The Cold Cold Sea (20 page)

Jennifer opened her mouth to say that she would much prefer it if Hailey was just sent home in a taxi, but she felt the next contraction start, pulling at her womb, intensifying swiftly.

‘Thank you very much,’ she said crisply, and hung up.

The second contraction was powerful too, but this time she managed her breathing better. Jennifer checked her watch. Five past two, good, things were moving nice and slowly. How amazing it was to think that tomorrow at the latest she’d be able to hold her entire family in her arms. This happy thought carried her effortlessly up the stairs to pack a bag for the clinic.

Katie put the phone down and grinned at the secretary.

‘Short and sweet,’ she said. ‘I’m taking Hailey home after school. Her mum’s a bit tired.’

‘Oh?’ said Beverly. ‘When are those babies due?’

‘Not for another four or five weeks, I think. Why?’

‘Be careful,’ said Beverly. ‘You don’t want to end up playing chauffeur for five weeks.’

‘It’s no problem. Hailey said yesterday that her dad’s due back any day now.’

Katie hurried back to her classroom, where Alison and the children were making a collage with animal pictures. After Hailey’s upset the day before, Katie wanted to be sure that everything ran smoothly today, and animal families seemed like a nice non-controversial subject. She stopped beside Hailey, who was cutting out a group of elephants.

‘They’re sweet, aren’t they? Look at those big ears. You’re cutting them out very nicely, I must say. Hailey, Mummy phoned. She’s feeling tired so I said I would take you home in my car after school. Is that okay?’

‘Uh-huh,’ said Hailey, barely glancing up from her elephants.

Amused, Katie walked round the craft table, which looked like a miniature zoo at the moment. Hailey certainly wasn’t worried about her mother, anyway. An older child might have started asking questions, but Hailey just went right on cutting out elephants. It was almost as if she didn’t care.

Suddenly uneasy, Katie glanced back at Hailey. What would happen when the babies
did
come? That could actually happen any time now, Nora had said that twins often came early. Even after their relatively short acquaintance, Katie could tell that Mrs Marshall wasn’t the kind of parent to have the sensitivity to prepare a child like Hailey for such an upheaval – another upheaval – in her life. Katie stood for a moment, thinking.

There was nothing she could do about Mrs Marshall, but new babies fitted into the Families theme very nicely. They could do quite a lot right here at school to help Hailey cope. Katie grinned to herself.

‘Right, Mrs Babar,’ she said, when the other children had gone, and was rewarded with one of Hailey’s rare giggles. ‘Let’s get going. We’ll stop off at my flat first, I want to change into something more comfy and collect my shopping bags.’

Katie parked at the side of her building and led Hailey up to her first floor flat. Mr Chips shot past when they were halfway up, and stood with his nose pressed against the flat door.

‘He’s probably hungry,’ said Katie. ‘He didn’t have much breakfast.’

Hailey bent to stroke Mr Chips, who purred obligingly and pressed himself against her legs. To Katie’s surprise she lifted him right up and buried her face in his back. Katie opened the door and ushered Hailey inside.

‘I see you like cats - and he likes you too, I can tell.’

Hailey put Mr Chips down and watched while Katie opened a tin of cat food.

‘I had a cat once too. He was called Slinky and he was a Siamese cat.’

‘Oh, how lovely. Mr Chips is just plain cat. I’ve only had him since last April, he was a stray and he kind of adopted me. What happened to Slinky?’

Hailey looked up and spoke drearily. ‘Oh, he didn’t move house with me.’

First a teddy bear that hadn’t moved house with Hailey, and now an obviously much-loved cat. Katie smiled sympathetically.

‘Maybe Mummy didn’t want a cat now there are going to be babies very soon,’ she said. ‘Cats and babies don’t always go well together, you know.’

‘No, he was at the house before that,’ said Hailey, and Katie racked her brains. The Marshalls had moved from somewhere in Devon, hadn’t they?

‘At Truro?’ she said.

Hailey frowned. ‘Not the last house, where I was sick and I had to take the pills and we were only there a little while,’ she said. ‘The one before that.’

Suddenly she looked frightened and closed her mouth tightly.

