We stand there in the doorway, the three of us reunited for the first time, and I’m filled with a strength I’d forgotten I had within me since I left my father’s house earlier this afternoon.
‘You must be the famous David Campbell,’ says Kate’s mum, Annie, whom I recognize from photos when she comes to the door. ‘Please don’t look so nervous. We don’t bite. Not on the first visit anyhow. Come in, you’re very welcome.’
She dries her hands on a tea-towel and Kate smiles with relief as we go inside. The hallway is narrow, with family photos lining either side; there is a small sitting room to the left then a flight of stairs, and at the back of the house is a kitchen that runs along the width of the house, looking out onto a small garden and another row of houses that run parallel.
‘David, this is my sister Maureen,’ Kate says, her voice confident and sure, while Maureen looks on at me more sceptically.
‘You didn’t tell me he was a pure ride,’ says Maureen. ‘You’re very welcome, David, even if your dad and our mum are old arch-enemies.’
‘Maureen!’ Annie pipes up as she fusses around the kitchen. ‘I don’t think my politics is of concern here, even if I can’t say I could have ever predicted I’d see Reverend Campbell’s son in our kitchen, but Kate seems happy and that’s all I’ll ever want for her.’
I feel my face flush but, before any sense of embarrassment overcomes me, Kate holds out her left hand.
‘Yes, well politics and history are going to have to be put to the side, because David and I have some big news.’
Kate links my arm with her right hand as the three women – Annie, Maureen and Shannon – look at each other open-mouthed.
‘No way!’ says Shannon, as Kate proudly holds out her left hand to show off her engagement ring, but Maureen and Annie look lost for words.
‘Does … does your father know?’ asks Annie, then she seems to remember the sense of occasion. ‘I mean, wow, that’s lovely news. Congratulations.’
She swallows after she speaks, as if she is masking her true feelings, but manages to paint on a smile to cover her shock.
‘No, I haven’t told Dad yet,’ says Kate, her voice a little nipped now. ‘It was a surprise for me but I’m sure Dad will be happy if I’m happy, like you just said.’
‘Oh, come here!’ says Annie, holding out her arms as she walks towards us, her eyes glistening with tears now as she embraces us with a light hug. ‘I am happy for you both. I really am. It’s just very unexpected but a lovely surprise all in all.’ We stand in an awkward embrace until Kate’s sister interrupts.
‘Kate, you should have warned us! We’d have had some bubbles on ice!’ says Maureen, in full excitement mode nowthat her mother has given her stilted approval. ‘Don’t move! I’ll run to the shop. It’s not every day your sister gets engaged and I bought new flute glasses the other day! I must be psychic!’
Maureen leaves immediately, while Shannon keeps staring at me as if she doesn’t quite believe it’s real.
‘You and the ice-cream shop boy are engaged!’ she says dreamily. ‘That’s like the coolest thing ever.’
‘At least someone thinks so!’ Kate says, looking at me as she rolls her eyes and shakes her head.
‘No, no, don’t say that. I’m genuinely very pleased for you both,’ says Annie, who seems a bit more relaxed now. ‘Sit down and I’ll put the kettle on for a cup of tea while we wait for Maureen to come back with something a bit more appropriate. The ring is beautiful, by the way. Very Kate.’
She looks in approval in my direction.
‘He had it designed especially,’ says Kate, and I see the little girl in her for the first time ever. This home has known its own traumas, from what Kate told me about her childhood, but it’s a homestead of very strong women and a place where Kate still feels very safe and secure; it’s a far cry from the heartless mansion I grew up in, despite the efforts of my mother to make it more homely.
We sit down on a little two-seater sofa in the kitchen as Kate’s mum makes some tea. I notice how her hands shake as she does so. She flicks back her hair a lot and I can tell that – although she is putting on a very brave front for meand Kate – it’s like she is constantly looking over her shoulder for something to go wrong, despite her own happiness for her daughter. I shift in my seat, trying to ignore the signs, and I’m glad when Maureen comes bounding back in armed with a bottle of Cava which she pops with great delight. She hands us all a glass just as her mother is stewing the tea.
‘This is more like it! Now … to our Kate and David!’ she says, her eyes filling up behind her dark-rimmed glasses. She looks nothing like Kate with her fuzzy curls and thick glasses, and I know they don’t have the same father, but she has the same warmth and honesty and I like her instantly.
‘To Kate and David!’ says Shannon, still gawping at me as if I’m someone off the telly and not her aunt’s fiancé.
‘Thanks Mum, thanks Mo, thanks our darling Shannon,’ Kate says as her eyes sparkle with delight. ‘We are so happy and I’m glad you are too, even if it took a wee while to sink in!’
We clink glasses and take a sip of bubbles, but just as I’m swallowing my drink I feel the mood change at the slam of the front door. Everyone jumps a little and then freezes, and I suddenly feel unwelcome.
‘Daddy,’ says Shannon. ‘What are you doing here?’
Then, just like mice scurrying from a cat, all four women hurry away from our circular party and I’m left standing alone in the middle of the kitchen holding a champagne glass.
I quickly follow their eyes towards the doorway of the kitchen to see a thickset man a few years older than me, I’m guessing, and I automatically clench my fists at the sight of him, feeling my skin prickle in defence.
‘Sean!’ says Maureen, looking very sheepish now. I blink back my bewilderment at how one person can enter a room and change its mood entirely. ‘What are you doing here?’
