‘Yes, that. The same thing used to happen to me. The nausea, not the ghosting. Your father wouldn’t have dared. Anyway, when my stress levels were through the roof, it would knock my whole cycle off. When your sister was backpacking around Asiaon her own, I felt like I had seasickness for two months. Best diet I’ve ever been on, though.’ Gilda took a large gulp of her wine and Keli could see now how worried she’d been.
‘I couldn’t have done that without you, Mum. I’m so grateful.’ Oh, the sweet relief. She wanted to punch the air, summon a brass band and set off fireworks all at the same time.
‘It’s part of my job description, my love. It’s also the reason I get heartburn. Okay, I need to say what’s on my mind and you’re not going to like it, so do you want wine for this, or shall I just blast it out and get it over with?’
Grinning, Keli flexed her fingers, exhaled, braced herself. She’d known this was coming too. Step Two in the Gilda Clark manual of parenting.
Step One:- Be supportive at all times and stay calm in a crisis.
Step Two:- When the danger has passed, ensure child has full understanding of the error of their ways.
It was the equivalent of searching frantically for a lost child, then scolding them as soon as you found them. Keli loved listening to Noah’s stories of her mum dragging him and Max out of too many dodgy situations to count, including a nightclub in Glasgow city centre that they’d managed to blag their way in to when they were only seventeen and supposed to be at another friend’s house for a sleepover. Gilda had pointed them out to security, had them ejected and then castigated them the whole way home.
Tonight, it was her turn, and even though she was a grown-ass woman, she was happy to take it.
‘I’ll skip the wine in case I need to drive later. Okay, I’m ready. Go ahead, Mum. Give it your best shot.’
Gilda took a deep breath. ‘Don’t you ever, EVER…’ Oh shit, the voice was getting raised. ‘…Give away your power or your happiness to a man again. You say you spent weeks distraught and stressed that he ghosted you? Have I taught you nothing?You’re so much more than that, Keli Clark. If someone shows you who they are, then you believe them and walk away. If someone doesn’t value you, you walk away and find someone who does. If someone breaks your heart…’
‘I know, you walk away.’
‘No, you tell me, and I’ll smash their windows. And then you walk away. But you never, EVER let someone else dictate your life. Do you understand me?’
Keli could feel two fat tears streaming down her cheeks, but she wasn’t sure if they were generated by gratitude or relief.
‘I do.’
‘And my next point of consternation – sort out your bloody contraception. You’re a nurse for God’s sake!’
‘Trust me, Mum, I’m never having sex again.’
‘Excellent decision. Celibacy is very fashionable these days. Okay. Now come help me get dinner finished before your brother gets here. I hope he’s okay. I’ve been worried sick about that man all day.’
Glass in hand, her mum headed back to the cooker and Keli realised that she hadn’t mentioned the fact that she’d seen Anya this morning. She decided not to. That was Noah’s story to tell.
She was about to text Yvie with the good news when, suddenly, two things happened at once. They heard the front door opening and heard Noah shout hello, just as a text pinged on Keli’s phone.
Laurie.
I think I know where he will be tonight. Can you come?
The unmistakable sound of a door closing told her that Noah had gone into the downstairs loo out in the hall.
Keli turned the handset so her mum could see it – which took ten seconds longer than it should have, because her mum had to find her glasses first.
‘Go,’ her mum urged. ‘But fix your hair and get a bit of bright red lippy on. You look like you’ve been dragged through a hedge after all that fretting.’
As Keli fished in her bag for her lipstick, she felt a flash of guilt. Noah might need her here. What if he wanted to talk? What if he had something on his mind that he would only speak to her about?
But, on the other hand, she felt the solidarity of the pact that she’d made with Laurie.
Noah chose that moment to come in the door.
‘Hey,’ she said, shoving her phone in her pocket, to free up her hands to hug him. ‘How was your day?’
‘Eventful. Buckle up, I’ve got loads to tell you.’ Keli watched him scan the room. ‘Ma, where’s your charger? My phone died earlier.’
‘Over there, son,’ Gilda gestured to the fancy new charging station she’d bought off eBay the week before.
