‘I…’ he began.
A pause. Everything stopped. Suddenly, Brenda was right back in the present moment, and couldn’t quite understand why proceedings had ground to a halt. Had Colin fainted? No. He was still standing in front of her, staring at her, his mouth open but forming no more words. She was about to run through the stroke protocols that she used every day at work, when he finally spoke.
‘I… don’t.’
Brenda met his gaze, then saw his sad smile, his resolute nod of the head.
‘I don’t,’ he repeated, stronger this time.
Elvis was beginning to quiver in his blue suede shoes.
‘Dad!’ Zara yelped.
Colin glanced over to her with an apologetic grimace, then came back to Brenda.
‘I don’t, because I think it’s time that Brenda got to choose her own life.’ He was speaking right to her now, and every other person had faded away, so it was only her and her husband, just like the last time. ‘You’ve been a wonderful wife and a wonderful mother. Now, if you want to be, I think you should just be a wonderful you.’
Brenda heard a whisper from Millie of, ‘I thought I was the day drinker in the family,’ but she ignored it, eyes still locked on her husband, as she threw out a question to Elvis.
‘Can I change my mind?’
Stunned, but going with the flow, Elvis nodded, ‘Ma’am, your dime, your time.’
‘Okay, thank you. In that case, I don’t either. Because, Colin Jones, you’ve stood by my side for thirty years and you’ve never wavered. You’ve been the best father our daughters could ever have hoped for, and I love you dearly. But now, we can close this chapter and know that we both did our best.’ The tears were still rolling down her cheeks but she could feel the sadness mingle with the joy of this moment. ‘And I think you should also go and do exactly as you please now, and just be wonderful you too.’
‘They’ve lost the plot. Do you think someone spiked their drinks?’ Millie again.
Brenda turned to her daughters, saw Millie’s wide-eyed astonishment and the tears in Zara’s eyes. ‘Girls, we both love you so much. and we’re sorry. I hope you can forgive us. But there’s a time when you just have to live your lives exactly the way you want to and for us that’s now. I hope you both have the heart and the courage to do that too.’
Still holding Colin’s hand, Brenda held out her other arm, and Millie and Zara slipped out of their row and came into their fold. The four of them hugged, while over in the corner, the Chapelettes, unprepared to go off script, broke into a hesitant but perfectly pitched first verse of the ‘Wonder of You’.
Zara was the first to speak, breaking the circle, kissing her mum on the cheek, then her dad. ‘You two are amazing. Unexpected but amazing. All we want is for you to be happy. If you can excuse me, though, I need to go make a phone call.’
32
AIDEN
Aiden watched Zara rush out, staring straight ahead, without even a glance in his direction. No wonder. The last fifteen minutes might have been the most bizarre of his life, and he was a lawyer who’d once represented a couple who were getting their fifth divorce. From each other. He’d heard that they had remarried yet again a year later, and after that, he’d stopped taking their calls.
Beside him, Trevon was watching the whole thing with wide-eyed interest, which pleased him because his mate had been in a total funk for the last day or so. Aiden didn’t get it. His mom had been pretty much absent the whole time, hanging out with Zara’s parents, so he’d been pretty sure Trevon would be up for hitting the town hard, but instead, he’d been as low as he’d ever seen him. He’d even listened to Aiden spilling his guts about Layla, about Zara, and about his general confusion in life for two hours last night without complaint. Trevon had just fed him beer, commiserated, and then tracked down a Charlotte Hornets basketball game on ESPN to take his mind off it. That was true friendship right there.
‘I’m sorry, bud,’ Aiden had said at half-time. ‘We should be out making the most of being here. I’m officially the most pathetic wingman in the world right now.’
Trevon had just shrugged, put his feet up on the coffee table in their suite and opened another beer. ‘Nah, you’re fine. Got our whole lives to tear it up. Some other stuff is more important.’
Aiden had nudged him, gesturing to the screen. ‘Like the Hornets making the play offs.’
‘Yep, nothing’s more important than that.’
They’d spent the rest of the night watching games and reruns, but by midnight, Aiden was beginning to wonder if something really was wrong with his mate because he’d barely said a word all evening. Normally, Trevon would be shouting at the TV, calling the plays, living every moment of the game in real time. Instead, his ass stayed parked on the couch, his shoulders slumped and he just kept checking his phone.
‘Trev, is there something you’re not telling me? Shit, sorry. I’ve spent half the night telling you about my problems. What’s going on with you? Troubles?’
Trevon shrugged. ‘Work stuff.’
Aiden wasn’t buying it. Trevon was the most proactive, switched-on guy he knew. If he had work problems, he’d be in there sorting them out, not slouched on a couch in Vegas with his pissed off mate. No, this had to be about a woman, but Trevon kept things close to his chest so there was no point probing. He’d tell him when he was ready.
This morning, he’d still been preoccupied.
