The Last Goodbye (12 page)

“Sure – it’s all forgotten about.”

But I knew by her tone that it wasn’t.

I set about sticking the vinyl of the artists’ names in the window while Nat was doing something up on the mezzanine. When she came back down the stairs, I offered to get her a coffee from the deli, my treat. I wanted to get myself a scone anyway. I was so hungry all the time these days. I would bring little tubs full of fruit and nuts or carrot sticks with houmous to work with me but inevitably I would have eaten them all by ten o’clock and I would be still hungry, so I’d have to run down to the deli for a scone to keep me going until lunchtime.

“Nearly there now,” the woman in the deli said to me as usual. She had been saying this to me since my bump became noticeable.

“Yeah, I’ll be glad when it’s all over . . .” As usual I forced a smile on my face. We had this same conversation every day. She said to me, “Nearly there now” and I usually replied with a variation on my standard response as above but, unlike me, she never seemed to find our daily exchange awkward or embarrassing whereas I was cringing at its predictability. In fact I think she enjoyed the repetition, maybe she was the kind of person that hated surprises. Maybe she liked to know exactly what was coming next in life, even in her conversations. The machine started hissing and splurting as she busied herself frothing milk. When she was finished, I chose a red velvet cupcake too because I knew they were Nat’s favourite. I paid for the lot and she handed me the coffee for Nat with my brown-paper bag and paper napkin. And I knew we would do the same thing all over again tomorrow . . .

When I got back to Jensen’s I handed Nat the coffee and cupcake.

“What’s this for?”

“It’s my way of trying to say sorry.”

She smiled then. “Thanks, Kate.”

I started spreading butter and then jam thickly onto my scone.

“I wish I was pregnant so I could eat all around me with no guilt.” She sighed as she watched me.

“There are matchsticks bigger than you! You’re tiny – I’m really starting to think you have body dysmorphia!” Nat always thought she was much bigger than she actually was. “Anyway eating for two is a myth, you know. You only actually need an extra three hundred calories a day when you’re pregnant.”

“What? But that’s not even a Yorkie bar!” She was horrified.

“I know.”

“But that’s not fair – I’ve been looking forward for years to making a complete pig of myself when I’m pregnant!”

“Yep – it’s cruel all right.”

“Christ on a bike, I’d go so far as to say it’s right up there with finding out about Santa!” She was tucking into her cupcake.

I decided to broach the subject. “So how’s it all going?”

She knew I was referring to her and Will.

“Great.”

“Has he seen his kids since?”

“He’s picking them up tomorrow afternoon.”

“I see. He must miss them a lot.”

“He does – that’s the hardest part. I know it’s going to be a difficult transition, especially for the kids, not having their dad living with them any more, but I just hope that she makes it as painless as possible for everyone involved.”

I didn’t say anything else. I was afraid we’d end up arguing again.

She left a little before six that evening because she wanted to run to the market to pick up ginger before it closed. She told me that they were having friends over for dinner so I told her to go on and that I would close up on my own.

When I got home that evening Ben was fuming. I could feel the tension in the air as soon as I opened the door. He was moving noisily around the kitchen, opening the cupboard doors and banging them shut again. He didn’t even hear me come in. He had been in good form when I said goodbye to him that morning.

“Who rained on your parade?” I asked, going to the fridge and pouring myself a glass of juice.

He swung around when he heard my voice.

“Sorry, love, I’m just having a bad day. How are you doing?”

“Want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“It’s just this kid – remember the one I was telling you about that was falling behind the rest of the class even though usually he was right up there on top?”

“Elliott, right?”

“Yeah, well, you know how I had called his parents into a meeting today?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Except his parents didn’t even bother their arses coming – they sent the au pair along instead!”

“No way!” I was shocked that there were parents out there who would actually do that.

“At first I thought it must have been Elliott’s older sister but then she introduced herself as Annika, the family’s Swedish au pair! She must have been about seventeen and she really didn’t seem too interested in my concerns. I felt like such a fool. I mean, if they’re not concerned enough to turn up to a school meeting, well, then, why should I be?”

“Yeah, you should just let it go,” I said absently as I scanned through the post that Ben had left on the counter.

“But I can’t just leave it, you see? That’s the problem – it’s bugging the hell out of me. There’s something going on at home, I just know there is. I mean, to look at him he’s perfect – he’s always very well turned out and he has the best of everything, but there is something troubling him.”

“You don’t think he’s being bullied, do you?”

“Well, that was my first thought, but I’m with the class the whole time and I’ve been keeping an extra close eye on him in the school yard, but he seems to be fine with his friends.”

“So what can you do now?”

“Well, I can either give it another shot and ring the parents again or else I’ll have to refer it on to the principal.”

“Are you
that
worried about him? Are you sure you aren’t overreacting? I don’t know much about kids but don’t they go through, y’know,
phases
and things like that? He might catch up again in a few weeks.”

But he shook his head. “There’s something more to this, I’m telling you.”

“Hey, don’t let it stress you out.” I put the letters down and reached out to rub his arm.

“I try not to but it makes me so mad. It’s funny – this kid never wants for anything financially – he has the best of everything, yet he doesn’t get the one thing that he needs which is his parents’ time!”

“You really do care for those kids – they’re very lucky to have you as their teacher.”

