Page 56 of A Merry Little Christmas

Chapter 20

Nell

Nell drove Max back home on autopilot; grateful for once that her stepson was engrossed in his phone and didn’t want to chat. She couldn’t get the image of Merry out of her head. Not the one where she shouted from the ladder about no one caring about her, but the look of terror on her face when she received the instruction to get to her dad’s residential home immediately. As far as Nell was concerned, that had been the wake-up call for both of them. It had pressed reset on the situation. They were best friends and had been for over two decades, and Nell wanted to be there for Merry in her hour of need. Nothing else mattered. Merry’s dad was clearly in a serious condition; whatever else was going on could wait.

Nell wished she had been firmer with Merry and insisted on driving her to Springwood House. Merry had been in no fit state to drive herself, but she was incredibly stubborn. Once she’d made up her mind, there’d be no changing it.

After Merry had gone, people had started speaking again. Someone had put the music back on, at a lower volume, Nell had been pleased to hear. Harley had watched anxiously, waiting for instruction; the two girls with the budgie had escaped into the night, along with several other customers, while Woody had done his best to regain the earlier mood by chatting to the remaining shoppers and topping up cups of mulled wine. Irena had stepped in to give Nell a hug and by the time she had extricated herself from her mother-in-law’s bosom and mopped her eyes, she was exhausted.

‘Not my call, darling, obviously,’ Woody had slid an arm around her shoulders. ‘But if I were you, I’d call it a night. What do you say?’

Nell had leaned her head on his shoulder, her eyes prickling with tears again, and nodded. ‘You’re an angel, you know that, Woody. I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’

He’d planted a swift kiss on her head. ‘You’d have managed, my love, like we all do. Come on, let’s call last orders on the mulled wine, as if we were a pub. I’ve always wanted to do that.’

‘Nell?’ From the passenger seat, Max’s voice penetrated her thoughts. ‘We’re here, you’re about to drive past.’

‘Sorry, love.’ Nell pulled the car to a stop outside Max’s house, and he jumped straight out.

‘Thanks for the lift,’ he called, slamming the door, as Yvonna appeared on the drive in her winter coat and slippers. ‘Hey, Mum.’

He gave his mum a lightning-fast kiss on her cheek and ran inside. Nell felt a rush of adrenaline at the sight of Yvonna.

What secrets did this woman hold? Nell wondered, as she prepared to turn the car around and drive away. What lies had she been keeping all these years? If mumps had made Olek infertile all his adult life, as Nell suspected, then Yvonna must have been having an affair as far back as when Max was conceived – years before Olek had found out about it. Not only had she cheated on Olek, but she’d allowed him to believe that Max was his, let him support the boy financially all this time after they’d separated, but, more important than that, she’d sat back and watched her ex-husband form an unshakeable bond with a child who wasn’t his.

Nell gripped the steering wheel, angry on Olek’s behalf. Should she tackle Yvonna on it? Hint that she’d found out the truth? She hesitated for a second, her foot hovering over the brakes. No, she wouldn’t, she decided. It was late in the evening, she’d had a stressful day already, and she still needed to check up on Merry to see how her father was.

She nodded at Yvonna out of politeness and selected first gear, but the other woman raised a hand to stop her from driving away.

Nell bit back a groan and lowered her window to Yvonna to talk to her.

‘Thanks for bringing him home. I owe you one.’ Yvonna was shivering. She was only wearing a strappy vest underneath her coat, and she pulled the lapels together for warmth. ‘I had one of those days at work and the bottle of Malbec in the kitchen was calling to me. Before I knew it, I’d had two glasses and didn’t dare drive.’

‘And Viktor didn’t fancy picking him up either?’ Nell couldn’t resist asking.

As his stepfather, naturally he wasn’t going to be as dedicated to Max as Olek or Yvonna, but in all the years she’d known Viktor, he’d only ever shown an interest in Max when there was something to boast about. He’d already asked for free tickets to the Derby v Liverpool match on Christmas Eve. Max only had two and he’d promised them to Olek and Yvonna’s dad, who’d been supporting Max’s football career since he was small. Viktor had apparently sulked for two days.

‘Viktor?’ Yvonna chuckled. ‘No, he’s had three glasses.’

Fair enough, thought Nell. It was Christmas, a time when lots of people were drinking more than usual. Plus, Yvonna had known either she or Olek would step in and bring her son home, as usual, but Nell couldn’t help finding the other woman’s casual attitude to Max reckless. If she had a child … She brought herself up short, she had to stop this sort of thinking, this criticism of parents who, in her mind, fell somehow short of her own standards. After all, what did she know, what would she ever know, about the true day-in, day-out responsibilities of parenthood?

‘Are you listening?’ Yvonna’s sharp voice brought her back to the moment.

‘Sorry?’ Nell replied with a start. ‘I missed that.’

Yvonna smirked. ‘If I didn’t know you were such a saint, I’d think you’d been drinking. You’re away with the fairies. I said, did it go well? Your little shopping evening?’

The hairs on the back of Nell’s neck prickled. Yvonna was pressing all her buttons tonight; the sooner she could drive off, the better.

‘Yes! Great, thanks for asking!’ she said with such enthusiasm that Yvonna’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

If only she knew that it had been Nell’s worst experience at work ever: she’d had a slanging match with her pregnant best friend, had to shut the shop early and in a fit of pique had resigned and was now jobless.

‘A busy night then.’ Yvonna hugged herself against the cold. ‘I’m surprised Olek didn’t offer to drive you. You two are usually joined at the hip.’

Nell gritted her teeth; the back-handed compliments were coming in thick and fast tonight.

‘He had an emergency call-out to fit new locks after a break-in. Poor family had all their Christmas presents stolen from under the tree. He is having to secure all doors and windows before he can leave.’