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“Apologize?” Billie tore her eyes away from the crowd to look at Cora.
“You disappeared, or I’d have done it before,” Cora said, stepping in a little closer. “I need to apologize for what I said, Billie. I was angry, I was hurt, but I shouldn’t have said it anyway.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Billie agreed.
“And then you left and… And no one’s seen you since.” Cora still smelled like men’s aftershave. “Which is a shame. Because you do have a career, Billie. You should be here. You should be auditioning and playing and to think that you’re not because of something foolish and selfish that I said, it makes me sick.”
“As it should,” Billie said sharply.
Cora smiled again, a crooked smile that had once set Billie’s heart on fire. “So come back,” she said. “I don’t mean to me. I know we didn’t work. But come back to the music, to the city. Come home.”
Down below, Jim was being scolded by a security guard for lighting a cigar. Max and Mila were chasing after Dash who’d somehow got hold of a program and was hitting people with it as he ran. Sylv from the shop was telling Dave from the pub that she’d never seen a concert as grand as this, and Josh from the pub was telling Hope from the school that the price of drinks in the hall bar were extortionate.
The little group looked… small. Provincial. Their clothes weren’t quite right, their eyes were too wide, their voices were too loud. But they made Billie smile. They made her heart hurt and her stomach happy, they made her feel loved and comfortable and just… right.
“No,” she said, not even looking at Cora. “No, I don’t think so.”
One of the towering glass doors opened and in walked Jules with Amelia and Billie’s heart grew three sizes and the sun shone a little brighter.
“Come home,” Cora said, her voice pleading.
“No,” said Billie, starting to grin. “I can’t. I’m already going home.”
And as she walked down the stairs Jules’s face lit up and Max started ushering people toward the exit.
“Good afternoon?” Billie asked.
“Better now,” said Jules as she disappeared into Billie’s arms. “You?”
“Far better now,” said Billie, holding Jules tight.
???
The bus glided down the motorway into the twilight toward Whitebridge and Jules stretched and leaned her head against Billie’s shoulder.
“How did the coffee tasting go?” Billie asked lazily tracing circles on Jules’s arm.
Jules sighed. “Yeah, about that, I wasn’t exactly truthful.” She took a deep breath and told Billie everything. Everything down to the worries she had about being a mum.
And Billie held her close. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, you know?” she said quietly. “You’ve got a lot of great role models around here.”
“The same goes for you,” Jules said. “Amelia told me about all the help we’re liable to get. I mean, not that we’re necessarily planning on doing this right now, but when we’re ready.”
“When we’re ready,” Billie agreed, with a grin. Then her face got more serious. “Um, I might not have been totally truthful either.”
Jules listened as Billie told her about Cora.
“We didn’t have to go,” Jules said, when she was done. “I mean, once you found out she’d be there, we didn’t have to go.”
Billie gestured back to the entire busload of people. Jim had started a sing-song and the bus was full of Ten Green Bottles. “Things got a bit out of hand,” she said.
Jules giggled. “Yeah, they sort of did, didn’t they?”
“And, as it turns out, it wasn’t such a bad thing. I think it did me good to see Cora.”
“It didn’t make you think about all the things you’re missing?” Jules asked.
“Missing?” asked Billie in surprise. “I’m not missing a thing.” She settled back down into her seat, putting her arm around Jules. “This is exactly where I want to be.” The first sign for Whitebridge flashed by the bus window.