His face flushed from my compliment.

Chapter 14

We spent the next day sorting out the final bits and pieces for the exhibition. We had the champagne chilling in the fridge and the glasses all washed and ready to go. I had managed to get the renowned photographer Kimy Flowers to launch it for us. He was always a supporter of Jensen’s anyway so he was happy to do it for us.

I pointed to a photo. “We need to straighten that one up a little more.”

Nat, who was closest to it, walked over and tilted it to the right slightly. “Okay now?”

I stood back and looked at it critically. “A bit more.”

“There?”

“Yeah . . . go on . . . that’s better. So how did his visit home go?”

Nat had been a bundle of nerves all day yesterday worrying about it – she was hoping it would go okay for everyone’s sake. I think she was still so surprised by Will leaving his wife for her that she was really afraid of something going wrong.

“Yeah, it went okay – as well as can be expected, I suppose. He picked the boys up and they went and played football in the park, they got something to eat afterwards and then he dropped them home again. He didn’t go into the house though – he stayed in the car.”

“Were the boys okay?”

“They were super-excited when they saw him waiting for them outside but they got upset when he was dropping them back home and they realised that he wasn’t going to be coming inside with them. They kept telling him that their mummy wanted to see him and asking why wouldn’t he come in . . .”

“Oh God, the poor little things!”

“I know, it’s so hard on them. Sometimes I just feel awful for being such a home-wrecker . . .”

I said nothing. It was true after all.

“Will didn’t sleep at all last night. He tossed and turned all night long. It’s really tough on him right now.”

“Ouch!” I said.

“What’s wrong?” Nat asked concernedly.

“Just Pip kicking the life out of me.” I placed my hand on my bump and tried to move the offending leg out of the way.

She smiled. “You’re very lucky, Kate, you know.”

“What – for getting kicked alive by my baby?”

“Well, it must feel very special to know there’s another life growing inside you.”

“Yeah, it is, I suppose. So have you and Will, y’know . . . ever talked about babies?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I guess it was never really on the agenda for discussion before – but now that we’re a proper couple . . . well, who knows? I really hope so, Kate.”

I knew that she wanted kids – she was more excited than me when she found out that I was pregnant – but I wondered if Will was done with that stage now. He had already done the family thing – he had just decided that it wasn’t for him.

I had to eat humble pie and admit that things seemed to be going from strength to strength between them since Will had moved in with her. Although she didn’t talk to me about him much – it was still a touchy subject – they seemed to be very loved-up. She said she knew that he was finding the adjustment hard but it was so good waking up every morning, knowing that he would be still in her bed. They were keeping a low profile in case they bumped into friends of his wife – they didn’t want to rub her face in it. I would overhear them on the phone during the day, chatting about what they were going to have for dinner that evening – or he would ask if she would mind picking up his dry-cleaning. She would go to the market during her lunch-break and stock up on fresh ingredients to make dinner – there was no Uncle Ben’s for her and Will. I think Nat was enjoying being able to care for him properly. They had already slotted into the cosiness of domestic life. I think they were also enjoying nesting in for the first time like every other couple does when they move in together. They would spend weekends lazing around her place – probably in bed, I thought to myself. She no longer had to grab snatched moments where he could sneak away – or plan their dates around his wife’s schedule. She had a proper boyfriend now and she was enjoying not having to share him for once. Nat was a positive person anyway but it was like she was permanently walking on a rainbow. Nothing could get her down. I knew that he must care for her or he wouldn’t have left his wife but I was still finding it difficult to accept that he was Nat’s partner now. I knew I had to put my feelings aside if I wanted to keep Nat as a friend but I still couldn’t forget the murky origins of their relationship.

I was exhausted when I finally put my key in the door that evening. Ben was sitting watching some cookery show on TV. He turned to greet me when I came in.

“So how’d it go?”

“It went really well. Kimy attracted a big crowd, like I knew he would and the gallery was full to the brim. We sold quite a bit of stock, which the artists were happy about. Tabitha should be impressed when I send off the report at the end of the week. I’m glad it’s all over though, I can tell you – it takes weeks to plan it and then it’s all over in less than a few hours.”

“Well done! Do you want something to eat?”

“No, myself and Nat had something before the exhibition started.” I plonked down on to the sofa beside him. “Did you get through to Elliott’s parents?”

“Yeah, I decided to phone the house this time so that they couldn’t avoid me. His mother answered but she was really noncommittal when I asked her if she wouldn’t mind dropping by in person. She actually said that she would drop in ‘at some stage’ when she was doing the school run over the next few weeks!”

“What is wrong with the woman?”

“Well, I said that if she didn’t make it a priority I would have no choice but to refer it higher up the line, so I think I managed to get through to her and she said she’d call in when she picks him up from school tomorrow.”

“Well, hopefully you’ll get to the bottom of it then.”

I knew that whatever was going on with Elliott was bugging the life out of him. He really did go above and beyond for the kids in his class.

Just then my mobile rang. When I picked it up to see who it was, I saw Dad’s number on the caller display. I let it ring out without answering.

“Who’s that?” Ben asked.

“Oh, it’s just one of those market-research companies – they rang earlier wanting me to take part in a phone survey but I was busy – I recognise the number from before.”