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Chapter 2
Annabelle closed her eyes in frustration before slowly opening them again. It was no good – she hadn’t managed to magically transport herself to a nice sunny beach somewhere. She was still in her mother’s kitchen, and her mother was still trying to convince her that a holiday in a place called Porthcawl on the South Wales coast, with her aunt, her aunt’s daughter, Kate, and Kate’s family would be good for her.
Aunt Beverley was backing her mum up, in a kind of two-pronged attack. She was the older of the two sisters, Annabelle’s mum being three years younger, and the pair of them were nothing alike. Beverley was rotund compared to her mother’s skinniness, and she didn’t take as much pride in her appearance. Today Beverley was wearing a pair of navy trousers with an elasticated waist which strained across her tummy, a baggy top and a pair of Crocs. Her hair was dyed an alarming shade of orange, and her face was red and shiny. The eyes looking out of her plump face were the exact same shade of hazel as her mum’s and they both had the same shaped nose, but that was where any similarity ended.
Personality-wise, Annabelle’s mum was the more uptight of the two, the more reserved and cautious. Beverley was easy-come, easy-go, didn’t give two hoots about what anyone thought about her, and had a wicked streak. She loved her dog, her knitting, and her soaps on TV. May loved gin, tennis and going on cruises.
‘I don’t need a holiday,’ Annabelle reiterated for the umpteenth time. It was the last thing she needed. What she actually needed was to get a job and find somewhere to live. She couldn’t stay in her parents’ house forever. She’d been here six weeks already, three weeks longer than she’d meant to have stayed, but what choice had she had? When she’d finally managed to get hold of Troy to ask him what the hell was going on (part of her hoped it was all a big mistake and that he was in the middle of sorting out) he’d informed her that he’d taken a loan out against the house to fund his new business venture, but it had gone belly up. It wasn’t his fault, he’d kept telling her, concentrating more on who was to blame rather than on where his children were to live, until she’d eventually hung up on him. It was at that point she realised she couldn’t return to Australia, and they’d have to remain here in her parents’ house where they at least had a roof over their heads.
Her mother said breezily, ‘Nonsense! It’ll do you good. And it’ll be good for the children, too. They need to know they’ve got family here.’
‘Kate, Brett and the children don’t live in Brighton,’ Beverley reminded her. ‘They live in Pershore.’
‘I know where they live,’ Annabelle’s mum replied huffily.’ By “here” I meant the UK in general, not Brighton in particular. You’re not helping, Beverley.’
Beverley squinted at Annabelle. ‘Come on,’ she urged. ‘You’ll have a great time. Kate is so looking forward to seeing you. It’s been what… twenty years?’
‘At least,’ Annabelle’s mum said.
Annabelle resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She could do without reconnecting with a cousin she hadn’t seen for over two decades, especially when she had so many other things on her plate.
Beverley said, ‘I know me and Ron are just up the road, but the kids need someone their own age to play with, don’t they?’ She got to her feet. ‘Right, I’ve made the offer and said my piece, so I’m going to leave you to it. May, when are you and Terence off on your cruise?’
‘Saturday.’
‘Have a lovely time.’ Beverley placed the empty cup she’d been nursing on the draining board, and clambered to her feet. ‘And you, my girl,’ she said to Annabelle, ‘Don’t be a stranger. You’re welcome to pop round any time.’
Beverley only lived a couple of miles away from Annabelle’s parents, but Annabelle had yet to pay her aunt a visit. She’d been meaning to, but after everything that had happened since she’d got on the plane at Cairns, she hadn’t felt much like socialising.
‘You should go,’ her mum insisted, as soon as the front door slammed shut. ‘You’ll enjoy it, and even if you don’t, it’ll be a change of scenery.’
‘I’ve had enough changes of scenery recently to last me a lifetime,’ Annabelle retorted.
‘Nonsense.’
‘I hardly know them.’ She knew Beverley and Kate, of course, she and Kate having more or less grown up together, but she’d never met Kate’s husband, Brett, or their children.
‘They’re your family,’ May persisted. ‘There’ll be plenty of room in the house they’re renting, so you won’t all be on top of one another because it’s got eight bedrooms.’
‘I don’t care how many bedrooms it’s got, I’m not going. And they might be family, but I’ve never even met Brett.’
‘Oh, you’ll like him, he’s lovely. I’m not so sure about Ron, though.’
May had a bee in her bonnet about Ron, and hadn’t taken to him one little bit. Her mum and dad had returned home from visiting Annabelle and the kids in Australia last Christmas, to discover that he’d moved in with Beverley after having spent a number of years living on the streets. Her mum had been scandalised, although her dad hadn’t batted an eyelid. Annabelle vividly remembered her mum’s horror.
Her mother gave her a worried look. ‘I hope he doesn’t think she’s got money and that he might be able to get his hands on it. Could that be why he’s with her?’ It was a familiar refrain of her mum’s.
Annabelle shrugged. ‘I don’t know, I’ve never met him.’ If her mum hadn’t been so unfriendly, Beverley probably would have brought Ron with her today. Instead, she’d left him at home with her dog, who her mum also wasn’t too keen on. Apparently the dog was unruly and untrained.
‘You’ll meet him in Rest Bay,’ her mum stated. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. ‘Maybe you could keep an eye on him, see which way the wind blows? Oh, and Brett’s mother will be there as well.’ She pulled a face. ‘She can be a bit trying, from all accounts, so no doubt Kate will welcome a friendly face.’
‘If you’re referring tomyface, Kate and I haven’t seen each other for years. I doubt she’ll even recognise me.’
‘Of course, she will. You haven’t changed a bit. Another cup of tea?’
‘Coffee, please,’ Annabelle said, but when her mum took the jar of instant out of the cupboard, Annabelle shuddered and changed her mind. ‘On second thoughts, tea will be fine.’
She kept forgetting that she no longer owned a coffee machine. It was back in Australia, along with the rest of her possessions, and she wondered what had happened to it. Her heart gave a nasty lurch at the thought of strangers pawing through her things, and she hastily shoved it away.
