Chloe winced at her mother’s inappropriate attempt at humour.
‘What sort of “common ground”?’ Noah couldn’t keep the distrust out of his voice, or maybe he didn’t try.
Eloise turned towards him, her gaze steady, her words clear. ‘I really thought you might have learnt by now, Noah – some things are private.’ No one said anything. All of them felt too fragile to put up any defence. ‘Evidently not.’ She pushed her plate away and folded her arms. ‘As the two women he chose to have a relationship with, Megan and I share a unique insight into your father. We spoke about that, and other things. Like jealousy and guilt, and blame and honesty. Oh, and cake! For a small café, it really does have a surprisingly good selection of pastries. None of which – apart from the cake news – is any of your business.’ She reached for the kitchen roll, tore off a square and dabbed her mouth. ‘Thank you for supper, Chloe.’ She’d barely touched her food. ‘It was very… filling, but I have a long drive ahead of me, so I think I’ll be making tracks. As I said, I don’t feel there’s anything else I can usefully do here, so I shall leave it in your capable hands. I hope everything goes well at the solicitor’s tomorrow. You’ll keep me posted on how it goes, I assume?’ She directed this at Liv, but it was Chloe who nodded.
She summoned the boys and crouched down. Big hugs were exchanged, then Eloise worked her way around the room, offering a kiss on the cheek to each adult. Circuit completed, she headed for the door. ‘I’ll see myself out.’
There was a beat. They waited for her to have the final word.
‘Please say “goodbye” and “good luck” to Megan for me.’ That was it.
They heard her heels clip across the floorboards in the hall, and a pause – perhaps for one last glance around – then the opening and closing of the front door.
Chapter 51
LIV WAS so worn out that she pulled off her jeans and sweater without thinking, totally forgetting Angus was sitting up in bed. Thankfully he seemed absorbed in his book. She was relieved to get away with it. ‘Do you want to read for a bit?’
He snapped the book shut. ‘No. You’re tired. Let’s settle.’ He turned off the light.
She rolled away from him, onto her side, hoping to fall asleep quickly. God, she so needed to sleep. The bed creaked. She felt him shuffle across the mattress and press himself against her. A solid, reassuring presence. He stroked her back gently with his big hands. She could feel his breath on her skin. His breathing was steady, deep, slower than hers, a good rhythm to try and match. The house was quiet. All of them in bed early, wanting to get through the night and the following day’s meeting, then leave.
As she began to relax she heard him whisper, ‘Liv?’
‘Yes.’ She didn’t lift her head from the pillow.
‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah.’
‘I know it’s been really difficult today, but at least it’s sorted now.’ Angus was always a ‘glass half-full’ kind of person.
‘Yes.’ She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her voice.
‘You still seem very tense.’
‘I’m fine. I’m just tired.’
There was a pause and she heard him hold on to his breath and his thoughts for a few seconds longer as he decided on his next move – which was to raise himself up on his elbow and lean over her. ‘Liv, you’re always tired. But this is different. I’ve never seen you struggle as much as you are at the moment. I’m worried about you.’
She rolled over, forcing him to back off, but also giving him the respect of showing him her face, or at least her profile. The darkness helped. In the dark, nuances were harder to detect, along with lies. ‘It’s just this whole thing has been so stressful. I knew Dad was dying, but it was still a shock. I thought he’d be around for a little longer. Then his bloody will complicated what was already going to be a tough situation. On top of work. And the kids. It’s been a lot to handle. I really am worn out.’
‘Um.’ Angus usually accepted her reassurances, because, well… because usually she was telling him the truth. Maybe he could sense that she was holding out on him. They were not a couple who talked through every last thing, but still… a pregnancy – she shied away from the word ‘baby’ – was hardly a small detail.
She stirred herself to try and convince him, or at least give him a credible explanation for her lack of energy and her low mood. ‘Being here has stirred up lots of memories.’
‘And?’
She shuffled around, trying to get comfortable. ‘I suppose it depresses me to realise that we haven’t have grown up much. Me and Noah and Chloe. We’re still fighting like we used to when we were kids, still vying for attention, even though neither of our parents is watching any more. It’s pathetic really. We’re all as bad as each other.’
‘Oh, I couldn’t possibly agree with that. You’ve behaved just fine. Better than fine. You, my lovely wife, have been awesome.’
She was glad Angus hadn’t been in the room to see her screaming at Noah. Glad he couldn’t see the veins of resentment that now ran through her soul about all the money her dad had given to her brother and sister, but not to her. Glad he didn’t know how deep her sense of unfairness was at the way her father had treated her, compared to everyone else. She sensed Angus reach out to put his hand on her stomach, and only just managed to roll onto her side in time. As compensation, she stroked her fingertips down his cheek.
‘Ah, thank you for the vote of confidence, my dear, but I’m afraid your opinion is somewhat invalidated
