Page 8 of The Girlfriend’s Secret

‘Did either of you get up in the night?’ I ask Joel as he fills the kettle with water before putting it on to boil. I’m twirling my hair again because I’m nervous about having a conversation about the mess.

‘I did,’ Haven replies, not even trying to deny it, which again makes me wonder why she would be so bold if she did make this mess. Surely she can see the state this kitchen is in?

‘Oh, okay,’ I say. ‘Did you make yourself a sandwich or something?’

‘Yeah, I made a snack for me and Joel,’ Haven replies nonchalantly. ‘We were both wide awake at 3 a.m. with jetlag, so I came down here and got us something to eat. Is that okay?’

‘I told her it would be fine, Mum,’ Joel replies as the kettle boils.

‘Oh, yes, of course it’s fine,’ I say. ‘It’s just that, well…’

I’m not sure how to say what I want to say without coming across as a boring stickler for tidiness. But I also don’t want what has happened here to go unrecognised because I don’t want it to become the norm. Surely common decency and manners whilst staying in somebody else’s home are a given?

‘Is it about the mess?’ Haven asks then, thankfully raising the subject for me.

‘Yes,’ I say, a little relieved that I am not the only one who has noticed all the evidence of food preparation around here.

‘Sorry about that. I’ll tidy it up now,’ Haven says as she slides off her seat and picks up the empty crisp packets.

‘No, I’ll do it,’ Joel says. ‘I should have done it last night, but I was so sleepy.’

‘Me too. It had been a long day and, with jetlag, I just wasn’t thinking clearly,’ Haven adds, and suddenly I feel bad for being so annoyed about this mess. An untidy kitchen is hardly the end of the world, especially given what happened yesterday, when we all attended the event that did mark the end of the world for my mother. So I should just shrug and forget about this rather than make a bigger deal out of it.

‘Don’t worry, I’ll tidy up,’ I say, trying to sound as casual as I can. ‘I was just checking if it was you or my husband who had made some food in the night.’

‘I see,’ Haven replies with a laugh. ‘Well, he’s not guilty this time.’

There’s that chirpy, utterly unawkward demeanour again, and as I watch Haven put some of the rubbish into the bin, I wish I possessed one ounce of the calm confidence she carries. Is it weird for a fifty-year-old woman with a husband and two healthy kids to envy someone half their age who has little else in life other than a backpack with a few belongings in it? Maybe, or maybe it’s more common than I think. I might appear to have more than Haven does on the surface of things, but she clearly has something I don’t.

She has freedom from overthinking every tiny little thing.

As Joel makes the tea, I help Haven tidy up, and by the time we are done, the kitchen is looking back to its best.

‘So, what are your plans today?’ I ask the loved-up pair who can’t seem to keep their hands off one another as they sit on the opposite side of the breakfast bar to me.

‘We might just rest. We’re still both really tired from the flight,’ Joel says, and that’s understandable, so I won’t try and push them to do anything productive. Like job hunt so they can earn some money to move out, for example. The truth is, it’s early days, but I love having Joel back home. As for Haven, hopefully, in time, I’ll be glad she is around too.

I’m just about to suggest breakfast when my phone rings and when I see who is calling me, I feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. But I have to answer it, so I do just that, although not before leaving the breakfast bar and turning away from Joel and Haven.

‘Hello?’ I say before I hear the voice of the solicitor in charge of settling my mother’s final wishes regarding her Last Will and Testament. Her name is Jane, and my mother told me she would be the one to deal with when she was gone regarding her estate and the distribution of it to her remaining family.

‘Hello, Liane. I hope you’re well and the funeral service was not too difficult for you?’

‘Thank you, it went as well as could be hoped for,’ I say before glancing back at the breakfast bar to see that Joel is totally uninterested in my conversation and is looking at his phone instead. But Haven is watching me, so I step a little further away.

‘I’m just calling to see if you are free to come for a meeting to discuss your mother’s will,’ Jane says. ‘I appreciate if it is too early and you need a little more time, but your mother was very organised, so I am just letting you know that we can progress things whenever you are ready.’

I knew my mother was organised in regard to her finances and what might happen to them when she died because she told me so. The only thing she didn’t plan for was dying before her time, but then nobody plans for that, I suppose.

‘I’m ready,’ I say, figuring it’s a task that needs to be done, so rather sooner than later.

Jane gives me the details of when I am to meet her at her office before I thank her and end the call. When I do, I turn back and see that Joel is still engrossed in his phone. I also see that Haven has been watching me this entire time.

Does she know what that phone call was about? I have no idea. But one thing I do know is that she will not be joining me, Frederik, Scott and Joel when we go to hear how my mother has chosen to distribute the wealth she left behind.

It’s strictly a matter for family and Haven is not that.

Not yet.