That set the two of them off again.
‘Ah Bernadette, you’ve no idea how much I needed that,’ she spluttered, when she regained the power of speech.
‘Me too, pet. I know we’re laughing, but I feel for you, I really do. Keeping up any kind of pretence is tough.’ Bernadette knew that more than anyone. She’d stayed in a marriage with a controlling arse for decades, while pretending to the world that she was happy. That took guts. And then it took more guts to leave him. ‘You know you can call me any time if you just need to chat, or to let off steam.’
‘Thank you. I’ll take you up on that.’
‘Good. So what’s your plan for the rest of the trip then?’
Brenda turned the taps off and dipped her toes in the water. It was perfect.
‘I’m going to pretend I’m having a great time and make the best of it. I think the girls have got some sightseeing planned and maybe a couple of shows. I saw an open-top bus on the way here, so I might give that a shot to kill a couple of hours. I mean, in this heat it’ll probably kill me, but that might be a mercy. Death by open-top bus.’
‘Glad you’re being so reasonable about this,’ Bernadette matched her joking tone.
‘Absolutely. Only thing for it. I just need to go with the flow.’
‘I think that’s the best plan, I really do. But can I just ask one thing, Brenda?’
‘Of course. Anything.’
‘If those mules get a tremble, can I be the first to know?’
‘I’m hanging up now.’ Brenda ended the call with a chuckle.
After stripping off, she climbed into the bath and rested her head against the cool white surface, letting the memories that had been biting at her all day ease their way into her mind. She’d been twenty-five last time she’d been here. And Colin wasn’t being completely honest when he’d dismissed the couple they’d been with as just old friends that they’d lost touch with. There had been so much more to it all than that.
Eileen Smith. Gary Gregg.
The four of them had been inseparable. Joined at the hip. They’d met a few years before, when they all worked together at the Beat House, a nightclub in Glasgow’s city centre. Gary was the DJ, Eileen worked in the ticket booth, taking people’s cash as they came in the door, Colin and Brenda both worked behind the bar. Initially, for them, it was an extra job to supplement their student grants while he was at Glasgow uni studying to be an accountant and she was in her second year at the College of Nursing. But even after they’d graduated and started working, they still kept their club jobs for extra cash.
Brenda closed her eyes and she could see a snapshot of the four of them when they first formed their little clique of four. Gary was a couple of years older than them, and so tall and handsome that half the girls in the Beat House would make doe eyes at him while he was up there blasting out the latest Simple Minds or Duran Duran tune. And oh, Gary knew it. He loved the attention, lapped it up, dancing in the DJ booth with his white vest and his shirt over the top of it, tucked in to his acid-wash jeans, his dark hair barely moving because he had a fringe flick that was solidified by half a can of hairspray before he climbed up on to the stage at night.
Colin was shorter, but he had his fans too. He wore little round John Lennon glasses and came across as the smart guy that he was. Kind, too. If there was a crisis – and there was at least one a night in the club – then Colin was the one with the cool head that went out of his way to make sure everyone was okay. And he noticed things. When Brenda had got her first perm, the one that was the size of a beachball, he’d told her it looked great and she would be a shoo-in if they ever needed a fourth member of Bananarama.
Eileen was the last to join the gang, but it felt like she’d always been there. Brenda had adored her on sight. This gorgeous tall blonde, who had no idea how pretty she was so she was always getting into relationships that were wrong for her.
The four of them had formed a merry band. What was it that they called it these days? A framily. Yep, that’s what they were – a framily that stuck together for the next few years, a clique that laughed, that lifted each other up, that swore they’d be friends for ever… Until they weren’t. Ouch, that still stung.
The last time she saw Eileen Smith was right here in this city, in a hotel not too far away. In the horror of that moment, Brenda had told her that she never wanted to set eyes on her again as long as she lived.
Now, back there in her mind, Brenda felt her chest tighten and her brow furrow and she realised that sentiment hadn’t changed.
15
AIDEN
The check-in process at the Bellagio was pretty seamless and Aiden had spent most of the time at the desk scanning the reception area in wonderment at the absolutely over-the-top spectacle of it all. A massive multicoloured glass sculpture hung from the ceiling in the centre area of the lobby, above marble floors and walls embellished with ornate gold décor. The whole place looked like a kaleidoscopic acid trip for people with buckets of money to spend.
If he’d been travelling on his own, he’d probably have gone for somewhere like the Aria or the Cosmopolitan, a bit less ostentatious than the most grandiose hotel on the strip, but he was cognisant of his audience. His dad liked everything flash and larger than life, while his mum liked classy with a large slice of glam. This suited them both and maybe went a small way to making up for all the duplicity and subterfuge required to get them here. Besides, he’d managed to wangle a full refund for his honeymoon to the Bahamas, so he was cool about spending that money and a bit extra for them all to stay somewhere iconic. Maybe – even before she realised the true purpose of the trip – his mum would forgive him if she saw the effort he’d put in to make this truly special. Although, he wasn’t betting on it. She’d been perfectly nice on the five-hour flight here, but she was also quiet, with an undertone of low-key, well-concealed fury.
About halfway into the flight, so probably somewhere above Oklahoma, his dad had gone to the loos, so he’d leaned over to his mom. ‘On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you at me right now?’
She’d sighed, and he could see the resignation in her face. ‘Much as I love you, probably a solid eight. This is going to cost you a sensational Mother’s Day present next year.’
The fact that she was still joking gave him hope. It also made him feel absolutely crap.
‘I know, and I’m sorry. I promise it was done with the best intentions. Maybe it won’t be so bad,’ he’d said hopefully. ‘It might even give you two a chance to start building a friendship.’
