Page 38 of They Found Us
A boy’s voice interrupts our greetings before a head pops around from Marco’s back. “Hello.”
“Alfie? Is that you?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. Come here. Let me see you.”
Alfie comes to stand in front of me, and he is almost as tall as I am.
“You got so big!”
“Emmaline had some errands to run, but she will be along shortly, so we brought Alfie,” Mia explains. “I hope that’s okay?”
“Of course. Come on in and let’s go outside. Mark is dying to get in the swimming pool.”
Everyone other than Marco follows me outside. He goes into the office to join Leo.
Alfie is a very welcome distraction for Mark. They play together in the pool, which leaves me to catch up with Mia. Both Zander and Larisa are asleep in their prams in the shade when Emmaline arrives. I’m not sure how I expected Emmaline to be when I first saw her, but it wasn’t like this.
Emmaline was my best and only friend when I lived in Italy. I met her on the beach one day soon after I arrived. She was with Alfie and her dog Macy, and we connected straight away. Emmaline kept me sane. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Mia and I are mid-conversation when Alga shows Emmaline where we are sat.
“Hi,” Emmaline says as she sits in a chair opposite me, next to Mia.
“Hello,” I reply, sitting back down, as it looks like I’m not getting a hug.
Mia looks at me with sympathy and takes a big sip of her drink. Alga interrupts the silence by bringing another jug of cocktails and a glass for Emmaline. They make small talk about Alfie and how much he has grown. Once it’s just the three of us again, I have to break the ice, it’s breaking my heart to look atEmmaline. She must be so angry with me. So hurt. I’m not sure how to approach it, so I go with my gut.
“Emmaline, are you okay?” I ask as sincerely as I can.
At first, she doesn’t reply, just takes a sip of her drink and a deep breath. Although she is wearing sunglasses, I can tell by the cheeks around her eyes that she has been crying.
“Emmaline is struggling to deal with the news,” Mia explains. “It was very hard for her when youpassed away. Especially in the circumstances. Alfie didn’t deal with it well either. It’s taken a long time for both of them to come to terms with what happened.”
A sob comes from Emmaline, and she takes a larger sip of her cocktail.
“Oh, Emmaline, I am so sorry.” My heart hurts and tears fill my eyes. I can’t help but go to her and wrap my arms around her. We both cry and squeeze each other tightly.
“Mum, are you okay?” Alfie shouts from the pool, noticing his mum upset.
“She’s fine. Just happy. You carry on playing,” Mia shouts back. “Right, come on you two. You’re upsetting the children.
“Katie. What happened was fucked up. You broke everyone’s hearts and left people with anxiety and depression. But if you hadn’t killed yourselves, the Martelé would have done it anyway. Emmaline, you’ve got your friend back, for now anyway, and we all die at some point. So come on. Let’s make the most of it and get pissed.” Mia’s bluntness makes us both laugh. And with what Mia and Marco have been through, I’m not surprised by her outlook on life.
We soon fall back into our comfortable friendly ways. We even have a swim in the pool. Then the babies decide theyhave had enough of the water, so Mia and I exit first, leaving Emmaline playing with the boys. The day has been full of laughter, and I have had the best time I’ve had in years. It’s so nice to be around friends. I’ve really missed this.
When Emmaline does decide to get out of the pool, Alfie has other ideas. He grabs her by the arm and pulls her back in. Emmaline screams, trying to fight him off, but ends up in the pool again. Out of nowhere a large, suited man comes jumping into the pool. He grabs Emmaline and lifts her onto the side. Our laughter stops at this point, all in shock at what is going on.
“For god’s sake,” Mia shouts as she runs to the pool and grabs the collar of the man, who still hasn’t resurfaced. From the edge, she pulls him to the steps. A very wet, fully suited Van emerges from the water, a little breathless.
“What the fuck is going on?” Leo booms, storming out of the house in our direction.
“I heard Emmaline screaming,” Van splutters. “I jumped in to save her.”
“But you can’t fucking swim!” Mia slaps her brother on his arm.
“I don’t think she needed saving, Van.” Leo is cross.
Emmaline blushes as she looks at Van. “Thank you, Van, although Leo is right. We were just playing. Sorry you got wet.”
