‘Really?’
‘Really.’
‘Okay, so while we’re on the subject. Have you got anything to tell me? You seemed different the moment you arrived yesterday and I can’t work out why.’
Lydia thought she’d done a good job pretending, but there was no fooling her sister that something had changed. ‘Where do I start?’
‘Come on,’ she said, hooking her arm into Lydia’s. ‘Let’s walk to the pub, grab a mulled wine and you can tell me everything.’
In less than fifteen minutes they’d found a table beside the open fire, and settled with a mulled wine each, they began to talk.
‘I still can’t believe he was cheating on you,’ said Imogen when Lydia had told her everything. ‘I knew something was up when I asked you about London. It was as though you were putting on a brave face. I thought it was the emotion of knowing Theo booked the hotel for you but wasn’t there to share the experience.’ She shook her head. ‘If I’d been with you I’d have smacked that Melanie in the face!’
‘It’s not her I’m angry at.’
‘Why not? She made a play for another girl’s boyfriend. Unforgiveable in my book.’
‘She’d never met me, she had no idea what I was like and she must’ve thought Theo was going to end it. He must’ve given her that impression.’
‘Do you think there’s any way he changed his mind about her? You said things between you were much better.’
‘I guess we’ll never know.’
‘Hang on a minute. You seem pretty upbeat for someone who’s found out all of that. Come on, there’s something you’re not telling me.’ She clapped a hand across her mouth. ‘You’ve met someone else!’
‘In a manner of speaking. Do you remember me telling you about Connor?’
‘Of course I do. And he’s appeared on my Facebook suggested friends list, he’s a good-looking guy! Him?’
‘Kind of.’
‘Either it’s him or it’s not, Lydia.’
‘We’re not together, we’re just friends. But, he may have broken my spell of not having sex since December last year.’ She lowered her voice rather than telling the whole pub her news.
Of course Imogen wanted to know everything and Lydia told her how it was her who’d made the move, how it had been passionate but almost a kind of love you only got with a friend who you trusted more than anyone else in the world.
‘I want to meet this Connor one day and shake his hand,’ said Imogen, ‘because anyone who can make my sister look happy after so long deserves a medal. Regardless of Theo and what went on behind your back, I can see Connor was what you needed at the time.’ Lydia started to giggle. ‘What?’
‘Could you imagine if I told Mum I had sex but it was only friends with benefits?’
‘I don’t know, she’s more open-minded than you think.’ Imogen knocked back the rest of the mulled wine and they pulled on their jumpers, preparing to go back to the house for the Christmas pudding they’d all been too full to eat earlier. She began to laugh. ‘Actually, on second thoughts, she’d probably faint on the spot so let’s just keep this to ourselves.’
‘You’re on. But you know what we can tell her that will make her really, really happy?’ She linked arms with Imogen as they met the frosty air outside. ‘Your news. She’ll be whipping out her knitting needles to make baby clothes before you’ve even shown her the ring.’
*
Lydia was surprisingly chirpy as she drove the familiar journey up to Suffolk and let the satnav take her to the new location of the rehab facility. It was the day before New Year’s Eve and since Imogen had shared her news it’d been nothing but wedding talk. Lydia was going to be bridesmaid along with two of Imogen’s friends and they’d each have the same style dress but in different colours. Her parents were over the moon, of course, and not once had Lydia felt jealous. This was her younger sister’s moment and one she wanted to enjoy with her.
Lydia pulled into the car park at the rehab centre and was relieved there was no sign of Anita’s car. She hadn’t called Anita this time because she didn’t want Anita to suggest they meet or talk, or do anything. Anita hadn’t been in touch lately anyway, and although at first Lydia had felt cast aside and pushed out, part of her had been relieved.
The rehab facility was housed in a beautiful old building but nothing inside was anything other than new. It smelt clean, different to the care home, and the lounge she passed had visitors and residents of varying ages, from teens up to a man who looked to be in his fifties. It had been a long time coming, but Lydia was glad for Anita and Theo that he was out of that other place where he could’ve stagnated for years. Here, the members of staff were chirpier and missing the tired aura that came the second you asked them a question.
She was shown along a bright corridor filled with natural light despite the winter season and she chatted to the nurse about the gardens they had here, the free visiting hours, but she didn’t ask any specifics about Theo. All she wanted to do was get in to see him and escape before she had to bump into Anita.
She opened the door to what could easily have been Theo’s own room in his own place. The duvet on the bed was black and grey – man colours – there was a stack of books on the shelf above an ornate fireplace that housed deep red blooms. And the window looked out over the car park and the gardens, which stretched out to either side of the building.
Alone with him in his room, she sat by his bed for a long time. She didn’t talk. This time she didn’t stroke his face, she didn’t hold onto his hand and there weren’t tears in her eyes. But also there wasn’t the bitterness she’d felt since the night at the hotel, the anger, the resentment at the lies he’d told. She spent some time looking out of the window, out over the manicured lawns still twinkling with the frost that had melted into moisture.
