Chapter Twenty-Two
December 2016
As the days and weeks passed since the night at the hotel, Lydia mentioned nothing about what she knew. Not to Sally, not to Connor and definitely not to Anita. She’d left London that day so exhausted but with the sense that maybe this was the start of the stage where she had to take charge of her life to stop it from going completely off course. She’d even lied to Anita, who called a few weeks later. She told her she’d slipped in the shower at home, broken her wrist badly and wouldn’t be able to visit for a quite a while. It bought her time to process, and after the revelations that night, she knew she needed to put herself first. Anita had accepted the explanation without question and Lydia had wondered whether she’d gone back to thinking it was best for Lydia to keep her distance anyway, that she’d take it from here. Anita was also all caught up with Theo’s move to the rehab facility and no doubt busy making sure the staff there would be doing their jobs properly, and that Theo would finally get the care he’d needed since the accident. Anita had delivered a barrage of information at the start of the month, texting periodic updates, details of the tests Theo was going through, the neuroimaging or something or other Lydia had never heard of. But lately the texts seemed to have dried up, and reading between the lines, Lydia knew there was no change in his condition.
At work one day in early December, just after she’d made a hot chocolate out in the kitchen area and brought it back to her desk, Ian asked whether everything was okay. If he’d asked her that straight after London she’d probably have burst into tears, but not now. She felt numb.
‘Yep. Everything’s fine.’ She dismissed his concerns as she scrolled through unread emails and sipped the hot chocolate. ‘Do you need me for something?’
‘I’ve got a proposition for you.’
‘Sounds intriguing.’
‘What are you up to in January?’
‘No plans, why?’
‘How about an all-expenses-paid trip? All in the name of research of course.’
Oh please, please say somewhere hot and exotic, a real getaway.‘Keep going. I’m listening.’
It turned out they had an article due in mid-February and Sarah was supposed to be dealing with it but her husband had just scored a new job in Ireland, she’d found out she was already six weeks pregnant, and she wanted to hand in her notice. Ian explained the assignment which would take her to a European ski resort, but Lydia felt she had to be honest.
‘You know I don’t ski, right? I mean I have, but I’m not that into it.’
‘Nonsense. You’re young, fit, I’ve even heard you dance.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Rod over there gets out of breath going up and down the stairs, he’d be a hopeless choice.’
Lydia grinned. Rod was a lovely guy but had the laziness gene that meant his only exercise was walking from the car to the office, and not much else. But he’d travelled a lot in his thirties and had heaps of contacts and was the go-to person with new ideas and queries.
‘Dancing is a little bit different to skiing.’ Lydia’s forehead creased. She wanted the assignment in some ways, but in others, she’d rather be sitting in front of a cosy warm fire. ‘Although my skiing could pretty much be described as a type of dance, or even acrobatics given the amount of time I spend tumbling.’
‘I don’t have anyone else to step in, Lydia, and you’re one of my best writers.’ He kept his voice low and she couldn’t help but be flattered at the praise. ‘The piece is a little bit different anyway. This is an all-encompassing feature and it’s as much about the après-ski and alternative activities as it is the skiing.’
‘Doesn’t that defeat the point of featuring a ski resort?’
‘This will target a wider audience. I have it on good authority – my wife – who tells me lots of her friends on Facebook have partners and kids who are desperate to ski, so they’re dragged along and hate every second. Those people need to know that they can still go on a winter family holiday and have a good time.’
Lydia perked up. ‘So I can research anything I like?’
‘Exactly. I want restaurants and bars, shopping, spas, sights and landmarks, tours.’
It was sounding better by the second.
‘So can I count you in?’
‘And where would I be flying to exactly?’
‘Andorra.’
She’d never been. She let him sweat it out a bit and then said, ‘I’m in.’
It was the escape she’d needed for a very long time.
*
‘You jammy cow!’ Sally pulled into the Christmas tree yard. ‘First a night at The Shard, now a trip to Andorra.’
Lydia unclipped her seatbelt. Sally still didn’t know about Theo and for now she wouldn’t. ‘And I don’t have to do too much skiing either.’
