Chapter Twenty-Two
‘My God, Lisa, I was starting to get worried.’ Flick stared at Lisa, only then realising that she had been crying.
Pete came to the door and took Fred, he began to say something, but Felicity placed her hand on his arm. He looked between her and Lisa. ‘I’ll take that as a cue to make myself scarce then, shall I?’ Fred in his arms, he headed to thekitchen. ‘I’ll get him something to eat.’
Felicity mouthed, ‘thank you’ and led Lisa through the hall.
It had been years since Lisa had actually been inside Flick’s mum’s house, and it seemed, since inheriting it, Felicity and her family had made it their own. It was hard to take in how different it looked. The patterned carpet had been replaced by laminate flooring. There wasan overflowing basket of shoes at the bottom of the stairs. The coat hooks were smothered in an array of coats in different sizes and colours. The once-bright-yellow walls were beige, and adorned with framed photographs of Flick and her family. It gave a sense of happy, homely chaos.
As they entered the lounge, Felicity pushed the door to, and attempted to keep her voice quiet and even.‘What on earth happened? Is everything OK? Was Fred OK?’
Lisa began to explain, her heart pounding. She knew Felicity would think she was a terrible friend. She had trusted her with her son for the first time ever and he had ended up falling off the slide. Albeit he had no actual injuries, but Lisa knew that was the result of luck rather than her babysitting abilities. Ben was right, howcould she ever look after a child of her own?Sometimes things really do happen for a reason, she could see that now.
Felicity listened. Lisa told her about being in the park, the swearing incident and about Fred insisting on going on the big slide. Lisa repeated over and over that she knew she should never have let him. As Lisa got more and more animated in her explanation, Felicity watchedbemused. When Lisa finally got to the part about being left holding Fred’s wellies as he flew off the slide, silence fell between them. Felicity tried to offer a sympathetic smile, and to take it all seriously, but the image of Lisa holding Fred’s Gruffalo wellies and him zooming off the slide made her begin to giggle.
‘Oh, I’m sorry. But when I saw your face, I was just expecting somethingso much worse than that.’ Felicity bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from grinning.
Lisa stared in disbelief. ‘It’s not funny!’
‘Oh, Lisa, it is a bit. I know what Fred’s like. I bet he stamped his foot about the slide!’
‘Yes, but I’m the adult. I could have… should have… stopped him.’
‘OK, maybe you should, but he wouldn’t have wanted to listen.’ Flickput her arm round Lisa feeling mean for laughing when she was clearly shaken by it all. ‘He’s baby number four, he’s into everything and thinks he can do everything. He would probably have done the same if I were there. Lisa, really, don’t beat yourself up about it.’
‘But he landed on his back. I took him to see the doctor.’
‘The doctor? What doctor?’ Felicity realised she maynot have taken the situation seriously enough.
‘Your doctor, DrGreene, but he saw the paramedic.’ Lisa had no idea how to throw into the mix that it was Dom and decided to stick to the point in hand.
‘Oh my God! Why did he need a paramedic?’
‘He didn’t, I just wanted him checked over. The paramedic was the only one free. I was worried he was hurt.’
‘And was he?Is he OK? Why didn’t you call?’
‘My bloody phone was dead; I’m sorry. He is OK. I wanted to do the right thing. He had a lump—’
‘A lump?’ Felicity removed her arm. ‘What do you mean he had a lump? Is Fred OK?’ Her words came out more curtly than she intended, the thought of her son actually being injured sinking in.
‘Well, I thought it was—’
‘What?’
‘Somethingbroken, but I was wrong, he wasn’t hurt. It was nothing.’
‘Then what was the lump?’
‘His… well, his—’
‘His what?’
‘His… shoulder blade.’ Lisa felt stupid saying it. ‘The lump I could feel was just Fred’s shoulder blade.’
Felicity took a moment as she processed Lisa’s reply before bursting into more laughter.
‘I’m so stupid; how would I not knowthat?’
