Picking up her bag, Abby gave the girls a cuddle and bent to give Simon a kiss. As she went to walk away he pulled her into his lap and kissed her again.
“Oh, you’re going to make me later than I already am,” she giggled.
“OK!” Simon pressed another kiss to her lips, pushed her to her feet and cheekily smacked her bottom. “Enjoy… I’ll look forward to seeing what you’ve learnt later.”
Abby laughed and teasingly swiped her hand at him. “Behave!”
As she reached the door Simon called after her, “You’ll be back about eight, right?”
“Yeah, sure, if I survive this.”
Jumping into her car, Abby checked the clock. Bugger! Adhering to the safety-in-numbers rule of starting any new exercise class she was collecting Melissa and her mum en route. She fired them off a text to let them know she was finally on her way. Running late was a side effect of being able to read again. She loved the fact that she could pick up a book and read it without her mind interjecting. Her head finally felt free to enjoy it. She’d missed owning her own thoughts. Even just being able to read made her feel more alive. Though being a bit too engrossed in Rebecca Giles’ book was making her late for almost everything.
Abby hadn’t become a great fan of exercise but she liked the way it kept the pounds at bay and helped keep her head clear. The gym remained part of her weekly routine and she’d discovered some long-forgotten stomach muscles as a result; muscles she hoped might help her out in the class she was about to attend. At least it’s not pole fit!
Melissa waved and tapped her watch in mock scorn as Abby pulled up outside her house. Her high ponytail bobbed as she sprung down the driveway, still looking thoroughly bronzed from the tan she’d been secretly topping up with lotion since her month-long honeymoon in the Cook Islands. Her Lycra exercise tights, Bébé et Moi fitted t-shirt and pink tasselled hip scarf accentuated her slight bump perfectly.
“You did get permission from the midwife to do this didn’t you?”
“Yes Mum!” Melissa laughed as she got into Abby’s car.
“You’re not funny! I promised Adam I’d keep an eye on you.”
“What’s he like? I promise to be good and take it easy, OK?” Melissa tugged at her seatbelt. “Besides, Adam won’t mind; the midwife said it’s actually good for keeping your back supple and your pelvic floor muscles—”
“La, la, la – too much information!” Abby laughed.
“Anyway, I could hardly miss Kennedy’s debut could I? We promised her a full class and a full class she shall have. How’s she doing? Did you speak to her today?”
“Of course. She’s nervous, but she’s been training hard and actually sounded really excited.”
“She’ll be great! I can’t wait. Lucy’s coming and bringing Mindy too… there won’t be a lot of jumping will there?” She shook her head and whistled. “Imagine the black eyes!”
Abby giggled. “Melissa, that’s so bad! Honestly, it’s the kind of thing I’d say.”
“I know… you’re such a bad influence on me.”
They both laughed, until Abby remembered she had to be on her best behaviour where Lucy and Mindy were concerned.
“No, stop – we have to be nice. I think they’ve only just forgiven me for being so blunt with them at your wedding. I swear Mindy’s been pulling the bloody wax strips from my eyebrows much slower than necessary.”
“Ouch!” Melissa chuckled.
“It’s not funny, if you’d told me they were a couple before I would’ve behaved less like a nutter when she rested her boobs on Brad… not that I was jealous or anything.”
“Of course not.” Melissa over-emphasised the words and shook her head slowly.
Abby glanced at Melissa, and as they caught each other’s eye they burst into laughter.
Abby’s thing with Brad seemed strange to her now. She was pleased they had managed to stay on good terms and would always remain grateful to him for being there when she needed someone. Under the circumstances Simon had been fairly understanding about the whole thing too, much more so than Abby had expected. She told him she and Brad had ‘shared a moment’ and that she’d been tempted to go further but didn’t. She’d started with a basic outline and decided to elaborate when he asked; she wasn’t going to lie but she wasn’t going to embellish unnecessarily. It turned out Simon didn’t want details. Men – such different creatures to women! He was happy she hadn’t slept with him and in the scheme of things having her and the girls back with him eclipsed everything else. It was a very lovely thing to say, though Abby was pretty sure the situation was also eased by the fact Autumn had returned from her travels and was very much on a mission to sort things out with her man. Who knew life with the lovely Bradley Hunter would turn out to be more appealing than trekking around India with a backpacker from Manchester? Derrrr!
Eleanor was waiting on her front porch. Her exceptionally white trainers and Angela Lansbury inspired salmon tracksuit came into view before she did. Abby smiled. Melissa jumped out of the car and stood holding the door in the style of a chauffeur.
