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“Ron called me in the middle of the night.” Ron, who had spoken in that impossibly kind voice people only used when they were delivering seriously bad news. “My mum is in hospital. She was hit by a car. She’s in surgery.”
“Oh, Audrey—” Grace took her hand. “You poor thing. You must be so worried.”
“What if she dies?” And then she remembered Grace’s parents had died and she felt terrible. “I’m sorry. That was so tactless.”
“Don’t apologize. You don’t have to be careful what you say. Remember I know exactly what you’re going through.”
“I feel like I’ve been such a terrible daughter.”
“No!” Grace’s hand tightened on hers. “You are a wonderful daughter. You’re caring, loving and strong.”
“But I get so frustrated with her.”
“Of course you do! That doesn’t make you a bad daughter, honey. You’re frustrated because you love her, and you hate to watch her doing this to herself. She understands all that, I’m sure.”
Grace always, always made her feel better.
“I can’t believe you’re here with me.”
“That’s what friends do.”
“What?” Audrey blew her nose. “Make sacrifices?”
“They show up in times of trouble.”
“David must be mad that you’ve left him to deal with Sophie.”
“He doesn’t get mad. He’s very even tempered. He understands about putting someone you love first. He did it for me more times than I can count.”
“Yeah. I was ready to hate him for what he did to you, but he’s not that easy to hate. You still love him, don’t you?”
“Unfortunately, yes. Love isn’t something you can switch on and off that easily.”
“I know.” Audrey thought of her mum. “What if she dies and she doesn’t know I really love her? I get so mad at her sometimes. Once, I told her I hated her.” Tears spilled down her cheeks. “But it wasn’t true. It wasn’t true.”
“Oh, Audrey.” Grace put her arm around her and pulled her close. “For a start, I can tell you that your mom definitely knows you love her.”
“You don’t know that. I don’t even know if I’ve ever said it aloud.”
“Love isn’t what you say aloud, honey. It’s what you do. You’ve been there for your mom the whole time. You check on her, care for her and try to persuade her to care for herself. Your feelings for her are virtually written all over you.”
Audrey sniffed. “Are they?”
“Yes. And as for telling her you hated her—that’s a normal, heat of the moment teenage thing.”
“I bet Sophie never told you she hated you.”
“In fact, she did. She’d found what she thought was a stray dog, and she brought it home but it turned out it belonged to someone. When I made her give it back, she was devastated. She didn’t speak to me for two whole days.”
“And you remember it, so it must have hurt your feelings.”
“It did, but it didn’t make me doubt her love for me. She was showing me that she was upset, that’s all.” Grace hugged her. “And you should have told me you were upset. You should have called me right away.”
“I was in a bit of a state to be honest. I packed my things and I thought I’d talk to you before I left, but then it turned out you were having traumas, too. Sophie needs you, and she should be your priority. I don’t know why you’re here.”
“I’m here because I’m your friend,” Grace said. “And the moment Elodie told me there had been a family emergency, I thought you might need a friend. David can handle Sophie.”
Audrey gave a wobbly smile. “You’re delegating?”