‘Maybe you can have another pet someday,’ said Katie, eyeing Hailey thoughtfully. She gave her a glass of juice and went through to the bedroom to change. The past few minutes had shown her clearly that the child was perfectly capable of having a normal conversation. She hadn’t seemed introverted at all and the eye contact had been effortless. The only strange thing had been the way she’d suddenly looked scared at the admission of another previous house.

Hailey was silent during the short drive to her home, a wistful, far-away expression on her face.

Katie pulled up in the Marshalls’ driveway and went to ring the bell.

Jennifer Marshall yanked the front door open, and Katie gasped. The woman was flushed, and her make-up was shiny and patchy. Ignoring Katie, she grabbed Hailey and pulled her indoors.

‘Quick quick quick!’ she cried. ‘Upstairs and get ready. Daddy’ll be here in less than half an hour!’

Her voice was high. Hailey glanced at Katie and then went upstairs without a word.

‘Mrs Marshall, can I help at all?’ asked Katie. The other woman looked as if she’d just run to Land’s End and back, and she seemed half hysterical too.

‘No, thank you very much. Everything is perfect.’ And with that, she shut the front door in Katie’s face.

Phillip gripped the steering wheel with both hands and forced himself to breathe calmly. Just a few minutes more. He was past Bodmin now and driving towards the coast. Soon he would come to the turn-off for St Mary’s Castle and Polpayne, and in twenty minutes he’d be arriving at his new home.

He had made good time, considering how tired he was. His assumption that traffic would be light had fortunately proved correct, and the weather was dry and cloudy, ideal for driving long distances. He’d stopped in a lay-by after Salisbury, eaten the sandwiches he’d bought at Heathrow, and he tried to phone Jennifer again, but there had been no answer at home and her mobile was switched off.

In a funny way this reassured him. She would be out in the village, shopping for his favourite lamb chops - or maybe she’d do the salmon with pepper sauce recipe he liked. Or she might be getting her hair done. It was comforting to think of Jennifer keeping busy. And of course she’d be getting the house ready for him to see for the first time. They had noticed it in a brochure that spring, but they’d looked at details of so many houses he really couldn’t remember what this particular one had been like. It did sound fantastic - two big reception rooms, a state of the art kitchen, four fully-fitted bathrooms. Phillip smiled suddenly. How very Jennifer. What on earth did they want with four bathrooms? It wasn’t as if they often had visitors.

Everything was going to be alright.

Here was the turn-off. The road ran along the coast now, near the edge of a high cliff. Phillip caught the odd glimpse of the ocean thundering up golden beaches far below. The tide was halfway in, and as always he marvelled at the force of the Cornish breakers. On another day, he and Jennifer would drive along here more slowly. They would admire the scenery and enjoy being together again, and they could look for a good place to scatter Gran’s ashes. A remote little bay, perhaps, somewhere secluded where he could sit and watch the ocean and remember. Remember the good times, keep the happy memories, forget the bad ones.

He had never imagined that Jennifer would choose a house near the sea. It was probably a positive step forwards, but it must mean difficult days too. Phillip edged his foot down, seeing the road straight and empty for two hundred yards ahead.

A few minutes later he found himself driving into a quaint little fishing village with an impressive natural harbour. He pulled into a space outside a café and programmed the sat nav.

‘At the next junction, turn left,’ said the anonymous female voice. Phillip complied.

‘Turn left. Take the third road on the right.’

Phillip drove uphill, looking round curiously. These houses were quite different to the Edwardian elegance of their last place, and that was another positive thing, surely. Jennifer wasn’t living in the past here.

‘In one hundred yards, turn right.’

So this was Castle Gardens, no castle in sight but there were plenty of beech trees lining the road. This seemed like a very pleasant place to live.

Heart pounding, Phillip inched the hire car along the street, looking for number four.

‘You have arrived at your destination.’

Here it was, a good-sized house with lovely big windows. There must be a fantastic view over the ocean from upstairs. He would buy himself a really good telescope - or maybe that was the surprise? Cheered by this happy thought, Phillip pulled into the driveway beside the BMW and sounded the horn.

Nothing stirred in the house. His hands damp with sweat, Phillip strode to the front door. It was locked. Forcing himself to breathe quietly, he rang the bell.

Silence.

‘Jennifer!’ he called, hearing his voice shake. ‘Are you there, honey?’

