‘And what, I’m supposed to just merrily wave the three of you on your way today, knowing you’ve no idea how to prevent something like that happening?’
Brayden tipped up his chin. ‘From what Finn told me, it’s been happening for months. Yet this was the first time she lost it with me.’
‘Your point being?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe I’m not the problem, here.’
I was too stunned to speak.
‘Maybe,’ he went on, ‘if you’d bothered talking to me about it, I’d have been able to deal with it better.’
‘Maybe if you’d turned up to the meeting, you’d know.’
‘I was in Amsterdam with work! You messaged saying there was a school meeting, with no explanation. I assumed it was parents evening.’
‘You didn’t bother to check.’
‘No. Which is my bad. Next time I’ll be sure to check. But you also didn’t tell me.’ He put his hands on his hips. ‘Almost as if you were setting me up to fail.’
Again, speechless.
‘If you’d put aside your grudge against me long enough to prioritise your daughter, you could have made a simple phone call warning me that she might flip out and that the pony game sorts her out. Perhaps then our son wouldn’t have to act as go-between.’
He did his best to stare me down. I resisted the urge to say what I really thought, knowing I’d regret it later.
‘If Isla gets upset again, please let me know. And if you can’t sort it quickly, call me.’ I wrangled my rage back under control, for my children’s sake. ‘I’ll send you the links to some helpful websites.’
I stepped back inside and called for the kids to come and get their shoes on. To my irritation, Brayden followed me in.
‘Have you considered that some changes in your parenting strategy might resolve the issue?’ he asked as the children thumped about upstairs.
‘What the hell do you mean by that?’ I whispered.
‘If you instigated some healthy routines and, I don’t know, a less chaotic environment, it might help your children to feel less anxious. I mean, for goodness’ sake, Liz. Look at this place. It’s a shambles. You’re not twenty any more. Surely it’s time to take responsibility for yourself before you hit a full-on nervous breakdown and drag our kids down with you.’
Mercifully, at that point Finn and Isla appeared, preventing me from dragging Brayden down onto my scraggy hall carpet and throttling him.
I gave both kids a reassuring hug, despite my urge to bundle them back inside the house and lock the door, and went to make my shambles of a house slightly less shambolic.
13
After an hour of rage-fuelled cleaning, I decided to walk over to Dad’s for lunch. I’d been worrying about him ever since he’d read the postcard. Next time, I’d look at it after he’d gone. On top of that, I was stressing about what he’d do if he found out about Jonah and Ellis turning up at Bloomers.
‘Ah. Libby, I wasn’t expecting you,’ he exclaimed, when I let myself into the garden via the back gate, calling hello as I rounded the corner of the house.
Well, that quickly became clear.
The patio table was set for two. And, by ‘set’, I mean with enough cutlery for three courses, cloth napkins and a vase of daisies. A second later a woman appeared at the open kitchen door, carrying two glasses containing what looked to be prawn cocktails.
It took me a moment of taking in her ash-blonde bob, immaculate cream trousers and white blouse to realise it was the headmistress at Finn and Isla’s school, Miss Marsden. Or Janet, as Dad now introduced her.
‘Libby, hello. Fancy seeing you here,’ she said, as if I didn’t spend more Saturday lunchtimes here than at my own house.‘Don’t tell me Tony has to be on family duties at the weekends as well as most of the week. Let the man have a day off to enjoy his own life!’
That stopped me in my tracks. Was that how Dad saw looking after his grandchildren, as a duty? Did he tolerate me calling over at weekends out of pity? I was here to check that he was okay!
‘I’m joking.’ Janet laughed as she placed the glasses on the table, but there was a distinct chill behind her smile. ‘I know how much he loves you. He talks about you and the kids all the time.’
There was an alarming moment where it felt as if the world had tilted slightly, just enough to send my insides lurching. My dad, who’d needed me as much as I’d relied on him for the past few years, had adate. Or was this more than a date? Janet had certainly made herself at home, I noticed as she poured out two glasses of wine.
