Dad phoned on Sunday morning and asked if he could come over to take me out for lunch at The Black Swan.
‘I have something to tell you and I didn’t want to do it over the phone,’ he said as we sat down with our drinks. ‘Your mum and I are getting divorced.’
Even though I’d expected it to happen, hearing those words still shocked me. ‘I’m so sorry. Are you okay?’ He looked exhausted with several days’ growth on his face and dark circles beneath his eyes.
He ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I will be. I know it’s for the best for us both but it feels a bit alien at the moment.’ He shrugged.
‘Why now? You’ve been unhappy for ages but didn’t seem to want to take that final step.’
‘How she was with you at the hospital last week was awful to see. She was so nasty to you.’
‘True, but she’s always been like that.’
Dad’s shoulders slumped. ‘I know. I sat in that waiting room trying to think of the last time I’d seen her be nice to you and I couldn’t think of a single occasion. Never a kind word. Never a compliment. Always attacking. Always angry. I tried to think of the last time she’d been pleasant to me and there was nothing either. At that moment, I knew I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t stay married to her. Then I got so mad with myself for not doing something sooner. I shouldn’t have let you go through all that.’
‘You can’t blame yourself, Dad. And you can’t say you didn’t try because you did. So many times. She just didn’t want to change.’
Dad nodded, his eyes full of sadness. ‘Thanks, poppet. Anyway, I needed to calm down before I confronted her and it took me till yesterday for that to happen, otherwise I’d have slapped her with a divorce in the hospital car park that very night.’
‘How did she take it?’
‘Surprisingly well. We’re selling the house. Too many memories. They’re building another small development near Chloe’s so we looked round it yesterday and your mum’s picked one.’
‘Oh my gosh! That was quick.’
‘We’ve both known it was over for a long time so I think it was a relief that someone finally said it aloud. I’ve moved into your old room for the moment and we’ll both instruct solicitors tomorrow.’
‘To new beginnings?’ I suggested, raising my glass.
‘New beginnings,’ Dad said, clinking his glass against mine.
He’d finally done it and I felt relieved for him but also sad. He’d tried so hard to make their marriage work but how can you when one party no longer cares?
As we ate our meal, an idea popped into my head. If Dad had no marriage and no job to keep him in Whitsborough Bay, did he need to stay there?’
‘Why don’t you take some time out and help me set up Hedgehog Hollow?’ I asked after our plates had been cleared away. ‘You could live at the farm with me and we could get it off the ground together. It would buy you some time to look for a new practice or even set up your own.’
‘You mean that?’ he asked.
‘Of course. I’d love your help but it’s completely up to you. No obligation and no rush to make a decision.’
There was silence for a moment but I could tell from the sparkle in his eyes that it wasn’t because he was trying to find a way to politely say no.
‘I like that idea,’ he said eventually, enthusiasm in his voice. ‘I need to think it through properly, but I like that idea a lot. Stops me panicking and rushing into the first job that comes along.’
‘More new beginnings?’ I suggested, raising my glass. ‘Or the possibility of them?’
Dad smiled and clinked his glass against mine. ‘To Hedgehog Hollow.’