But then the door opened, and Jennifer was laughing up at him. Phillip stood rooted to the spot.

‘Jennifer! You... you... my
God
!’

She laughed again. Her face was flushed, and her hair was tied back in a simple ponytail. And she was... how was it possible... but she definitely was...

‘Oh Phillip!’ she said, gripping his arm so tightly that it hurt. ‘Yes, I’m pregnant! Isn’t it a wonderful surprise? I knew before you left, of course, but I managed to hide it, I wanted it to be a surprise for you coming home, something good after losing darling Gran. Are you pleased?’

For a moment it was impossible to speak. Hot, tired tears welled up in Phillip’s eyes as he looked at his wife. She was so lovely, her eyes were so bright and happy. Pleased? He was astounded. More than that, he was gobsmacked. He was pleased, yes, of course he was pleased, but – after everything they’d been through – another baby?

He put both arms round her and hugged her as tightly as he dared.

‘Oh darling! It’s... I just... it’s a lot to take in. For heaven’s sake let’s go inside and you can tell me about it. How are you? And when’s the baby due?’

She led him into the sitting room. ‘I’m fine,’ she said softly, her eyes shining up at him. Something about her just wasn’t right. He didn’t quite like to see it. This wasn’t the woman he’d left behind this summer, something had happened, she was different now.

Why hadn’t she told him about the baby? A tired surge of resentment flushed through him. He’d have cut his stay short, he’d have come home to support her. Gran would have understood, she’d have been thrilled for them. But instead of sharing it all, his wife had let him stay away for nearly four goddamn months and flung herself into an orgy of house-buying.

Jennifer was still smiling her new smile.

‘I’m not due for another five or six weeks,’ she said softly. ‘And oh, darling, it’s two! It’s twins! And oh, Phillip... ’

She laid a hand on his knee and he could feel her fingers start to shake.

‘Actually they’ll be here very soon, darling. I’m in labour...!’

And with that, she started to breathe deeply, leaning forward to grip the edge of the coffee table. Her face went red and he could tell she was trying hard not to moan, for his sake. When the contraction was over she lifted his hand and placed it on her enormous belly.

‘My God, Jennifer!’ shouted Phillip, hearing panic in his voice now. ‘How long... where’s the hospital... how far apart are the contractions?’

‘Fifteen minutes this time,’ said Jennifer. ‘We should go. Don’t worry darling, soon we’ll have our babies. I didn’t mean to greet you like this, but oh, isn’t it a wonderful surprise?’

Phillip felt something begin to throb behind his left eye. This wasn’t a surprise, this was a shock. A huge, enormous shock. And he was so tired, God help him, he was exhausted.

‘Jennifer,’ he said quietly. ‘Tell me
now
where the hospital is, and get your jacket. We’re going.’

‘It’s the Rosen Clinic, just a few minutes past St Mary’s Castle on the Bodmin Road,’ she said, and he relaxed slightly. At least she had arranged to go somewhere local.

‘Where’s your case?’ he said, striding out to the hallway table and lifting the key for the BMW.

‘Upstairs on the left,’ said Jennifer. ‘And darling, you must have a quick look in the small room at the top of the stairs too. There’s another surprise for you in there.’

Phillip charged upstairs. God, oh God, he thought. This was all his fault, he should never have left her for so long. But she’d seemed so much better this year. Why the fuck had nobody noticed what was happening? She must have stopped going to the therapy. If he’d been delayed just half an hour on the way home... those babies, his babies... were they alright? Jennifer had been on strong medication, what was happening with that?

He pushed the bedroom door open. All he had to do was get her to the clinic, then they could take it from there.

Phillip grabbed Jennifer’s case and turned to the small bedroom like she’d said. He opened the door and looked in quickly.

For a moment he was looking at a ghost. He actually staggered backwards as his mind struggled to take it in. But it wasn’t a ghost, it was a child. A little girl was sitting on the bed, a baby doll in her arms. That little face. Hailey’s face.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

‘Who - who are you?’ Phillip asked, his voice sounding like a stranger’s.

The child was looking at him with big dark eyes.

‘Hailey Marshall,’ she said sadly.

Phillip’s senses reeled.

‘Oh my God,’ he whispered, then heard Jennifer moaning downstairs.

‘And the lady here is - ?’ His voice broke on the last word.