‘You still didn’t answer the question about Eric?’ Dammit. Rhonda wasn’t letting that one go.
It was the question she’d asked herself a dozen times. ‘I want to say absolutely not, no way, not in a million years.’
‘But?’ That came from Gwen.
‘But the truth is,’ she braced herself for the backlash, then winced as she admitted, ‘I really don’t know.’
It took her a second to absorb that she’d really said that out loud.
Thankfully, she was saved from her friends’ questions, pushback or outrage by the magnificent Roxy, who, right at that moment, put the twirly thing down and began shaking out Ailish’s hair with her fingers. A spray of some divine-smelling mist came next, then Roxy stood back, surveyed the scene, smiled. ‘All done. Are you ready to see?’
‘This is like one of those makeover shows on TV,’ Ailish giggled, mostly because everyone was staring at her and, well, the whole aversion to being the centre of attention was kicking in. She was sure Roxy and Kaz had done a perfectly lovely job, giving the constraints of the canvas they had to work with.
‘Absolutely,’ she confirmed, ready to smile, to say thank you, and then leave here with her beautiful pals.
Roxy beamed, as she whooshed her around to face the mirror. ‘Here you go then. Pure stunner.’
Ailish got ready. Smile. Say thank you. Then…
Something wasn’t right. Wasn’t computing. She was staring in the mirror straight ahead, but… Who. The. Actual. Hell. Was. That. Staring. Back?
It was Ailish. But not fifty-four-year-old, exhausted, browbeaten, recently divorced Ailish. It was pre-heartache Ailish. Pre-grey Ailish. Pre-neglect Ailish. Years younger. Years brighter. Years of pain and stress all rubbed out by Kaz and Roxy’s magic.
And oh, if she did say so herself, for the first time in recent memory, in fact, maybe since the nineties, she was indeed 100 per cent babe. Fifty-four-year-old babe, but still.
If it wouldn’t ruin Kaz’s artistry, she’d willingly succumb to tears of happiness.
A swell of something she didn’t recognise came right up from her toes and it took her a minute to realise what it was… Optimism. Hope. A tiny tug of excitement.
In the last few hours, it was more than just her physical appearance that had experienced a makeover. Something on the inside had changed to match the outside.
‘What do you say then, Ails?’ Gwen asked. ‘Are we going to leave here feeling fantastic and ready to conquer the world?’
The woman in the mirror gave her a silent push. If Gwen, after all she’d been through, was ready to open her heart to life and to love again, maybe it was time she did that too.
Deep breath, slap a smile on and let’s do this.
‘Yes,’ she said, to everyone in the room, but most of all to the woman staring back at her in the mirror. ‘I think we are.’
22
EMMY
‘Is it just me, or has today been the longest day ever?’ Emmy sighed, as she plonked herself down on one of the chairs in the staffroom. She pulled her white New Balance trainers off one by one, glad the old days, when nurses had to wear proper shoes, were long gone. Today had been bad enough without adding sore feet to her troubles. She still hadn’t been able to get Cormac’s weirdness out of her head and his visit this afternoon had only made it worse. She quickly checked her location app again to see if maybe there had been some kind of blip earlier. Hopefully, Cormac was on there again, showing at the station, exactly where he should be. When the app gave her the same answer as earlier, her stomach sank. Still no Cormac. However, there were three missed calls from her dad and a text asking her to call him back. She deleted it.
On the other chair, Keli stretched her hands up. ‘Yep, but it’s over now and we’re off for two whole days, so my dancing pants are ready to get going.’
‘Oooh, I like the sound of that. What are you doing for the bells?’
‘Party at Noah and Tress’s house.’ Noah was Keli’s brother, a paediatric consultant down on the third floor. ‘I think most of Weirbridge is going. My mum’s in charge of the food, I’m in charge of drinks, and two of his neighbours, Nancy and Val, are in charge of entertainment. They’ve got a bit of a thing for Tom Jones, so anything could happen. Their moves to “It’s Not Unusual” are a sight to behold. If you’re at a loose end, come along. The more, the merrier.’
Emmy appreciated the offer, but for once, she wasn’t up for party central. ‘Thanks, but I think I’m just going to have a chill night tonight. In fact, let me try my gran again. I still haven’t been able to get her.’
Emmy retrieved her phone from her locker, while Keli was lacing up her bright red Doc Martens, getting ready to leave. She dialled Minnie’s number and listened to it ring. And ring. And ring.
‘Still no answer?’ Keli asked.
Emmy shook her head, unconsciously chewing on her bottom lip. ‘Nope. I was thinking about going over there to keep her company tonight anyway, but maybe I’ll just go now. Feels like something isn’t right. Or maybe I’m just overthinking my granny as well as my boyfriend.’
