her gaze. ‘Oh, I see. Well, just remember you’ll lose your deposit if he rips your cotton tail off with his teeth in the throes of passion.’ She finished her wine and stood up. ‘Come on, Red. There’s about to be some muggle-type shenanigans around here and I don’t think we want to be present when they happen.’ She ruffled Nell’s hair. ‘Have fun, you two.’