“Hello Mrs S, all set for a bit of a jiggle then?”
“I am indeed, Mary’s meeting us there and I told her to bring along anyone else she could muster.”
“It’s great you girls are getting in shape.” Melissa shifted Jessica’s car seat and sat in the back of the car.
“It’ll be worth it you know, when we jet off on our travels! Did Abby tell you we’re off to Jersey?”
“Of course I did!” Abby laughed.
Eleanor was enjoying telling everyone that she and Mary were soon to be ‘jetting off’ on their travels. She was so excited about her trip. Abby and Kennedy were both surprised and hugely proud of her for booking it. Eleanor and Mary had gone and done it on a whim after a win at bingo – just like that! For as long as she could remember Abby had watched her mum visiting the places her dad had wanted to visit and doing the things he had wanted to do. This was something purely for her, a holiday of indulgence. It was what she deserved. Just thinking about it made Abby beam, especially when she imagined the look on her mum’s face when she saw the red Triumph Roadster 2000, aka ‘Bergerac’s car’, which Simon had secretly arranged to take her out for a spin during her stay.
Practically running along the corridor of the leisure centre and bursting in just after the initial introductions Abby blushed, Melissa grimaced and Eleanor apologised to the group before proudly introducing herself as Kennedy’s mum. Kennedy’s cheeks reddened and she gestured for them all to take their places.
“You’re just in time, we were about to warm up.”
Abby glanced round. It was quite an eclectic group of people. There were a few she didn’t recognise and while their barefoot-and-all-the-gear appearance made them a little intimidating Abby was pleased to see Kennedy’s belly dancing class had attracted more than just friends and family. Eleanor joined the bingo crowd at the back who looked a little surprised at what they’d let themselves in for, while Melissa and Abby stood in a line that contained Lucy and Mindy in pink leggings and Prrrrimp Your Hide vest tops. Patty waved from the front and Abby wondered how she had missed her in her leopard print catsuit. Abby waved back and her heart swelled a little; bless her for coming; bless them all for coming! She knew Rachel would have been there too if she hadn’t been called away to work as preparations for the next leg of Rebecca’s tour got underway.
While Abby was hurt by Rachel not telling her about Simon, she realised she couldn’t stay angry with her for long, it was tiring and undermined her mission to move on. Besides, Rachel had seen Helen Herne; getting her drunk meant she could fill in all the missing details Abby wanted to know. She could even identify her on Facebook, as Simon could have if Abby had been brave enough to ask him. It had been a bizarre and intriguing night. All those things that had eaten away at Abby and seemed so important culminated in one night of discovery. And the most important thing Abby discovered was that it didn’t particularly matter who Helen was or what she looked like; Abby had sat there and looked at Helen’s face, even had it within her grasp to contact her and for what? There was nothing to gain from doing it. It wouldn’t change what had happened. Nothing could change it. Though accepting that knowledge was – don’t tell Kennedy – empowering.
At the front of the class, Kennedy looked lovely, just as Abby remembered her from her earning-cash-to-get-through-college bellygram days; like a blonde Princess Jasmine in her crop top and chiffon harem pants. Abby stared a little enviously at her fabulously lean stomach; after three babies as well, grrrr! Kennedy handed out scarves for those who didn’t have them to wrap around their hips or wrists. It gave everybody something to focus on and relieved the tension. Abby wasn’t sure she needed anything to accentuate her hips but chose a sparkly purple one, popped it on and wiggled to test out the jangling noise of the shiny penny tassels. She was never going to be a great dancer but she was learning that not caring what others think and throwing yourself into it could get you quite far. The hypnotic rhythm and beat of the Middle Eastern music started and the slow, sultry warm-up began.
It wasn’t long before they realised Patty was quite the star of the class: her hip circles were smooth, her arm movements fluid. In contrast Abby felt that her hand movements looked as out-of-control as her Incy Wincy Spider hands that had always got a laugh at Grace’s baby boogie class. In fact Patty’s hip thrusts, clearly punctuated at the four points on her imaginary hula hoop, were carried out with a conviction the rest of the class couldn’t help but admire. When it came to hip shimmies, a little fun towards the end of the class, everybody threw themselves into it with gusto, though Abby had to admit hers were more what you might call all-over-body shimmies. She knew she was supposed to keep her upper body still; her mind was saying it but the thought got lost somewhere in translation to her chest. She made a mental note to sneak a bit of extra tuition with Kennedy before the next lesson.